nuclear-news

Chernobyl tourists warned of radiation risks

Visitors have to sign a waiver, exempting the tour operator from all responsibility in the event that they later suffer radiation-related health problems…..”it is very dangerous to be here,” ….. “There are huge holes in the sarcophagus covering the reactor,”

Chernobyl: The toxic tourist attraction – Telegraph, Andrew Osborne 6 Mar 11, “………Chernobyl itself and Pripyat, the Soviet model town that has now become a ghostly monument to humankind’s incompetence, have become ghoulish tourist attractions open to anyone ready to spend the equivalent of about £100 for a day trip. The Ukrainian government legalised such tours for the first time in January, and is now developing plans to attract more tourists to the area ahead of the 2012 European football championship in Ukraine…….

The tours are not for the faint-hearted.

Visitors have to sign a waiver, exempting the tour operator from all responsibility in the event that they later suffer radiation-related health problems.

Driven round at breakneck speed, and told not to touch any of the irradiated vegetation or metal structures, “tourists” are invited to briefly inspect the stricken number four reactor from a short distance as the geiger counter guides carry clicks ever higher.

“Let’s leave now, it is very dangerous to be here,” Vita Polyakova, a tour guide, told a group including The Sunday Telegraph last week. “There are huge holes in the sarcophagus covering the reactor,” she added, in a tone that suggested she was not joking…..

March 8, 2011 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Ukraine