Inside Chernobyl ЧАЭС 2015 - 29th anniversary of the Чернобыль disaster

29 years ago, the Chernobyl nuclear accident happened. today, we'll walk inside and document what the reactor buildings look like in 2015.
besides seeing the control room and golden corridor - as an example of many human tragedies, we will go to the circulation pumps, where Valery Khodemtchuk remains buried beneath the debris of the explosion.
but you might be surprised - there's a lot of people working in the nuclear power plant now, even in the control rooms...

[@JckSwan]

Disaster aside, I'm kind of in awe that people can build such things. The scale and complexity of the site is incredible.

[@SWENWAR]

You're reading my mind.

[@SWENWAR]

@JAffacakeSON BLAHA I've studied nuclear energy at the university and we've studied about all kind of reactors, including RBMK. It's an impressive technology. It has it's flaws, but if it's operated properly, it works very well. They are good reactors.

[@cherylmburton5577]

Satan made them go way ahead of themselves. He appealed to their egos, which are the same in humans of all ethnic groups. We're all the same.

[@851995STARGATE]

@@cherylmburton5577 go get help

[@Youre_Right]

SWENWAR They are cheaply made by cutting out safety measures that would have totally prevented the explosion. I wouldn’t use good as a way to describe them.

[@unho1ywoodca1ifornication77]

whoever is in charge of washing the floors is doing the best job there

[@funkyzone431]

No shit. You can skate there.

[@johncoolberg]

We need three volunteers to go to reactor four and mop the floors!

[@corazoncubano5372]

@@johncoolberg And our "volunteers" for today will be .... Svetlana Trotsky, Dmitri Dogoleff, Anna Sobieski, and Teodore Ivanoff. Lets thank our comrades for forgoing a lifetime with their families to do "volunteer" work.

[@CaptainCalculus]

I think dirty windows are the least of their problems

[@qwicy]

you'll notice that they're wearing clean suits in there - no need to clean the floor...

[@ilikehumans1096]

I was born in Moscow in 1982, I was 4 years old when the accident happened. As a child I remember hearing terrifying rumors and ever since I've been afraid of this place. Now that I find more about it and the details of what actually happened my fear has turned into curiosity. This area is absolutely fascinating.

[@kenzolr9373]

Is comrade Dyatlov still in the toilet?

[@sajjad9938]

😂😂

[@loleytorrubio9923]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@altoid8512]

Gtfo biotrash

[@brunobogovic8006]

:D

[@maddox744]

Ha ha..

[@CB-RADIO-UK]

I never realised that they kept the other reactor working after the accident. I thought the whole place was cleared.

[@davidhanak3240]

same

[@C0LS0N]

+Valeria Carreon all reactors shut down in 2000

[@TheSeanUhTron]

May as well use up the fuel in the good reactors, as well as keep it monitored to prevent the disaster from getting worse.

[@MrWolfSnack]

The station still operates as a standard power plant, but not a nuclear power plant. All remaining reactors were decommissioned in 2000.

[@valerie80yearsago90]

DEATHROW ELITE I genuinely wonder/hope I was being sarcastic when I asked that. If not, I don't know what the hell was going through my mind when asking that.

[@aNYCe2418]

Wow. "The Bridge Of Death" scene was portrayed damn near perfect in Chernobyl's 1st episode

[@lucasimark7992]

aNYCe2418 it was filmed at Ignalina Power plant, an identical powerplant in lituania which was only closed in 2004

[@jahrhome]

I found the bridge today on Google earth it was actually really sad to see

[@aNYCe2418]

@I. Wynn Wynn the part in Episode 1 where the locals go to that overpass/bridge to get a better view of the blown reactor.

[@valaxius]

@bad joe It really happen. Its not hard to research something and see overwhelming accounts of it.

[@Jebu911]

@bad joe Yeah its one of those myths like when people say that all the 3 divers died but 2 of them are still alive and the senior diver pretty much died of old age.

[@AppliedScience]

Wow! This is really interesting footage of the interior of the power plant. Very cool.

[@babybearkill1]

A horrifying lesson that seems to be taught every few decades

[@carpetmonk]

BIONERD! I love her videos.. been subscribed a long time.

[@privatear2001]

BBK1 Plymouth will probably be the next to go. Its 50 miles from Cape Cod and the Islands and is the same design as the plant at Fukushima. Their license was supposed to expire a couple years ago because the plant is 40 years old and pipes are being corroded out from the inside. But people with money and power turned a blind eye and kept it going, awarding a contract even though the plant had outstanding safety violations. This year they've had a couple "mishaps" already, I believe. Since Yucca Mountain nuclear fuel repository (tasked with storing the radioactive "spent" fuel for MILLENNIA) never got the go-ahead, Pilgrim has been storing all their used fuel at the plant, maybe 4X what is supposed to be there. There is no evacuation plan for the Cape at present when this thing goes up. Not if, WHEN. Hopefully, I'll be out of here by then, but many of my friends will have to live with it. I pray it never happens in their lifetimes, but given that 40 years is the life expectancy of such plants (if I remember correctly), its quite possible that it will.

[@babybearkill1]

privatear2001 Given the sole interest is profiteering from such plants, the frequency of accidents in these ageing plants will increase. Just think of the parallels, if your car engine was 40 years old you would expect it to break down at any moment, how can we possibly imagine that nuclear plants are any different? I want you to consider the laws and controls put in place for vehicle emissions and safety in the last 4 years then compare it to nuclear power. It's a shocking revelation.

[@privatear2001]

BBK1 I know well about that one. My car IS 26 years old this year and I have to try ever trick in the book except rubber bands to keep it alive. Can't kill the motor so far, but given its a recycled tin can (Toyota) from Japan, the steel lasts no time. I have to maintain it for my own safety and the safety of anyone on the road with me. I get it inspected EVERY year and I will be flagged if something is wrong and no taxpayer gives me the money to fix it. But sometimes there seems to be no such accountability for the people who build, open, run, and have nuclear disasters at these plants. Everything is taxpayer funded (or so I've heard). And I've heard it said also that no insurance agency underwrites these plants (which seems odd, so may be wrong). So if there's no liability to these people in any way whatsoever, then all they have to do is make money hand over fist and then walk away and apologize when their baby goes boom and contaminates vast areas. Perhaps the apology will go like this: watch?v=9u0EL_u4nvw :) So of course there is no incentive to ever shut these plants down unless you are an owner with a moral conscience, of which I'm convinced many do not possess. That being said, however, Entergy, the owner of Pilgrim, is slated to shut down the aging plant they have in Vermont because it too is failing and they're two years into another 20 year contract. And sources suggest Pilgrim is slated for shutdown too. Hopefully before its too late to avoid another Fukushima. I'm not an environmentalist per se, but I really do believe that the reason Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (used in subs and aircraft carriers, I do believe, which shut down on their own AUTOMATICALLY if something goes wrong - no human decision required) weren't considered in the 50's and 60's is because they didn't create fissile material. I've read certain plants put out about 440 pounds of Plutonium each year. You need 10 for a bomb ∴ 44 bombs a year. Do we really need our children to grow up in a world with nuclear weapons hanging over their heads and a bunch of sociopath politicians in control of the firing triggers with such infantile excuses as "Remember, this is the man who tried to kill my Dad?" I really don't think so.:)

[@blackthorn2200]

They ran the other 3 reactors up in till 2000? That's some cheeki breeki shit right there. By far the best documentary that I have seen.

[@enricopassoni1]

Yes

[@lukeshaver1149]

No, only one reactor ran untl 2000, the other 2 were shut down in the 1990s.

[@antoniocignozzi1477]

Go watch Chernobyl 3828 liquidators , that's some great footage

[@markus4395]

The workers weren't really worried about the Radiation but in year 2000 they ended.

[@type2523]

SirDigby83 the rbmk reactor was updated and built almost indestructible after the accident, it would probably even safe to use even today! As it got deactivated it didn't even end it's life cycle . Anyways they got deactivated because the EU wanted it and because some people ( politicians ) get money when building stuff ( corruption )

[@CombatMedicTM]

Haunting, especially the part about Khodemchuk. To imagine his remains, whatever is left of it, are still there...

[@futureshaman83]

It's probably dust by now, the neutrons been blasting throughout everything

[@willappleton6078]

@@futureshaman83 neutrons cant travel that far in air. They can barely make it through tin foil. The gamma rays would have done the most damage.

[@jordyboy321]

*Counter going mad* 'lets just stand here and have a conversation'

[@allthingsdirt]

It was only 3.6. Roughly the equivalent of a chest xray

[@sparrow56able]

@@allthingsdirt well that's not great but not horrifying

[@MatthijsvanDuin]

@@sparrow56able The "equivalent of a chest x-ray" thing is just a meme. Her detector was showing a dose rate of 15 μSv/h, which is not negligible, but also not hugely dangerous. If you'd be exposed to that dose rate for 40 hours per week, every week, then after a year the cumulative dose would be 31.3 mSv, which is still substantially less than the 50 mSv annual occupational dose limit for U.S. radiation workers.

[@madddogg7920]

I would imagine that the Geiger counter would go REALLY nuts if they were to open the door and look try to look at the remains of reactor #4. It's crazy to think that people can actually tour the plant now.

[@hamschh]

@@MatthijsvanDuin /r/woosh

[@Sprotdude17]

Man, imagine the amazing home footage that the citizens would have got if they would of had video cameras.

[@trollinator101]

The radiation ruined film, and even with the cameras available, the pictures may not have turned out well if it all, illustrated by the man who took now infamous pictures of the Reactor #4 from above. Out of all the pictures he took, only one was usable due to the effects of radiation. This aside, original footage shot from the perspectives of actual people who went through this would be spectacular

[@privatear2001]

Sgt_14tjyd _ That was Igor Kostin, I believe. He has a bunch of pictures here as well: www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2011/apr/26/chernobyl-nuclear-disaster-in-pictures - Number 8 down the page shows "bio-robots" cleaning the roof of reactor 3 of all the graphite core material. Estimates were 10-12000 Roentgens0hr being released. 40 seconds exposure and you had a lifetime dose of the stuff, according to the explanation to the right. The light areas in the bottom of the picture, as explained by Kostin, were where radiation was rising off the roof in front of his camera. He also said you couldn't hear anything up there and that it was other-worldly.

[@InfinityPotato97]

+Jorgito Yokiro Cabrera R.I.P. Igor Kostin 27 December 1936 - 9 June 2015

[@KuvDabGib]

It would be of no use - older models would get their film ruined by X rays penetrating and coloring film in camera casing.. new digital ones( with CCD) would die due to damage of neutrons to the sensitive electronics inside... So one way or another there wouldnt be too much useful videos, unfortunately

[@jasonmiller9874]

watch chernobyl 3828 on youtube

[@bionerd23]

photos of the inside Chernobyl tour here: www.flickr.com/photos/bionerd

[@NikitaZhvansky]

bionerd23 Why you dont use google map for showing your location?

[@bionerd23]

Nikita Zhvan copyright issues, google would give me a really good hard beating for that.

[@NikitaZhvansky]

ah lol

[@NinoJoel]

Warum arbeiten so viele noch im reaktor Gebäude obwohl keine brenstäbe mehr drinnen sind ? Oder verwechsele ich da was.

[@bionerd23]

Nino Joel insbesondere rueckbauarbeiten, aber auch messungen. aber eben auch vorbereitungen fuer das new safe confinement. ist ja nicht so, als wuerde man da einfach den deckel drauf machen und es vergessen. dadrunter geht die arbeit dann weiter, fuer jahrzehnte. aber das erzaehle ich im naechsten video noch genauer...

[@MayaPosch]

That happy, warm fuzzy feeling when you realize that nobody will ever be crazy enough to build an RBMK or similar positive void co-efficient nuclear reactor again. All remaining RBMK reactors (at Chernobyl, in Russia and elsewhere) were all adjusted after the Reactor 4 accident to reduce their void co-efficient, thus reducing the possibility of such a run-away catastrophe. As the accident at Fukushima Daiichi showed, when you take a proper (though still outdated) Gen II reactor with a negative void co-efficient and a reactor containment vessel, and then abuse the heck out of it for countless decades while ignoring every possible safety measure (thanks, TEPCO!), when it finally goes, it's with a sizzle, as the only 'boom' was from the hydrogen explosions. Naturally, the RBMK design was both meant to be extremely cheap (by skipping basic safety measures like a containment vessel, and using cheaper yet risky graphite as moderator), and to be capable of producing weapons-grade plutonium and such isotopes, as it was still an adapted military reactor design. This was the reason behind the ability to hot-swap fuel rods. Many lessons should be learned from accidents like Chernobyl, the primary one being that the most prominent link in any accident chain is pretty much always going to be human factors. The tragedy is that such lessons tend to be at the cost of innocent lives.

[@janovlk]

There were other accidents in RBMK power plants connected with low power mode. Reactors were harmed but sustained high pressures and temperatures. It happened even in power plant very close to St. Petersburg. Operators of RBMK reactors couldn't learn from those accidents because of ubiquitous secrecy. An accident happened in 1982 at Chernobyl reactor 1 . One of the pressure channels was blocked. An operator closed a valve by mistake. The fuel rod exploded and damaged the graphite channel. Radiation was spilled from ventilation to other parts of power plant. Today, parameters from all the Russian nuclear power plants are transmitted to the Moscow supervision center in real time.

[@AppleUploader]

Maya Posch Overall pretty good reactors, just don't act like a dumb ass when operating them and you'll be fine.

[@ThriveSkateboards]

I love you and all you're doing/showing. I've had a heavy interest in the exclusion zone for a few years now and there is nothing else, that I've come across, that opens the doors to this incredible place like you do. I've now seen parts of Chernobyl and Pripyat, because of you, that I'm sure I would never see myself if I was to visit and tour. So, thank you for sharing your own love of this place so that the rest of us can become engulfed and engaged just like you do.

[@tsusec]

Get out of here STALKER! Did you find Strelok?

[@lukeskywalker1840]

This is what KZbin should be. Interesting and educational material that you can learn from. Less stupid videos about punking stuck up girls or dumb pet tricks. We need more videos like this on here. Well done to the film makers.

[@markus4395]

True

[@lukeskywalker1840]

@Tim Stephen I'm well aware of that. I'm making a opinionated statement. Maybe you should do a quick search and see how many Justin Bieber videos there are and people trying to do stupid pet tricks. You know exactly what I'm talking about.

[@lukeskywalker1840]

@Tim Stephen Keep laughing and being cynical. I don't remember once asking for your opinion.

[@ryancparker]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/aJe2apyum7aSpNE

[@lukeskywalker1840]

@@ryancparker Interesting. Thank you.

[@tarahawk6244]

Thank you bionerd23! This is one of the best pieces I have seen on Chernobyl. Footage of the famous "golden corridor", reactor configuration, details on how the control room monitors worked including the fuel rod swapping process & tracking channels, the fuel storage complex, pump rooms and the poignant memorial to Valery Khodemchuk (the senior operator of reactor #4's main circulation pump whose body was never recovered as he was trapped under the explosion wreckage of the steam separator drums).

[@GrnArrow092]

Thanks for the Chernobyl tour video. I've had only vague ideas of the layout of the plant from videos I've seen. I've seen a few videos of reenactments of the disaster that only tells you how the disaster happened and weren't exactly clear of the layout of the plant. I like how everything was shown in more detail and how the plant was operated. I would have thought the hallways around reactor 4 would be too high to walk though, but it seems from the low readings from the gamma scout, the radiation levels were acceptable. I was curious if all the radiation in the hallway was coming through the walls or if there were still radioactive particles remaining from the disaster. Seeing that big red door sealing off reactor 4 illustrated more on how dangerous the remains of reactor 4 still are. Overall, great video. I hope there is still more to see there.

[@bionerd23]

GrnArrow092 the area has been decontaminated with great efforts, also to ensure the (relative) safety of people working with the other three OPERATIONAL reactors for many years to come after the accident, so there's no real contamination risk inside these hallways. most of the radiation indeed seems to come from the reactor 4 building. i'm not sure if some rooms were just sealed and abandoned - not decontaminated - though.

[@bigums21]

I had no idea people still work there! This was genuinely fascinating to watch

[@bigums21]

@Just Here good to know, thanks

[@Napoleon_Blownapart]

@Just Here actually, 2 ran until 1991, 1 at 1996 and 3 until year 2000. the plant is shut down. but not fully decommissioned yet.

[@cokeforever]

the French are building a huge (1GW) solar power farm on territory where now-drained cooling pond was - what a great symbol

[@mytmousemalibu]

One of, if not your finest video. Rest in peace, all those whom lost their lives during and after the accident. Bravo on the video!

[@GoddardsJournal]

No surprise the views are rolling, I bet this'll be one of her most popular videos.

[@privatear2001]

mytmousemalibu Agreed! In the BBC documentary, something like Chernobyl Uncensored, Gorbachev is interviewed and remarks that if these people hadn't given their lives, ALL of Europe would have been an uninhabitable wasteland to this day. Most people on that continent don't know how lucky they are. Some fields in Great Britain are still so contaminated to this day that they can't use them for crops even. That was just from the meltdown that was contained... So I try to mention it every year on my facebook page on the date. We should all be very thankful to the 600,000 liquidators who made the world a better place for the rest of us by their heroism.

[@mytmousemalibu]

Its fascinating and terrifying at the same time. I remember back in 86 when it happened, the whole world on pins & needles. It was scary. The awesome, massive, intense, and invisible enemy to life released open to the world that day in 1986. Radiation so incredibly strong that you could be fatally dosed in seconds. Like looking over the edge into the reactor was an instant death sentence. Radiation so strong it could be tasted and even disturbed your thought process. And poorly equipped men worked in these conditions. How about the men that dived the bubble pool, full of water that some of which ran through the reactor! It was a death sentence. Can you imagine picking up the actual graphite and fuel with your hands... How about the initial responders and workers that were in the vicinity of the reactor right after the explosion. The firefighters too. I can't imagine walking into radiation so strong you essentially dropped where you stood and died. It really is terrifying. They went home to have children that were horribly affected as did the residents all around. Liquidators that later died horrible deaths, like rotting away while alive. It's important to remember our past mistakes so they don't end up repeated. Now we have the epic disaster that is Fukushima also.

[@bionerd23]

mytmousemalibu well, these brave people actually prevented an even bigger disaster by their actions of "liquidation". one may argue that some firefighters who were brought in from outside were not fully informed about the risks and dose rates, and the evacuation notice was definitely downplaying it all greatly - but the reactor operators knew what they were being exposed to. the engineers all knew it. yet, they went inside and for example, tried to locate Valery Khodemtchuk, and they perfectly well knew they were risking their own lives by doing so. when they used robots and those got stuck, they tried to free them, at worst by running there and trying to make them operable again, which killed quite a lot of people shortly (days to maximum a few years). there's a saying, "you only know a certain friend in uncertain times", and even in these extreme times, people valued the lives of others at least as much as their own, if not more. now look at these modern times and the western world, look at ships sinking... you'll see the people who understand their life is at risk running at first, the captain and crew will leave the ship first, leaving the others to die. egoism first, fuck everybody else.

[@mytmousemalibu]

bionerd23 I don't disagree at all. Those that gave their lives at Chernobyl are as heroic as any soldier. The actions by those brave souls saved countless lives. I had some family living in Europe at that time. My dad & his entire side of the family is from Kaiserslautern, and we have some family scattered across Germany at any given time. We were worried for them and everyone else at the time of the accident. Those that fought the battle against the invisible enemy don't get the recognition they deserve. The people that were simply victims of proximity to fallout didn't get the support and care they needed either. I'm glad you produce the great videos you do, it keeps it fresh in our minds, those of us that care. Most of the world has already forgotten Fukushima, water under the bridge, off most peoples radar and that was only 4 years ago.

[@Aussie50]

Amazing walk-through and tribute to those who have fallen on the Machine Frontier, nuclear power is an amazing thing, as deadly as it is. I am glad they let you in for a tour :D, it goes to show that its not all restricted, and that they recognize youtubers as a means of showing the world what has happened, and what is happening to clean up the mess too.

[@BradMottram]

I agree with you there. Such an amazing place to go for a visit.

[@Alexthebro265]

for me i would stop and turn around at unit 2.

[@privatear2001]

Al Thom I probably would too... oh well, "in for a penny, in for a pound!"

[@Kubko5656]

Aussie50 How interesting meeting you here Aussie O_o . But yeah, it´s awesome.

[@JamerTheProgrammer]

Jakub Fabo Yeah! Small world, of all the places!

[@priestpilot]

I've always thought that the decorative floors look interesting.

[@pho3nix-]

Typical Soviet design of the time lol

[@candidoj]

true

[@cowtippingrocks]

"what a fucking terrible way to die" you couldn't have put it better.

[@andyagf6870]

How anyone survied that is unreal. The radiation levels even in 2015! So many lives. So many hero's that went in after the explosion.

[@SocialGore]

The core didn't explode. You're in shock. Get to the infirmary.

[@jakethesnake2051]

What

[@roderickwilliams67]

@@jakethesnake2051 watch the Chernobyl HBO series

[@shortkutt4965]

Ive been a nuclear scientist for 35 years .....before now you made shoes......god bless communism

[@xDutchCat2131]

3.6 roentgens, not great not terrible

[@xDutchCat2131]

@Sjoerd van Rijswijk kanker. Aaha

[@firestorm7977]

Who is here after watching the Chernobyl mini series on AMC?

[@antoniocmf6238]

I am bro...🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@firestorm7977]

😂👍

[@firestorm7977]

Reverend RunBad heard of watching online? It’s also on sky in the uk.

[@firestorm7977]

Reverend RunBad 😂😂😂 sorry bro legit thought you we’re trying to troll.

[@amorag59]

@Reverend RunBad He's delusional, take him to the infirmary, take him!

[@goawaypls4559]

I got an ad from HBO to the miniseries. Clever.

[@kafka5795]

*I mean If you have searched or watched further videos about Chernobyl, it makes sense that KZbin’s algorithm would send you those add’s :)*

[@Indrid__Cold]

You are an incredibly dynamic young lady. Your enthusiasm for your quest for knowledge is contagious. You also have a remarkably relaxing voice. Considering the dangerous environment you are visiting, that is almost disconcerting.

[@dolanSWEG]

you forgot to show us the wish granter

[@psicogames5509]

i want to be rich

[@BeepingMetal]

No. You don't.

[@CoNnOr5899]

I want to rule the World

[@floriansoos4716]

Get out of here st..monolith oh monolith we thank you for revealing the cunning plans of your enemies...............

[@BlackHawkShines]

I want immortality.

[@saccharineserf7316]

ok so the cleanup may be nearly complete but someone needs to fix that misplaced floor tile at 3:27

[@SpantaxDC10]

And at 4:24

[@kushtrimbylykbashi6355]

@@SpantaxDC10 That has genuinely upset me

[@coolbloxl1373]

r/mildlyinfuriating

[@aaron71]

Ok, so after this video I now know that the whole area isn't a total ghost town. I thought it was 100% abandoned and you couldn't go NEAR the reactors without evaporating or something. To learn that they kept it operational for 14 years after the accident and people STILL work there and drive through blows my mind. With all this said, why is the city of Pripyat still abandoned? Why can they not wash & remove the radiation and rebuild? Great video, very informative!!

[@vNasttyy]

Because there is still so much radiation in many of the areas there and still a lot of radiation below the reactor itself. The immediate reactor will remain radiated for thousands of years leaving it rather inhabitable and dangerous. Yes there are spots of the exclusion zone that you can access but there is still soo much there its still very hard to live a "normal" life for all the precautions you would have to take in other areas.

[@vNasttyy]

+BrandoNast **radioactive material below the reactor. A lot of it has actually hardened which is also called 'elephants foot' which still emits radiation.

[@MrSmilingDeath]

+BrandoNast So much radiation that just being within eyesight of it with full protective gear is lethal after about 500 seconds.

[@henryrichards1542]

Bionerd - love your videos, they are all informative and engaging! I have a question on the "bridge of death" you mention in the beginning of the video. None of those deaths are reported in the official literature that I've seen. Naturally, I put little stock in the official Soviet reports either way. But I'm curious where you heard/read of those individuals and their fate, etc. Thank You!

[@wrongwayup.]

I never really get excited about any channel I subscribe to uploading a video, except yours. Your Chernobyl content is just great. Keep it up!

[@roscoegrinde8993]

Great video! I, as an american, that was born in 1980, do not know exactly what happened. This was the first of my exploration of exactly what happened to our earth, no longer having places that are safe, that are ruined by man. THANK YOU!

[@robertholsopple9451]

Chernobyl changed so much recently. This is important footage to have for history. Thank you for posting.

[@RiflemanMoore]

Does anyone know of an account of what the crews in the other reactors experienced on the night of the Chernobyl disaster? Were all the reactors shut down when the scale of the accident became apparent and then restarted at a later date?

[@tompeddle]

Fascinating video. Thanks for taking the time to film and upload it.

[@rwilly]

Your best video yet. Thank you for bringing us along with you for this rare look inside ChNPP.

[@wisteela]

Fantastic video. Great close ups of the control room, and lots of detail. Also, a fitting tribute.

[@anatolydyatlov4103]

Good old days

[@anatolydyatlov4103]

@Reverend RunBad he is having a shock. Take him to infirmary.

[@gabrielatschool-.-3869]

@Reverend RunBad In the soviet Union The core didnt explode. The core explodes you. Idiot lol xdd

[@privatear2001]

Good job on putting some maps up there, by the way. I have a hard job keeping track of where things are in the zone. Couldn't really tell Pripyat from Chernobyl. Now the radiation you're picking up on the drive inside the cab of the truck is only background Gamma, right? You don't get Beta inside the vehicle? Have the drivers ever checked their air filter for radiation, I wonder? I wonder if anything that might emit Alpha particles get inside the cab on the dust from the road or blowing in the wind? Just thinking these things as I'm watching the video...

[@bionerd23]

privatear2001 well, hard betas could enter and / or be converted into photons, so the beta radiation will not be "zero", but yeah, it's mostly gammas inside the car. an air filter would be awesome to measure, but i wonder if they ever exchange those on their cars, lol. i should ask for that next time, good point!

[@privatear2001]

bionerd23 Well, here's a fellow that people in this country like to disregard as a quack, but he does things the way I'd do them if I wanted to figure something out. He takes filters from cars in Tokyo as well as Air Conditioner filters high up in a window in Tokyo, and he finds elevated counts of radiation in them. /watch?v=U3YMa391qrE Of course, I thought it was a brilliant way to see if we received much fallout over here after the Fukushima incident because it should build up. Once in December 2011, when I got the Gammascout, it gave me a readout high above background when I pulled up at home in a heavy snowfall. Seemed like fallout in the snow. But it didn't seem much higher than background when I tried testing the car air filter with it. Just because some call him a quack, doesn't mean he doesn't do good science. Interestingly, while some have called you a shill for the nuclear industry (we your subscribers know you are not) they call him a quack because he speaks out against it - proving you can't win with ignorant biased people. Luckily you like to do science for science' sake. Thanks for all the great videos, Bionerd23!!!

[@bionerd23]

privatear2001 ugh, i have the common "news anchorman issue" with that guy. instead of showing some readings etc, some interesting footage, you just see his mouth movie for almost 10 minutes with nothing else to see. i am afraid my attention span is a little too short to watch this even in 2x speed. i skipped through and didnt see any spectrometry. that's a flaw. determining half lives by continued measurements over a certain amount of time, at least, is of major importance (if you dont have a spectrometer). many, many people measured radon daughters in filters etc. after fukushima and then panicked over nothing. it may also be other, natural radionuclides, as there are e.g. on the beaches of Brazil (to mention something i did videos about). there was fallout from fukushima in tokyo alright, i measured soil samples and detected radios of Cs-137 vs. Cs-134 in ratios meaning it is "fresh" from nuclear fuel. but if i had just received a soil sample that was radioactive, it could have been anything, including naturally radioactive volcano ash or the like.

[@privatear2001]

bionerd23 In part 2 he used the spectrometer and showed all the spikes from a half dozen isotopes he found. It might not have come up automatically on your page, but it was off to the right on mine. I posted a lot of questions on the comments about his methods and what instrumentation he was using. watch?v=oeS5dRkyBi0 he found Cs134 (42000 Bq/Kg), Cs137 (68000 Bq/Kg), Pb210 (7500 Bq/Kg), Th234 U238 (3000 Bq/Kg) , U235 (240 Bq/Kg), etc. He shows the peaks quite clearly. It was a good video, anyway.

[@bionerd23]

privatear2001 i indeed missed that. sounds quite high but provided the air filters do some good concentration (i have NO IDEA about cars, dont even have a driver's license!), those numbers are possible. i found a few kBq of Cs isotopes in sewer drain soil in Tokyo, so if those filters do some serious air throughput, i consider it possible. though those numbers always depend on calibration; if no perfect geometry calibration is applied, the readings may be far off. but it doesnt matter so much, even if it was a factor 10 less, it's still a lot.

[@10191927]

That's really amazing to actually see inside of the Chernobyl plant, where so few people actually get to go. Seeing the control panel, it amazes me that they made such a critical error when they dropped the power in reactor 4 setting off the reactions that made it explode.

[@ellicopter1]

Marth They didnt make an error, they followed the protocol correctly, but one of the steps caused a huge power surge, this was known by the people who designed the reactor, But to save national pride, eg ''russian reactors are superior''.... This known fault was not told to the operators and totally covered up, The operators are true hero's and died trying to shut the reactor down, they were blamed for the catastrophe, But it came out in later years that they had followed the correct procedure, and the design of the reactor was at fault.

[@privatear2001]

Aaron Elliott What a bizarre way to handle things, not telling the people who really need to know, about the design flaw. That one critical piece of information would have saved so many thousands of lives. The "Devil is in the details", as they say...

[@ellicopter1]

privatear2001 I know, It was how the soviets operated at the time, any flaw or accident was covered up, There are many unsung heros of the soviet rocket programme that died and such was the secrecy that even their family never told the truth of how they died.

[@bobl78]

Aaron Elliott they are victims of their System and culture...same Thing in Fukushima... they were poorly trained for emergency situtations and did not know how what to do because Desasters are "not allowed"

[@privatear2001]

bobl78 Well, to assume that "it can't happen here" because we're better at keeping things under control is, I think, a false presumption. We have the same problems at Pilgrim Nuclear Power plant up in Plymouth. Two years ago, they just got another license for 20 years even though they were at the 40 year end-of-life term and have had various problems including aging pipes corroding from the inside out. This alone should tell us that someone has more than people's safety in mind (ie: money). They're gambling with people's lives that they can keep it going without a major problem, even while agreeing that it is the end-of-life for this plant and it should be shut down. The plant shut down automatically anyway this past winter during a snowstorm when outside power failed. So to me the problem isn't how much training these people have, it is how do they react to a situation that ISN'T in the books? Like a bunch of cooling pipes failing all at once. And these aren't a small cost, as I think they have to use some form of gold or platinum to line them because the corrosion is so harsh. So to presume we have achieved mastery over Physics, Mother Nature and Murphy's Law is a big stretch for me. I always wanted to build a completely self-sufficient solar heated house. Now there are two ways to do it: active (which requires me to do something manually to keep something working) or passive (which operates independently of me for the most part). If I were building, I would do it passive, using such technology as skylids, closed heating system, proper East West orientation, etc. Simple is better. In the 50's, I think, there was a choice between the reactors like we have at Pilgrim (which is the same design as the one in Fukushima) or something called a Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor, which they adopted for use in subs and aircraft carriers because of its inherent stability and ability to shut itself down once the equipment fails. From what I understand, we opted for the (ACTIVE) much- less-safe Light Water Reactors because they could produce fissile materials for bombs, stuff that has half-lives of thousands or millions of years. I would have had us go the (PASSIVE) LFTR route, as the inventor of LFTR expressed. He was appalled when he was ordered to abandon it. (Read more about LFTR's here: www.physicsforums.com/threads/liquid-fluoride-thorium-reactor.520161/) Really, I don't think any of us has the common sense to handle this technology based on what I've seen in the last few years. I also think, if there be any advanced race out there in space, they may be looking down on us in horror as infants playing with matches and dynamite. That's really what I feel.

[@SirGosht]

I was told by my Chernobyl guide that actually very few people from the "Bridge of Death" died.

[@kungfujesus1874]

Yes only people that wear on foot did every one else in cars, buses were ok

[@wiretamer5710]

The ‘bridge of death’ is largely an urban myth. While MANY of the inhabitants of Pripyat CONTINUE to suffer the medical effects of radiation exposure, as far as I know, NO ONE DIED as a direct result of standing on that bridge on the night of the disaster. The worst aspect of the disaster for nearby local residents, was the evacuation delay. It’s important to remember that the amount of radiation at any specific place nearby varied greatly. In terms of exposure much of the radioactive material from the two explosions was in the radioactive cloud. In the days and weeks after, the radioactive ‘smoke’ from the ongoing reactor fire became the biggest danger to the locals. The reactor debris around the destroyed reactor was only dangerous to people immediately on site.

[@commanderrussels2612]

came here to post this.

[@vulcangbr6064]

How are there cars and lorries passing you by past the exclusion zone? I know that there's obviously workers working on the new shell, but seriously? They allow vehicles through? And also, why were there so many people walking past you through the corridors, how were they allowed in?

[@bionerd23]

CAV C of course. there's even a conventional bus line running from Kiev right into the town of Chernobyl. it stops at a checkpoint where you have to produce a permit to go inside, so you cannot just randomly drive in, but yeah. normal buses go there, into the exclusion zone. they're commonly just used by workers, though, because - as i said - you have to have a permit. there are also trucks with food for the workers, building materials, police, etc. going in and out of the zone every day.

[@bionerd23]

CAV C the people seen in the video, well, they work there. there are lots of people working there. it's not as abandoned and dangerous and creepy as they like to tell you in the news. it used to be, right after the accident. but now, it's a fairly normal situation in regard to decommissioning the reactors of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. the only exception is the work at the exploded reactor number 4, where due to the radiation levels, special precautions are taking place. also, you have your vehicle checked by contamination and portal monitors and have to pass a contamination check in person, but this is the case for nuclear power plants in normal operation around the world, too.

[@Science2Student]

bionerd23 I have almost zero knowledge about radiation, but aren't the buses and cars that are allowed in RADIATED?? how can they let the buses go back to Kiev RADIATED? is there any way to remove the radiation from the car and buses before allowing them to go back to Kiev?

[@Quantum-]

Science2Student the radiation levels aren't high enough to cause anyone damage.

[@hjembrentkent6181]

Science2Student If your car is radiated i doesn't necessarily make your car radioactive, most of the radiation comes from Caesium137 which gives off an electron and some gamma radiation in the decay. To make the car radioactive, you need direct contact with radioactive materials, and most of it has been cleaned or washed into the soil from rainfall. Thats why you wear full protective suits, which doesn't stop the gamma rays, but it makes sure you don't have direct contact with radioactive materials. Its much more harmful when you breathe radioactive materials, and other forms of direct contact. Its much worse to be radiated continously because you have radioactive materials on your clothes

[@initialb5009]

haven't seen your videos in a long time.. good to be back.

[@lalitbarai]

Why are people working there if there's high radiation in the air?

[@kafka5795]

*They have covered reactor 4, in 2 layers now. Both the sarcophagus and the newly extra confinement. Plus they’re on tour in reactor 2, and only shortly in* *3. Which should downgrade the radiation for the next 100 years. Plus as they said the radiant dosis has drastically decreased over the span of over 30* *years. But still doesn’t explain why they kept running reactor 3 until 2000, I’ll give you that :)*

[@ssarahamalin]

@@kafka5795 your caps lock on urged me to read this until the end.

[@andreas.charalambides]

Thank you so much. Always wanted to see all these and the information this video is giving is detailed to the last bit.

[@sa230e]

This is SO cool. Maybe it sounds kind of morbid but I love seeing footage from inside the plant. I know a lot of people died there but it's fascinating to see all the old soviet technology and industrial architecture still preserved intact as it was in the 1980s. Also it's a place that was always very closed off. The Soviets would probably never have let a westerner with a camera in and after the accident it probably became even harder to get into. I bet it took a lot of string pulling and paperwork to get in there. If you have any more footage, I'd love to see it - even if you just throw it up unedited. P.S. Did they let you into one of the reactor halls? (Obviously not unit 4)

[@Flapjackbatter]

sa230e "Maybe it sounds kind of morbid but I love seeing footage from inside the plant. I know a lot of people died there but it's fascinating to see all the old soviet technology and..." I hope you don't feel bad. Because you should not. Human curiosity is maybee more unstoppable than neutron radiation. And without it...who knows... we might not have out-competed the neandertals. We are certainly hardwired for strong curiosity. If we were not interested in why other people died young and in their prime, maybe we will fall victim to the same thing. That's what I think about it anyway.

[@cokeforever]

sa230e you can purchase a tour there... And yes bionerd23 and Carl Willis both have videos of standing on the reactor cap (over the decomissioned rods) and next to spent fuel rods pools, you can find those vids on both of their channels

[@Varskar]

With the chimney removed, that place lost its mystic atmosphere.

[@vidmizz]

I'd rather it not look pretty and not poison the entire region and ruin countless lives than the other way around

[@Varskar]

@@vidmizz It would never happen but every reason is good to take such large investments. People will justify everything when there is big money involved.

[@halofreak1990]

@@Varskar Thing is, the large chimney was in the way; If you look at aerial photos of the plant, you can see that the outer wall of the New Safe Confinement is located where the old chimney had stood prior. They simply could not keep it in place, even if they wanted to (because the chimney had reached the end of its 30-year design lifespan, anyway) As for @ChuckNorrison's comment, the amount of radiation emitted from the chimneys is pretty low, due to a plethora of filters trapping any radioactive aerosols before they can be discharged into the air. Remember that, during normal operation, the chimney is used to discharge air from the reactor spaces, anyway, so its continued use for its intended purpose after the accident had no different environmental impact than before the accident.

[@ericsson_motorsports]

@@Varskar The new confinement has significantly reduced the radiation levels outside the power plant, Also the old sarcohpagus was at risk of collapsing and if that happened lots of radiation could leak into the atmosphere. This isn't a case of justifying anything because of big money being involved at all.

[@Maverick25ish]

Anyone find the AZ-5 button on the consoles?

[@Pyro19903]

thank you for the footage great shots of the control room

[@iamnotanuggetblackhart5103]

Hey Bionerd23, are you still active? Noticed you've dropped off the face of the earth (or at least the internet) for a bit now. Hope all is well.

[@CallieMasters5000]

The fact that you can't see radiation and everything looks like a big factory, it's hard to really get much out of these videos. The power plant probably looked just as depressing before the accident.

[@khndlgn]

After watched Chernobyl on HBO who else??

[@markcopland8425]

Rearaity is stranger than fiction, right here

[@p0p4]

Didn’t see any giant rainbow coloured graphite in the shows bridge scene.

[@leandromartyn]

All 😃

[@khndlgn]

So excited on next episode

[@kroneyt1493]

Do they still do tours inside of the reactor after the new safe confinement was finished and moved into place?

[@m3sca1]

Never knew the other reactors were still in operation for 14 years...i thought the place was an abandoned ghost facility

[@AyoxinBlake]

Just saw your channel, thank you (belatedly) for sharing the inside of the NPP. It was interesting, I had no idea Ходимчук had a memorial inside, I always figured it was outside the plant. May the man rest in peace alongside the others who died after the disaster.

[@oldschoolgamer2337]

This was such a amazing video.. so sad to see a city what it was in its a day to what it is today... Rest in peace to all the people that put there own lives in danger to help others live a beter life. Excellent job on this video too..

[@kev-the-windsurfer.]

Thank you for posting this most excellent detailed and well informed video, I really enjoyed the commentary, and of course, immense respect for the people involved in containing and dealing with the mess. Those poor workers what an absolutely awful way to die.....

[@KB4QAA]

Bionerd23, Could you please add captions with the Gamma Scout readings and units (milliSieverts, microSieverts). Thanks.

[@MarkRose1337]

KB4QAA If you watch at 720 or 1080, it's easy to read them. The readings are in μSv/hour, and keep an eye out for the decimal place.

[@KB4QAA]

Mark Rose Thank you for your tips!

[@oliverread2532]

It’s almost unbelievable they were running unit 2 all the way up to the year 2000. After all the people who died the first time, imagine having a job in the control room inside...

[@StreuB1]

Chilling video. Thank you for making it and sharing. Bless those that died to protect the rest of the world.

[@incubus_the_man]

Thanks for showing us the inside of this place. I don't think I've seen some of those places in the documentaries that I've seen. You could make a short documentary detailing how the accident happened. You wouldn't have to record very much new material because you have already have a lot to work with.

[@zaierrahutson5815]

30 years later today

[@theupstateniko]

Well done. This video is incredible. So we'll put together. Great job! If I'm not mistaken, I think a documentary about the Chernobyl disaster was made in the very same control room you were in! Incredible video.

[@simonrichard9873]

Did you locate Switch AZ-5?

[@simonrichard9873]

No. It's written A3-5

[@ulfvonweimuller4433]

@@simonrichard9873 You mean АЗ-5

[@JMsoo]

how you managed to get inside the plant I am going to visit in November, you had a journalist permission?

[@Marijo79]

Absolutely brilliant this video you rule!!! Thank you so much for this hugs from Argentina ☺

[@lonw.7016]

Haven't watched your vids in any particular order. Am beginning to see what drew you into this series, and over time you nerded out. It is so darn interesting, scary/creepy/weird, and worthy of examination. Am glad to have found this. thanks for your efforts.

[@yurif74]

this is one of the most beautiful report i ever saw regarding chernobyl nuclear plant, i'm very impressed by some lights still on here and there on control panels, what's the monument at about 14:10 ?

[@MrJason005]

+yurif74 It's a memorial to a head engineer that died when the accident happended, I believe.

[@tucker4182]

Great video. Love the over lap of locations. Just amazing!! Thank you.

[@stevemc6010]

"50,000 people used to live here, now it's a ghost town"

[@Dude-yo5ec]

"All gillied up theme music plays in the background"

[@utkarshtripathi3179]

Never seen anything like it.

[@kafka5795]

**40.000 but get the reference...*

[@LCdrDerrick]

What an amazing tour and inside views! Thanks for sharing! But tell us, was Pflugbeil right? Has the reactor coughed out most of its inventory or is most of it still in there, in form of molten lava or elephant foots in the lower sections? And which additional dose does one recieve on a full day trip through the zone and Pripyat, with visiting a few 'hot spots'? It's not that much, is it? A full torso CT is way worser I guess.

[@danh8841]

+LCdrDerrick From my reading, most of it is still there, some 95%. The pics of the 'lava' in the basement are incredible.

[@joechiodi5529]

The tour guide speaks English very well.

[@syabilazri]

bionerd23 isn't a tour guide, she's a scientist working for the New Safe Confinement project

[@nics2828]

syabilazri Joe is referring to the guy guiding the tour, not bionerd23

[@arfhannam]

Love your vids, thank you for being crazy enough to ho and show us what the zone looks like now... Love all your videos, keep up the amazing work, and thank you for taking the time to editing and uploading them to KZbin :)

[@BRIANSTECHTHERAPY]

These videos are amazing!! Great job!!

[@fhowland]

Its amazing how accurate the set for the tv show got it. Such attention to detail.

[@RIP19851]

I can’t believe it will be 33 this year

[@gavinbeacom3251]

Ik

[@thadiusvonhammer5324]

Subscribe to sssuper sus

[@fn0rd99]

I thought that 'bridge of death' thing was just lore/legend that turned out to have no basis..?

[@Lodomirov]

Cuz it is

[@puncheex2]

What is your evidence for the claim that any number of people were overcome with ARS at the bridge? I've often heard the claim, but have never seen any documentation for it. As far as ARS is concerned it was about 250 workers and firemen, of which about 40 died. The emergency people weren't callous about heaps of bodies; as far as I've seen recorded, there were none.

[@kroneyt1493]

Was this a special private tour they gave to you, or do they give these tours to other people as well?

[@zapranoth]

Awesome video, As always. Love your hand drawn maps!

[@HiwasseeRiver]

Wow - very informative. 29 yrs - almost one half life of Cs. I'm always amazed at the volume and tonnage of spent fuel, and that's not unique to Chernobyl. It looked like the floors had been coated with resin to encapsulate contamination. What do they say about the airborne dose?

[@fullride5]

Great video one of the best I’ve seen as far as exclusive video of the real thing.

[@MrWolfSnack]

I noticed how swiftly the guide/scientist was walking around 13:00 in....I guess he was more worried about radiation than you?

[@TheThorns]

Can you recommend a Geiger counter for a beginner that is moderately priced?

[@temporality_]

What would a "moderate" price be?

[@williamreigle7118]

They are only around 50 bucks I hear

[@runforit420]

Can anyone answer this question: were the golden panels installed in the corridor after the accident in unit 4 or were they installed before and the panels were removed in the confinement area in unit 4 ? The guide here confirmed that the panels were installed after the accident, which makes sense, to reduce the amount of exposure to plant personnel from the contaminated walls (walls can only be cleaned so much). The flooring looks the same in the unit 4 corridor but the walls don't have any panels. Can anyone clear up this question ? Sorry if the question wasn't completely clear, but there are conflicting responses: some saying the panels were always there and some saying the panels were installed after April 1986.

[@Jeepjones85]

Wow I didn't realize they were actually people working there. Scary

[@BirivaMartirizado]

There's no one working there

[@cokeforever]

Pedro Cecconi there are hundreds workers there. ChNPP even has its own KZbin channel

[@Stainz05]

Thank you for another great video on the 29th anniversary - a fitting tribute to those who died.

[@crunchb3rry]

Lol, I like that "map" overlay. That's a neat idea.

[@Exitore]

You didn't see graphite on the floor.

[@StinkFingerr]

"These aren't the Droids you're looking for ".

[@PolinaS23]

how much did you pay to get inside the station?

[@vanPoll]

I live in southern Germany. When the accident happened, I was a small boy. My grandparents had to excavate all their herbgarden and replace it with new humus, because whe had so much fallout coming down with the rain. When I was 21 I survived cancer and I'm very sure it had to do with chernobyl. From our woods are mushrooms and wild boar still a deadly risk to eat, because they pick up all the radioactive poison in the first 30 centimeters of ground. Hunters have to check for radiation, when they shoot deer or wild boar. Mushrooms should never be eaten.

[@osnigarszareck]

People still work at the plant today? The other reactors still work ?

[@shauns9694]

+Ticotuco Real question is who were these people willing to work at this place after the disaster? The othr reactors were used up until like 2000. The 2nd reactor caught on fire in 1991 and was taken offline. The other two 1&3 remained operational after wards for some years. Crazy I know> I sure the hell wouldn't want to be anywhere near ground zero.

[@Theprogamer19033]

+Shaun Morgan Would you go beside reactor 4 if you had power armor on? I sure would.

[@shauns9694]

Maybe if I was paid a million dollars or more.

[@kfjfjfjewlsls]

+Shaun Morgan source for this info?

[@auto167]

+Saku Jalonen Lue vaikka wikipediasta ihan suomeksi. Vuoteen 2000 asti oli laitos toiminnassa.

[@alyanni]

Unbelieveble! what was the maximum radiation have you expose? greetings from Uruguay

[@apeblackberry3641]

15:28 1 Controller liked this place 2 Pseudogiant shared this place 32 Bloodsucker visited this place

[@Pirosbor]

Ok, 35 seconds in and you've already stated a falsehood. The "bridge of death" is a myth.

[@Nam3Iess]

How the heck did you get in there? Nice video btw!

[@Flapjackbatter]

***** My thoughts altso. Is this a tour that everybody can pay for, or do you have to be friendly with high-ups in the zone? (Like I imagine Ms B is.)

[@privatear2001]

Flapjackbatter I'd imagine she got special permission to enter here. After all her videos on the subject, I'd also imagine any higher-ups seeing them realized she likes the science for science sake, and it would make her a shoe-in for a plant tour. After I'd seen footage from her second visit of her being able to get into places hard for other people, I wondered how long it would be before she'd be invited to tour the inside. :)

[@ArnoldsGaming]

privatear2001 Actually you can get a tour from "Chernobyl Tour." Supposedly on their website you need to have a scientific field, but honestly it doesn't sound like they are very picky when I contacted them about potentially taking a trip there. I'm sure if you bring a camera and tell them youre a reporter/journalist writing about the disaster they will let you in. The site isn't that secure anymore because, to my knowledge, the fuel should already be removed offsite, just leaving behind the rest of the RBMK on site. Tour site: chernobyl-tour.com/tours_to_chernobyl_nuclear_power_plant_en.html

[@BirivaMartirizado]

Nam3less she sided with the C-Consiousnes

[@j.playstation9163]

You can go with a tour. I will go in April.

[@XLordLeamingtonX]

This is a great video especially seeing the inside of the buildings and demonstrations of how the plant functions