Chernobyl: tragedy, tourism and Instagram hype | ' Travel | '
Since the critically acclaimed HBO and sky miniseries "Chernobyl" were aired, Instagram selfies shot on the reactor grounds have been causing a stir. Everyone talks about the selfie tourists, about clicking, sharen and being ashamed. But nobody talks about the real place where these selfies are taken. About Chernobyl, where a nuclear disaster broke out on April 26, 1986. All this reminds me of my visit to Chernobyl, back then, the hype. It's time to talk about it.
Tour offers in Chernobyl
For over 30 years, textbooks have been scattered in the hallways of the Pripyat school
About four kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is the city of Pripyat. It was raised in 1970 simultaneously with the reactor. Thus Prypjat lies in the middle of the uninhabitable 30-kilometer exclusion zone around the power plant. About 50,000 people lived here – until the city was evacuated on April 27, 1986.
In the weeks following the nuclear disaster, a total of 116,000 people were evacuated. They all lived within the 30 kilometer radius of the power plant. The explosion of the nuclear reactor killed two people, and 28 more – most of them factory workers and first responders – died of burns or radiation in the weeks that followed. The official figures on the exact number of dead vary widely. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4,000 people died. People who died of complications over the years. The number of sick people is likely to be in the millions.
To date, only factory workers, government employees and authorized tour groups have access to the 30-kilometer restricted zone. Within this radius the radioactive fallout was strongest. Within the first 10 days after the explosion, a radioactivity of several trillion becquerels was released here. Guided tours of Chernobyl have only been offered since 2011, since the authorities have classified entering the restricted zone as safe.
When the discussion about the Chernobyl Instagram selfies hit waves, I called Sergiy Ivanchuk. He is the founder of SoloEast Tours and offers officially approved tours in Chernobyl. If he was traveling with his groups, would also be photographed, he tells me. But most visitors were respectful of the tragedy that took place here. And: his employees would do everything to make the visitors aware of this.
As a tourist on the scene of a tragedy
I can only confirm that. One and a half years ago, in the middle of freezing January, I myself was traveling with a tourist in Chernobyl with SoloEast Tous. Since the shooting for the HBO series had not even begun. However, selfies – recorded in front of tourist hotspots, spread on Twitter and Instagram – were already a well-known phenomenon at that time.
Access to the restricted zone: Only those who submit themselves to strict personal checks can get in.
On my tour, the guides showed films and documentaries during our two-hour drive from Kiev into the restricted area.
When we reached the restricted area, we had to show our ID cards – as with the identity card control of an airport. Our ID cards were checked carefully and the security forces made clear announcements: do not touch anything, do not compromise, and above all, do not take anything! The Geiger counter, which we took with us throughout our trip, reminded us unequivocally why. Sometimes he howled wildly. And we took another route.
We passed through the former working-class city of Pripyat, built within sight of the reactor. It was scary. The books scattered in the hallways were from 1980. There was a newspaper – it had only appeared a few days before the catastrophe. The fairground, the Ferris wheel, the bumper cars – everything that was intended for the pastime of the residents, lay there deserted, everything has been eradicating for over 30 years. During my visit, it was bitterly cold, minus 20 degrees Celcius. But not only was it cold, it was like time was frozen.
The famous Ferris wheel of Pripyat – on 1 May 1986 should open the fairground. It did not happen anymore.
The HBO series gives the correct impression that in 1986, nobody really knew what radioactivity meant, how to behave, what to do. It's different today. Before leaving the grounds, we are all sent through a lock to be sure that we are not contaminated by radioactivity. There are two checkpoints, one is about 10 kilometers from the reactor, the other one comes when you leave the restricted area. I suppose that with every transatlantic flight you get more radioactive radiation today than on a day in Chernobyl.
When TV tourism meets social media
Chernobyl is still a place that is reasonably hard to reach. In physical terms, but also in terms of the required permits. Therefore, I do not believe that the danger of overtourism is imminent here in the foreseeable future. What a social media hype can do, however, can be seen in other locations, which became famous on TV or cinema, well. Especially if they are cheap to reach and the journey is comfortable. This is the case in Dubrovnik in Croatia or Maya Beach in Thailand. In Dubrovnik scenes from "Game of Thrones" and "Star Wars" were filmed, in Thailand the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo di Caprio in the lead role. The Maya Beach has suffered so much in the wake of the onslaught of tourists that it is closed at least until 2021. The beach needs rest.
Relic of the Cold War: Large antennas of the missile surveillance system DUGA 1
Yes, it is a phenomenon: people no longer come because of the beauty of a place – or because of the tragedy that took place there. They come because of the movie scene that they love.
Travel agencies recently told reuters that following the series' premiere on HBO and Sky, requests for a visit to the Chernobyl have risen by 30 to 40 percent. However, Ivanchuk from SoloEast sees no concrete connection. With or without Instagram hype, he expects the interest in the future to increase.
"In 2016 we had 7500 Chernobyl visitors, there were 11.450 in 2018. There will certainly be more because of the series, but of course people did not storm the exclusion zone right after the start of the series." I see a steadily growing interest Bookings for the next few months, "says Ivanchuk.
Has survived the times: Soviet propaganda
What Chernobyl stands for goes beyond any Instagram hype. The scale of the disaster, the many victims that the nuclear accident has claimed, have changed our view of nuclear energy once and for all. For some years Chernobyl has been trying to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. A memorial to humanity.
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