It's been 30 years since the Chernobyl disaster. To think what could have happened had those brave Russians not given their lives and health to contain it in terrible conditions, and with devastating after effects, boggles the mind. Now, 30 years on, the site will finally be permanently sealed. I frightening reminder of the dangers of toying with uranium. This new containment is supposed to be able to last 100 years. Hopefully by then, the need for nuclear power will have passed us by.

I always found Chernobyl fascinating. I remember finding out about it when writing an article on RetroJunk about abandoned places. A whole city, abandoned. Tons of breathless photography has generated from the place. Was always a fantasy to be able to explore the ruins.

vkimo wrote :

I always found Chernobyl fascinating. I remember finding out about it when writing an article on RetroJunk about abandoned places. A whole city, abandoned. Tons of breathless photography has generated from the place. Was always a fantasy to be able to explore the ruins. -end quote

One of my friends did a eurotrip this last year and spent a considerable amount of time in Eastern Europe. There are a ton of old soviet era buildings and abandoned launch facilities. He took some pretty cool pics with the old hammer and sickle in the background

Me too V. I recently watched a good doc on the subject. Very informative and lots of images of the deserted areas.

Vaporman87 wrote :

Me too V. I recently watched a good doc on the subject. Very informative and lots of images of the deserted areas. -end quote

I was watching some shows on Animal Planet about Chernobyl too a few days ago. I just thought it's so interesting how there's actually plants, animals, and even a few people still living there. The host from River Monsters was fishing in the cooling pond and was catching some 7 foot long catfish in there. Surprisingly though their giant size isn't really a mutation as Wels catfish tend to be pretty big already but it was still cool to see. I've also seen pictures of the abandoned city like the amusement park and the houses and it just seems so weird. It's like you see a whole city but yet no people in it and it makes you wonder what their lives were like before the disaster happened. That's why I'm a big fan of sites exploring abandoned buildings and stuff.

Visiting places like that have to make your imagination kick into overdrive as you envision what it must have been like in better times. What people were doing... what things looked like in their prime... what a typical day was like. I think this would be especially true for me if I were to visit an abandoned amusement park. A place where people came to escape life and their worries for a while.