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Comment by petertodd | Hacker News Reader

You used to be able to easily visit the Duga Radar, legally, via one of the many tour companies that offered Chernobyl tours. Back in 2018 I visited myself, I believe with this company, as part of a conference: https://chernobyl-tour.com/tours_to_the_chernobyl-2_duga-1_e... At least then Chernobyl had been turned into quite the tourist destination with enough tours running that there even was a giftshop at the main checkpoint.

Unfortunately due to the proximity to the Russian/Belarus borders the whole area is closed right now due to Russia's invasion (Russia even occupied Chernobyl briefly). But it'll probably reopen sooner or later.

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> At least then Chernobyl had been turned into quite the tourist destination with enough tours running that there even was a giftshop at the main checkpoint.

I still remember the dinner they serve at the end, where they present food made using "locally grown crops" (grown in clean soil)

Best bread I've ever had.

Dunno if we ate at the same place. But at the end of my tour they also served us dinner, and it was excellent. One of the first times I had borsch.

The Russian soldiers occupying Chernobyl apparently ignored the warnings and dug trenches in the contaminated soil. And unsurprisingly came down with radiation sickness.

Hm. I would have thought the worst of the radioactivity had decayed by now.

The current level in the Red Forest is 0.1-10mSv/h. So in a month one would get 0.07-7Sv - already a death/live lottery depending on where one was located during that month that the Russian soldiers spent there. Yet the real kicker is that Russian army drove armor and dug trenches in the Red Forest. Disturbing soil there immediately makes a hot spot with many times increased level. And moving armor and digging raised the dust which means the soldiers got breathed a lot of that stuff in which is much worse for the health than even that increased background level. So, yes, low hundreds (judging by the number of soldiers brought just to that Belarussian hospital) of Darwin awards are due here.

Russian presence there was documented by multiple sources - i at the time saw much from Telegram, Ukrainian and oppositional Russian sources - and here for example is more typical Western source:

https://www.npr.org/2022/04/07/1091396292/satellite-photo-sh...

I saw many times people just doubt that story without any specific reason, and i'm yet to hear what specifically they doubt - the radiation levels? Russian presence? or may be the arithmetic of the levels multiplied by the length of the presence?

Your own link downplays the radiation level to "basically harmless" and attributes the problems to a psychosomatic response.

Which I personally would doubt. Such a determination could only be made by on-site measurements. By now, radiation should be highly localized in certain areas and soil formations through rain wash-off and intentional burying of contaminated surfaces. So while a lot of places might be harmless, there should be some that are definitely not.

Whats more, the red forest due to proximity and wind conditions, got the major part of the heavier isotopes. The combination of those can be extra-nasty due to their gamma energy, bioavailability and half-life when compared to the lighter stuff that spread out over Europe.

>Your own link downplays the radiation level to "basically harmless" and attributes the problems to a psychosomatic response.

Yes, my link contains facts - the images - and statements by the "experts" who somehow didn't provide any numbers to support their opinion. I posted it for the facts while naturally expecting that people here would be able to separate chuff from the real stuff just like you did.

Wrt. "psychosomatic response" - that takes the crown. Whatever "expert" conjured it, s/he never seen Russian army where basic everyday soldier existence is one continuous "psychosomatic response".

Both Cs137 and Sr90 have half-lifes of about 30 years. So of what was deposited, just under half of it is left. It'll likely be centuries before the exclusion zone is really just a bunch of land again.

source?

A good article on how unlikely they had ARS:

https://www.reddit.com/r/chernobyl/comments/twab17/is_radiat...

I'm not going to make any assertions as to who is right, but some of the assertions in this reddit post conflict with the data from the other articles.

> there are no photos or eyewitness accounts.

The other resources provide satellite images of excavations and eyewitness accounts from Ukrainian hunters and biologists.

Anyway. Do your own research, come to your own conclusions.

ah.

https://www.newsweek.com/russian-soldiers-struck-radiation-s...

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/red-forest-c...

https://www.kyivpost.com/post/31734

Some russians are still there. But tours still happen.

Lazerpigs recent video, around 32min. https://youtu.be/cDyq95F49BQ?si=xnmja9ehVVnOhZ0r

There are no russians there for two years. Absolutely no tours happening, it's a completely closed are and heavily guarded.

There are some tours still happening. But its now (supposed to be) only state/military approved delegations in some kind of official capacity: https://www.chernobyl-tour.com/english/161-visiting-chornoby...

It's possible some people still sneak in of course. But you're risking a non-zero chance of getting accidentally shot by a Ukrainian soldier mistaking you for a Russian infiltrator, let alone the legal consequences.

You're quite correct that Russia has been entirely pushed out. Heck, I would not be too surprised if Chernobyl tours reopen to the public after Ukraine occupies the part of Russia next to Chernobyl (maybe even Belarus if they do something stupid).

I literally posted a video of a recent tour.

Any government can invite anyone anywhere they deem necessary. There are no tours for mortals.

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