A Day In Chernobyl - Inside The Exclusion Zone

On 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Pripyat, the worst nuclear power plant accident in history in terms of cost and casualties occurred. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe. The struggle to contain the contamination and avert a greater catastrophe ultimately involved over 500,000 workers and cost an estimated 18 billion rubles. During the accident itself, 31 people died, and long-term effects such as cancers are still being investigated.

Photographers Sean, Sichweisen, John, Tim and Jaso went inside the 'Exclusion Zone' and came back with these reports of a city where time stood still... For 30 years now:

Death becomes her, Chernobyl. By: Sean Hartwell Photography Abandoned spooky doll left lying in woodland near the village of Kopachi, close to Chernobyl.

Chernobyl...and I'm clear. By: Sean Hartwell Photography Mandatory scanning at the check point leaving the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Just to make sure I wasn't contaminated, and after a nervous wait I was cleared and good to leave. . . phew!

Cycle of the apocalypse...Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography The iconic ferris wheel in Pripyat near Chernobyl.

Dive straight in, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Urbex heaven at the swimming pool in Pripyat.

'Chopped'.... By: Taken-By-Me

Scant protection. Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Hundreds of gas masks left in a room in the city's main high school and left abandoned since the nuclear accident at the Chernobyl nuclear plant a few miles away.

In at the deep end, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography The famous pool in the abandoned city of Pripyat.

mutant strawberry of chernobyl By: Laszlo_Gerencser ARAX CM / Carl Zeiss Jena MC Biometar 2. 8/80 + extension tube / Rollei Retro 400s Rodinal+Tetenal+water 3+3+400 semi-stand 60 min used Ilford Rapid Fixer

The light of abandonment, Pripyat. By: Sean Hartwell Photography Abandoned building in Pripyat, near Chernobyl. I think this was the school building if my memory serves me correctly.

01:23 When time stopped, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Clock left dormant since the town was abandoned in 1986. The official time of the explosion at reactor number four was 1. 23am, spooky to see the clock stopped dead on that time!

Tschernobyl / Chernobyl By: Sichtweisen_CB Prypjat hospital You like to buy a calendar, poster or canvas of my work? Have a look: amzn. to/1TDhY3H bit. ly/1RQt7NV

30 years late for gym class, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Basket ball court in the sports hall in the abandoned city of Pripyat, near Chernobyl.

Bleak By: #Weybridge Photographer A children's home in Chernobyl

Last Supper, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Abandoned restaurant in the centre of Pripyat.

Road to ruin, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography It's the end of the world as we know it. . . and I feel fine!

The Death of amusement, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Fairground ride left to decay for 30years following the nuclear accident at the nearby Chernobyl power plant.

Failure to dodgem, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Decaying dodgem ride at the fairground in the abandoned city of Pripyat, near Chernobyl, Ukraine.

Dodgems, Pripyat. By: Sean Hartwell Photography More decaying fairground rides in Pripyat, left abandoned since 1986 when the nearby nuclear plant at Chernobyl exploded.

Crumbling concrete, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography The decaying buildings in Pripyat, and the colonisation by plant life slowly removing the traces of mankind. The town was abandoned in 1986 after the explosion at the nearby Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

89. Waiting room - Hospital Nr. 126, Pripyat By: [ Jaso ] The room where the first responding Firefighters sat as they awaited treatment. All of whom received fatal doses of radiation. They described the feeling of being close to the reactor as pins and needles, with a strong metallic taste. . They weren't told how dangerously radioactive the smoke and the debris were, and may not even have known that the accident was much more than a regular electrical fire “We didn’t know it was the reactor. No one had told us. ”

90. Operating table - Hospital Nr. 126, Pripyat By: [ Jaso ]

Tschernobyl / Chernobyl By: Sichtweisen_CB . . . rusty. . . You like to buy a calendar, poster or canvas of my work? Have a look: <a href="http://amzn

Ferrous ferris wheel. Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography The rusting and decaying ferris wheel in Pripyat, still standing after 30 years of abandonment.

All aboard, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography More from the decaying ferris wheel at the abandoned city of Pripyat, Ukraine. This one taken from inside the ticket booth.

All the fun of the apocalypse. Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography The iconic ferris wheel in the fairground at Pripyat, near Chernobyl. Ironically this fairground was constructed in readiness to open on May 1st for the May Day holiday. But the explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power station on 26th April 1986 prevented anyone from actually using it.

'Scrapyard' By: Timster1973 - thanks for the 11 million views! This second scrapyard was not accessible last year, our visit was short lived as it was still quite radiated but seemed to be full of interesting vehicles and different types compared to the other scrapyard we visited last year. Other set of Pripyat Scrapyard here: www. flickr. com/photos/timster1973/sets/72157645592320313/ Named for the nearby Pripyat River, Pripyat was founded on 4 February 1970, the ninth nuclear city in the Soviet Union, for the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979, and had grown to a population of 49,360 before being evacuated a few days after the 26 April 1986 Chernobyl disaster

Unfinished By: John M Newman One of the abandoned nuclear power plants in Chernobyl, left to decay after the disaster 30 years ago.

Fallout, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Discarded gas mask in Pripyat.

In memorium, Chernobyl By: Sean Hartwell Photography Memorial arch next to the Chernobyl nuclear plant. The curved metal structure on the left is the new sarcophagus which is scheduled to be placed over the decaying one that was originally put up in the 1980s.

Nature always wins, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Nature is well on its way to reclaiming the man made, and after just 30 years is well on its way to dismantle this town a bit at a time. The guide told me that tours will only be possible for another 5years or so as the buildings will by then be unsafe to visit. So if you want to see this latter day Pompeii go soon.

78. Palace of Culture, Pripyat - 2016 By: [ Jaso ] The Palace of Culture was a typical institution of the Eastern bloc. The huge buildings were the meeting point for people to enjoy all kinds of recreational activities like sports and arts – and of course they were used for political indoctrination.

The fall of Communism, Pripyat By: Sean Hartwell Photography Soviet icons still adorn the crumbling buildings in Pripyat close to Chernobyl.

'Operation room' By: Timster1973 - thanks for the 11 million views! Hospital 126 (MSCh 126) is a large hospital based at the North end of Priypat. The basement contains liquidators uniforms which are highly radioactive. On this note, it is not recommended to go into the basement for this reason alone. The hospital is a vast complex occupying the largest part of the first micro-district of Pripyat. The building is adorned with huge letters on its roof that read: "??????'? ?????? - ????????? ??????" or “health of a people - riches of the country”. It was at this hospital on the 26th April 1986 that the first victims of the disaster were delivered by ambulance: firemen and personnel of the Chernobyl Powerplant. The majority of those had already received deadly doses of external and internal radiation also having severe skin burning from beta radiation

Pripyat Square By: Flash and Blur Before the disaster this window would have been looking at families, students, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters. . . . . .

Tschernobyl / Chernobyl By: Sichtweisen_CB You like to buy a calendar, poster or canvas of my work? Have a look: amzn. to/1TDhY3H bit. ly/1RQt7NV

Epicentre, Chernobyl By: Sean Hartwell Photography This was taken from a moving vehicle so didn't have much time to compose, but I was quite happy with this one. The building in shot housed two nuclear reactors (No. 3 & No. 4). The lower structure to the left of the chimney stack is the sarcophagus built over the exposed core of reactor No. 4. This is where the explosion took place in 1986 causing so much devastation

Appointments By: sj9966 Pripyat Hospital

A bit long.... By: Taken-By-Me A dental clinic, in abandoned Pripyat which used to be a part of the big multi-functional health care complex of health related buildings. The complex is called МСЧ-126 and has several buildings including a clinic, hospital, infectious disease clinic, maternity ward, mortuary and this dental clinic. Besides the surgery rooms there were laboratories with a lot of prosthetic dummy teeth, plates, molds and so on.

Doll face, Chernobyl. By: Sean Hartwell Photography Decaying doll in the school at Kopachi, close to Chernobyl.

Threat from the West, Chernobyl 2 By: Sean Hartwell Photography More from the Chernobyl 2 radar array.

Early warning, Chernobyl 2 By: Sean Hartwell Photography This is a giant Soviet era radar array several kilometers from Chernobyl, called Chernobyl 2. The radar receiver was designed to watch out for American ICBM nuclear missile launches and was finally decommissioned in the late 80s. It's ironic that this installation concentrated its attention on a nuclear threat coming from the other side of the globe, whilst being only a few KM from the actual danger just a short distance away at the Chernobyl power plant.

70. What have we done - Reactor 5 Cooling Tower - Chernobyl By: [ Jaso ] Brisbane-based Guido van Helton sprayed the haunting mural of a doctor inside the disused and unfinished Reactor 5 to mark the 30th anniversary of the nuclear disaster. The mural is intended to raise awareness about the dangers of nuclear energy and honour the work of a photojournalist who spent years recording the catastrophic explosion.

69. Macro life in the exclusion zone. By: [ Jaso ] A little honey bee gathering some nectar. Taken during my trip into the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Radiation levels around here were typically around 1000x higher than background levels.