Ghost town

As a recent visitor to Russia and a reluctant advocate of nuclear power, the Chernobyl incident is quite a powerful story.

The incident occurred roughly twenty years ago, and will have caused the death of thousands and affected the lives of millions more. Not the least of these being the Welsh farmers whose properties are still worthless, despite being at the furthest extent of the fallout.

Two notable individuals were the "liquidators" who put on wetsuits, and dove into the flooded basement of Reactor 4 to release the radioactive water through a valve, preventing an enormous thermal reaction. They were not told of the dangers involved, and died whilst still under water.

Gorby has recently written – beigely – about the effect of the incident on the nuclear-reliant Soviet Union.

A more interesting examination, I think you’ll find, is within cult website ‘Kidd of Speed’. It documents a young Ukrainian motorbike enthusiast's travels through the Chernobyl area. She enters the ‘Ghost Town’, which remains like a tomb preserving Soviet life in the 80s; presumably for the next 900 years when the area will become habitable again. The image at the top was taken from this site, and shows the 'welcome' sign at the outskirts of the town.