Twenty-eight years ago on April 26, nuclear disaster struck in the former Soviet Union.
An explosion and subsequent fire at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine released radioactive materials into the atmosphere, resulting in the most expensive and deadliest nuclear disaster in history.
In 2009, Timm Suess visited what he calls "ground zero of the 1986 accident," the now-abandoned town of Pripyat near the Chernobyl power plant. This town and its inhabitants — mostly power plant workers and their families — were the main victims of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
The actual town of Chernobyl was farther from the power plant than Pripyat — about 10 miles — but it was also affected by the nuclear disaster. Still, Suess wrote wrote after his trip in March 2009, “Chernobyl is a more lively place than you might imagine: Nowadays it is repopulated with 500 people, many of them scientists.”
With its high radiation levels, however, the area still poses danger to its inhabitants. Consequently, those found within the radiation zone fall into either of two categories: “radiophobes” and “radioenthusiasts.”
To commemorate the explosion and its victims, Suess' photos show what the city of Pripyat looks like recently. You can follow Timm Suess on LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr, and DeviantArt.
To enter the city of Pripyat, Suess passed through three security checks. "Entry into the zone of exclusion is only allowed with proper authorizations and a tour guide."
Photographs and text by Timm Suess. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr and DeviantArt.
"A couple of minutes later, we arrived in the heart of the city: Lenin square in the middle of Pripyat, where two of the main city axes cross."
Photographs and text by Timm Suess. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr and DeviantArt.
"To the west are the big restaurants and the market and the high rise of the Voskhod building with its hammer and sickle insignia on top."
Photographs and text by Timm Suess. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Flickr and DeviantArt.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider