Ever wanted to know the truth from the Chernobyl disaster? Here’s a great photo-guide to the events surrounding it from https://leatherbarrowa.exposure.co/chernobyl It is an amazing writeup full of information and even more photos. The following is a much more concise story of the events surrounding the disaster.
Please note, this is a very large, multi-page photo gallery. You can click on many of the photos to make them larger.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, officially known as the V. I. Lenin Nuclear Power Station during the Soviet era, began construction in 1970 at a remote region near Ukraine’s swamp-filled northern border, 15 kilometres north-west of the small town of Chernobyl. The plant’s location was chosen because of its relative proximity to Ukraine’s capital while still being a safe distance away, a ready water supply – the River Pripyat – and the existing railway line that ran from Ovruc in the West to Chernigov in the East.
It was the first nuclear power station ever to be built in the country, and was considered to be the best and most reliable of the Soviet Union’s nuclear facilities.
It was one of the ‘youngest’ cities in the Soviet Union, with an average age of only 26. Convincing experienced workers from more populous parts of the Soviet Union to move to such a remote location proved challenging, so many of Chernobyl’s workers came straight from college/university.
Concurrent to the construction of the power station, the Soviet Union’s ninth Atomograd – Russian for ‘atomic city’ – named Pripyat was being erected 3 kilometres away, for the specific purpose of housing the ambitious station’s 50,000 operators, builders, support staff and their families.
To oversee the titanic operation, 35-year-old turbine expert and loyal communist Viktor Bryukhanov was plucked from his position as Deputy Chief Engineer at the Slavyanskaya thermal power station in Eastern Ukraine, and appointed as Chernobyl’s Director. He is the man second from left.
Because Pripyat was new and carried with it the prestige of a nuclear power station, it was afforded many modern luxuries other Soviet cities sometimes did without.
It had all the facilities you would expect of a modest-sized city. In addition to a hospital and its nearby clinics, there were 15 kindergartens, 5 schools, a vocational school/college and a school of music and the arts for the children, with 1 expansive park and 35 smaller playgrounds for them to play in.
Further entertainment was found at any of the city’s 10 gyms, 3 swimming pools, 10 shooting ranges, 2 stadiums, 4 libraries and a cinema, or by reading Pripyat’s own newspaper.
Children playing in main square.
A couple recently married pose in front of the city’s welcome sign.
For down-time there were 27 canteens, cafés and restaurants distributed throughout the city. All in all, it was a very nice place to live compared to many other locations in the Soviet Union.
Retail came in the form of 25 shops including a bookshop, a supermarket and various smaller food stores, a sports shop, a shop selling TVs, radios and other electronics, and a large shopping centre on the city’s central square.
This photo is one of the last photos taken before the explosion of the reactor as the Ferris wheel in the background was set to officially open 2 days after the fateful explosion.
The town held parades praising the nuclear power station. This truck has a representation of the reactor control room on its front.