Visiting Chernobyl - health risks

[NickXX]

Hi all,

I'd like to visit Chernobyl some time this year and was wondering about the health risks. It seems that people wander around Pripyat with respiratory masks. It's more the town that I would like to see.

Has anyone been? Should I be concerned about the radiation levels on a guided tour? I understand that you should generally be very cautious about entering buildings.

Nick

[Arnold The Bat]

An interesting thread about it here:

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

I think there was even talk about organising a PH trip out there.

[llewop]

NickXX said:

Hi all,

I'd like to visit Chernobyl some time this year and was wondering about the health risks. It seems that people wander around Pripyat with respiratory masks. It's more the town that I would like to see.

Has anyone been? Should I be concerned about the radiation levels on a guided tour? I understand that you should generally be very cautious about entering buildings.

Nick

in order:
yes
no
and yes

[Gingerbread Man]

I started looking at Chernobyl just the other day. I must have been inspired by something. I think it would be great to go and see that area of Russia along with it's other non Chernobyl sights.

[Mandat]

Gingerbread Man said:

I started looking at Chernobyl just the other day. I must have been inspired by something. I think it would be great to go and see that area of Russia along with it's other non Chernobyl sights.

The only problem with your idea is that Chernobyl is in Ukraine and not in Russia.

[Gingerbread Man]

Mandat said:

Gingerbread Man said:

I started looking at Chernobyl just the other day. I must have been inspired by something. I think it would be great to go and see that area of Russia along with it's other non Chernobyl sights.

The only problem with your idea is that Chernobyl is in Ukraine and not in Russia.

Valid point, but it makes sense in my head.

[jackal]

Buildings are bad

Old cars and machinery even worse

Iirc it's best to stick to the roads where the radiation levels are less than what you'll experience on the flight to get there

I would love to go .... My dream is to see that ferris wheel, just need someone to go with

[fphil]

good tip for you,,,,, dont wear underpants made of nuclear waste or chenobyl fall out

[FraserLFA]

Every Chernobyl thread!

[andrew311]

Several colleagues have been to the site over the years, the equivalent dose in most areas of Prypiat is said to be 1 ìSv/hr which is bugger all. To put this into some perspective the normal working dose per annum for nuclear workers in the UK is about 2 mSv/hr with the legal limit a fair bit higher.

I can’t see there being any adverse effects to your health especially for a short visit.

[llewop]

andrew311 said:

Several colleagues have been to the site over the years, the equivalent dose in most areas of Prypiat is said to be 1 ìmicroSv/hr which is bugger all. To put this into some perspective the normal working dose per annum for nuclear workers in the UK is about 2 mSv/hryear with the legal limit a fair bit higher.

I can’t see there being any adverse effects to your health especially for a short visit.

sorry for edit, but milli/micro mix ups are a pet hate; and out here year/hour mix ups also happen (not just typo's) as the same word means year in Russian and hour in Ukrainian

legal limit for workers 20 mSv/year.... here, there, pretty well everywhere.

[andrew311]

llewop said:

sorry for edit, but milli/micro mix ups are a pet hate; and out here year/hour mix ups also happen (not just typo's) as the same word means year in Russian and hour in Ukrainian

legal limit for workers 20 mSv/year.... here, there, pretty well everywhere.

You're quite right our working limits are 2 mSv a year not per hour wouldn't expect to be still here if tehy were per hour!

[Gingerbread Man]

Do you have any interesting pictures of the place and it's surroundings llewop?

[llewop]

Gingerbread Man said:

Do you have any interesting pictures of the place and it's surroundings llewop?

I put this link in another thread already
EBRD linky

for other piccies within the Exclusion Zone google map to the site - the actual map is quite old (at least 3 years, probably 4 or more) but there are quite a few embedded piccies that people have placed there.

most of my own pictures are of where I live or Kiev.