Inside Chernobyl's no-go zone: Haunting photos from towns abandoned after radiation disaster 30 years ago reveal desolate hospitals, rotting homes and discarded possessions
Nearly 30 years ago, the world's worst nuclear disaster struck
the then-thriving town of Pripyat in Ukraine. The day after, 50,000
residents were evacuated from their homes, never to return. Austrian
photograph Roland Verant, 35, has ventured into the no-go zone to
capture a series of astonishing images of the town as it remains today.
Hospital beds, classrooms and family kitchens are covered with thick
layers of dust, scattered with broken glass and pieces of furniture,
while unmade beds and abandoned meals offer a glimpse at the lives left
behind.
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Inside Chernobyl’s no-go zone: Eerie scenes from the towns abandoned after the radiation disaster 30 years ago reveal desolate hospitals, rotting homes and discarded possessions
- The town of Pripyat, in Ukraine, sprang up just three kilometres from the ill-fated Chernobyl power plant
- But on April 26 1986, one of the reactors deep within the plant exploded, causing the world's worst nuclear disaster
- Austrian photographer Roland Verant, 35, has ventured into the no-go zone to witness the town as it appears now
- Unmade beds, abandoned meals and empty swimming pools covered in dust offer glimpses into the lives left behind
Desolate
hospitals, abandoned homes and scattered, broken possessions are all
that is left of the once-thriving Soviet town of Pripyat.
The
town of 50,000 residents was once hailed as being a vision of the
future, with progressive town-planning and modern architecture.
But nearly 30 years ago, all that came to a sudden and violent end.
The
town of Pripyat, in Ukraine, sprang up just three kilometres from the
country’s first nuclear power plant to house scientists and workers
serving the plant, and security troops.
But
on April 26 1986, one of the reactors deep inside the Chernobyl power
plant went into meltdown, sparking the world’s worst nuclear disaster.
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Desolate remains: Photographer Roland
Verant, 35, from Vienna, captured a series of stunning images of the
Ukrainian town of Pripyat, 30 years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster
that decimated the town
Remains of a life: The once-bustling
town of Pripyat sprang up just three kilometres from Ukraine's first
nuclear power plant, which exploded on April 26 1986
Sinister: Pripyat is still a no-go
zone because of the high levels of radiation, but graffiti artists have
broken the rules and used the abandoned town as a blank canvas
No-go zone: It wasn't until the next
day that the government realised the extent of the disaster, and ordered
the evacuation of the town's 50,000 residents
Ghost town: The scientists, workers
and military personnel that staffed the power plant upped and left,
taking their families with them, but leaving behind almost all their
possessions
School's out: Most had no idea they
would never return to the town that they had once called home, before
the world's worst nuclear disaster struck
Left behind: The series of photographs
reveal what Pripyat has now become, nearly 30 years after the disaster
that forced the evacuation of 50,000 residents
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Abandoned: Chernobyl was Soviet
Ukraine's first nuclear power plant, but on April 26 1986, a reactor
deep inside the plant went into meltdown
Normally
a no-go zone, one photographer has braved the sky-high levels of
radiation to capture a series of astonishing images of what the
once-bustling town has become.
Amateur
photographer Roland Verant, 35, first visited the site five years ago,
but has felt compelled to return seven times since.
A clerk for an insurance business in Vienna, he has now spent a total of 42 days in the exclusion zone.
‘I
was assured that I would not be taken to the dangerously “hot” places
and that a competent guide would be equipped with a Geiger counter on
the trip, so I wouldn’t need to worry as long as I followed some basic
rules,’ he said.
The zone can prove fatal if these strict rules aren’t followed.
Her
stunning photographs reveal the extent of the deterioration of the town
since the disaster, as nature how slowly claimed the site.
Growing again: Nature has reclaimed
the once-thriving city, that was hailed as a vision of the future with
progressive town-planning and modern architecture
Rusted: The town was even home to a
fairground, complete with bumper cars and a Ferris wheel to entertain
the families of the workers
Then and now: Photographer Roland
Verant, from Vienna, holds up a photograph of the power plant after the
explosion on April 26 1986 against a backdrop of the plant as it stands
today
Shattered: Buildings today still stand
as they were left during the emergency evacuation, with paint peelings
and glass long gone from the windows
Peeling paint: Families were forced to
abandon their homes during the government evacuation, which lasted just
three hours, on the day following the explosion
It
is illegal to take items in to or out of Pripyat, for fear of spreading
the radioactive contamination, but the photographs reveal that graffiti
artists have still managed to enter the site.
It
was not until the day after the catastrophe, April 27, that Pripyat’s
50,000 residents were evacuated in just three hours, in a major
government operation.
A
massive clean-up operation would continue over the next seven months,
involving more than 500,000 people, in an attempt to decontaminate
affected areas.
But
for more than two weeks after the disaster, the devastated reactor
building continued to leak radiation despite attempts to seal it.
Although Ukraine, Russia and Belarus suffered the worst of the damage, increased radiation was detected right across Europe.
Despite
the disaster, Reactors 1, 2 and 3 were restarted between October 1986
and December 1987, and the Chernobyl plant continued producing nuclear
power until December 2000.
In the frame: Photographer Roland
Verant (pictured), from Vienna, managed to gain access to the no-go
site, accompanied by a trained guide
Lives left behind: Families were
forced to leave nearly all of their possessions behind when the town was
evacuated. Today, houses still stand with food in the cupboards and
sheets on the unmade beds
Devastation: Masks litter the floor of
the factory in the ghost town that Pripyat has become since the
disaster, nearly 30 years ago
Families at play: An abandoned
swimming pool remains, with layers of dust over the diving board and
pool where workers and their families once played
Signs of life: Footprints in the
layers of dust that now cover the town's swimming pool, evidence that it
was once a place that thousands of people called home
Lookout: Shattered glass and fragments
of furniture litter the floor, with a view looking out over the ghost
town that Pripyat has become
Overcast: An abandoned boat lies in a
lake in the town. Russia, Ukraine and Belarus suffered the worst of the
contamination from the blast, but increased radiation levels were
detected across Europe
Damaged decorations: The red paint on a
balcony flakes off, as nature reclaims the Pripyat site, where factory
workers lived with their families
Ground to a halt: A Ferris wheel had
been erected in the town, due to be opened to the public in May. But the
explosion put an end to the plans
Back to nature: The sun sets over Pripyat, in Ukraine, with the town's much-anticipated Ferris wheel in the foreground
Shell of a town: Although the external
structures of buildings still stand, the insides are littered with
broken glass, fragments of furniture, and the remnants of the lives of
people who called Pripyat home
Strangely beautiful: The sun shines
over the trees of Pripyat, which has slowly been reclaimed by nature in
the 30 years since the catastrophe
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