Chernobyl | Virtual 3D tour

Chernobyl NPP

On April 26, 1986, amidst the picturesque landscapes of Polissia, 110 km from the city of Kyiv, the largest technological disaster of the 20th century occurred - the accident at the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. As a result of the release of radioactive materials, over 53.5 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory were contaminated.

Cooling Tower

The Chernobyl NPP was the first in Ukraine. During the period from 1970 to 1986, four reactor units of the plant were constructed and put into operation, with the fifth and sixth units under construction. Alongside them, massive 90-meter structures, cooling towers, were erected for the cooling of the fifth and sixth reactors. The Chernobyl station had plans to become the largest in Europe.

Reactor hall of the third reactor unit

The Chernobyl NPP operated channel-type uranium-graphite reactors - RBMK-1000. Above the reactor's active zone, there was a 15-meter diameter, 2,600-ton upper biological shield. The design of the shield allowed for the reloading of nuclear fuel without shutting down the reactor, thereby optimizing its power utilization more effectively.

Control panel for reactor 4

In the Soviet Union, these reactors were known as efficient, reliable, and safe. However, this policy proved to be flawed, as accidents did occur with these reactors but were often suppressed. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident, which happened during the planned tests before shutting down reactor 4, became the most extensive among them. The Soviet authorities, aware of the true causes of the disaster, shifted the blame entirely onto the plant's personnel. In 1993, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) released a new report on the causes of the accident, identifying serious flaws in the design of the RBMK-1000 reactor as key factors.

Pripyat

On April 27, 36 hours after the accident, the evacuation of the population of Pripyat began. Pripyat was a satellite city of the nuclear power plant, located just three kilometers away from Chernobyl. The city was home to nearly 50,000 people, including 17,000 children. The average age of the population was 26 years, with approximately 1,000 children born there each year. Pripyat boasted developed infrastructure, specialized facilities, educational institutions, cultural and recreational establishments, as well as sports facilities.

«Lazurny»

On Sportivna Street, there was the sports complex "Lazurny." It included a swimming pool, a sports gymnastics hall, and a basketball court. Despite the Chernobyl accident, the "Lazurny" swimming pool continued to operate for another 12 years. It served as a recreation spot for the liquidators - individuals who worked for many years to overcome the consequences of the disaster.

Kindergarten in the village of Kopachi

From May 2, the evacuation of settlements within a 30-kilometer radius around the power plant began. A total of 188 settlements were left abandoned. Some of them, due to the impossibility of decontamination and their immediate proximity to the plant, were buried. Among them was the village of Kopachi, located 4 kilometers from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Since then, only a few brick buildings remain in this village. One of them is a daycare center, where scattered items of children's clothing, furniture, books, and toys can still be seen.

«Duga»

A recognizable object in the exclusion zone is the Over-the-Horizon Radar (OTH) station "Duga." Standing at a height of 150 meters and stretching 750 meters in length, it was concealed in the Chernobyl forests and designed for tracking the launches of American ballistic missiles. To support "Duga," there was a military town called Chernobyl-2, which was not marked on maps.

The Semykhody railway station

Until December 15, 2000, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant continued to generate electricity. Most of the personnel resided in the city of Slavutych, and a special route, Slavutych-Semykhody, was established to transport them to the plant. Semykhody was located near the city of Pripyat. The station was electrified and equipped with a sanitary checkpoint. Access for citizens and passage by electric trains without special permission were prohibited.

The Arch

The most significant stage in the elimination of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident was the construction of a special isolation structure over the destroyed reactor block - the "Shelter" object. It lasted for 206 days and was completed in November 1986. In 2007, a large-scale project to build a new secure confinement, the "New Safe Confinement" or "Arch," began. The construction was completed in 2016. The complex became the largest movable object in the world and is designed for 100 years of safe operation.