Chernobyl Becomes Tourist Hot Spot 276
prostoalex writes "18 years ago on April 26, the Chernobyl disaster occurred in Central Ukraine. Nowadays, as British Telegraph reports, the radioactive disaster area is becoming a tourist hot-spot with 3000 visitors paying $200 for a guided tour each year."
Look Maw!! (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Look Maw!! (Score:5, Insightful)
these are real people
Re:Look Maw!! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Look Maw!! (Score:3, Funny)
Good job mate. You just made the three handed kid feel like an idiot for making a joke of it.
Re:Look Maw!! (Score:2, Informative)
off-color jokes are not offensive.
off-color jokes are not sexual harassment.
off-color jokes are not an attack on me or "my kind".
your opinion sucks. please kill yourself.
Re:Look Maw!! (Score:2, Insightful)
The motorcycle chick... (Score:4, Funny)
Is motorcycle rental included?
Re:The motorcycle chick... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The motorcycle chick... (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The motorcycle chick... (Score:2)
Check out the site for clarification, I haven't got time at the moment.
*she used another word, but perhaps that was just a translation problem..
Re:The motorcycle chick... (Score:3, Funny)
IIRC, on one of her more recent updates to the site, she mentioned something about having had the pass card taken off her. Something to do with a revved engine, a dropped clutch, and a humourless gate guard! Bit of a shame really, her web site is probably one of the best (as in most touching, informative, interesting) web sites I've ever seen, a welcome change from most of the crud on the net.
Re:The motorcycle chick... (Score:4, Funny)
While I realize the intented meaning of "ride her", it just seems... odd...
Re:The motorcycle chick... (Score:5, Funny)
Isn't that what happens in Soviet Ru...?
Oh, never mind.
This just up (Score:2)
Illness (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Illness (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Illness (Score:3)
Re:Illness (Score:2, Funny)
Hot Spot? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Hot Spot? (Score:3, Funny)
In this case yes... (Score:2)
myke
Re:Hot Spot? (Score:3, Insightful)
you need to go to a Porta-Potty, you don't need to go to Chernobyl. (I think they think) THAT's what makes this figure amazing
Re:Hot Spot? (Score:5, Funny)
I'm a bit worried about the .2 people, I prefer it when they stay down once I've cut them up.
Re:Hot Spot? (Score:5, Funny)
Carpets by Bono
Tagline: 8 went in, 8.2 came back.
Re:Hot Spot? (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Hot Spot? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Hot Spot? (Score:2)
Re:Hot Spot? (Score:2)
How about the submitter slinks away quietly. Call us when they're getting 1000 people per day.
Look ma (Score:2, Funny)
*click*
oh that will be a good one to scrap book!!
I hope... (Score:5, Funny)
Mmmmm, radiation is bad, um ok (Score:5, Interesting)
Routinely we were lazy and didn't want to work a full day so we would stand next to the main coolant pumps (one of the hottest spots for radiation in the compartment) and crank our dosage and be over our daily limit so we wouldn't have to work the rest of the day.
Now as I write this 10 years later I wonder why we just didn't take off the damn dosimeter and place it and not us next to the damn hot spot!
I'm kind of afraid now my first kid will have an extra testical and be able to read people's minds.
Re:Mmmmm, radiation is bad, um ok (Score:3, Funny)
Obviously, I mean it doesn't take a nuclear scientist to figu...oh
HUH??? (Score:3, Funny)
Still not getting it.... (Score:4, Funny)
If anyone has information about specific types of radiation and doses which would cause these effects, please respond.
Re:Mmmmm, radiation is bad, um ok (Score:5, Funny)
I guess that's better than your kid having an extra mind, and being able to read people's testicles.
Re:Mmmmm, radiation is bad, um ok (Score:2)
radiation badges (dosimeters) (Score:2, Interesting)
Anonymous troublemaker
Radiation (Score:2)
Re:Radiation (Score:5, Informative)
And comparing the stuff from a power plant to the stuff from a nuke is kind of stupid. Nukes are meant to make the biggest BOOM possible. They try to use the least materials to do it, and the force required tends to break the materials down into fairly non-dangerous stuff.
Re:Radiation (Score:2)
Re:Radiation (Score:2)
Re:Radiation (Score:2)
Heck, there's evidence that low dose radiation (up to a point) is more beneficial than zero radiation, because it cranks up the body's repair mechanisms which also go to work on other problems (viruses, toxins, etc).
Not that any of this is very precise -- the effects of a given dose of radiation, like other things, will vary on the
Re:Radiation (Score:4, Interesting)
You also need to define what type of radiation you're talking about. e.g.:
Alpha - Only dangerous if emitted internally or through skin breaks
Beta - Similar to Alpha, but with more penetrating power. Basically an unfocused electron beam. A certain amount of voltaic pressure is required to penetrate the skin externally.
Gamma & X-Ray - High penetration power, more dangerous externally.
Neutron - Better hope you have good life insurance, because parts are going to start disappearing.
Gamma and X-Ray are what's known as "cosmic rays" because they are prevalent in background radiation. Alpha and Beta don't usually occur naturally. Neutron radiation is really only something you'd find at the heart of a reactor.
And that is your 10 minute science lesson for today.
Re:Radiation (Score:5, Informative)
Quickly paraphrasing this from Walker's Physics, Volume II:
The RAD (radiation absorbed dose) is the amount of energy that is absorbed by an irradiated, regardless of the type of radiation. One rad equals .01 joule per kilogram.
More information is needed to have an indication of the biological effect a certain dosage will produce. This is called the relative biological effectiveness (RBE). Some values:
Heavy ions: 20
Alpha rays: 10-20
Protons: 10
Fast neutrons: 10
Slow neutrons: 4-5
Beta rays: 1.0-1.7
Gamma rays: 1
200-keV X-rays: 1
The biologically equivalent dose for humans, the REM (radiation equivalent in man), is just the dose of radiation times the RBE. So alpha rays have at least ten times the relative biological effectiveness than X-rays.
Re:Radiation (Score:5, Informative)
You are both right.
Alpha particles do more damage, but only if produced by ingested substances. From external sources, they won't penetrate the layer of dead skin on the surface of your body.
Heavy ions behave similarly (at least when in the same energy range).
Betas have a penetration distance of at least several millimetres, so they're definitely an external hazard (first poster was hazy on that).
The real danger at sites of nuclear accidents (or bomb tests, etc) is inhaling radioactive dust. That can get close enough to live tissue to give you lung cancer, and anything soluble can pass into the bloodstream and do more damage.
The danger from nuclear reactors and from long-term waste storage is from soluble radioactives getting into the local water supply and being ingested that way. This is why power plants have multi-stage heat exchange systems and why proposed waste storage sites are at the bottom of mines in non-porus rock, or under a few hundred feet of clay at the bottom of the ocean.
Re:Radiation (Score:4, Interesting)
It turns out that almost all Boron and Beryllium in existence is formed when a cosmic ray nucleus like carbon, oxygen, or nitrogen smacks into an interstellar gas atom like hydrogen and breaks apart (it's called spallation). Only trace amounts of B and Be were produced during the nucleosynthesis phase after the big bang, and only trace amounts are produced in supernovae.
Fascinating stuff.
Uh-oh... (Score:4, Funny)
Interesting... (Score:5, Funny)
I bet they don't have health problems, or they THINK they don't have health problems. I bet they think they are Scooby-Doo too.
Truth stranger than fiction (or /.) (Score:5, Funny)
Holy crap, it's true. In Soviet Russia (or the former Soviet Russia) radiation gets used to YOU!
Mod parent up... (Score:5, Funny)
NO health problems? (Score:2, Interesting)
Registration Free Link (Score:3, Informative)
--
Just say no to karma whoring!
Heh heh (Score:2)
Souvenirs (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Souvenirs (Score:5, Funny)
Must be looking for the nuclear biker chick. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Must be looking for the nuclear biker chick. (Score:4, Interesting)
Perhaps to catch a glimpse of the future.... (Score:5, Interesting)
These tours have been receiving nothing but... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:These tours have been receiving nothing but... (Score:2)
Yep, people are dying to get in there.
Avoid... (Score:4, Funny)
"Please refrain from touching your complementary HazTag"
"Please do not stare directly into chernobyl zone"
"Please refrain from breathing chernobyl air"
"Please be respectful of our neighbors for we don't have many left"
souvenirs . . . (Score:4, Interesting)
Trinity site is nearer (Score:2)
(or can you?)
Re:Trinity site is nearer (Score:2)
3000 = "hot"? (Score:3, Interesting)
it's actually huge money there (Score:2, Informative)
Now let's transfer it in american terms:
Average salary (I assume): $30,000
84x that: over $2.5 million per year!!
T-Shirt Ideas (Score:5, Funny)
Well worth it (Score:2)
Ah, yes, capitalism (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Ah, yes, capitalism (Score:2)
Re:Ah, yes, capitalism (Score:2)
Re:Ah, yes, capitalism (Score:2, Insightful)
How many people visit the USS Arizona every year?
It's not safe or fair to blindly attribute motives to people.
Travel magazine reviews (Score:5, Funny)
Motorcycle Tour Through Chernobyl (Score:5, Interesting)
The pictures are strikingly beautiful.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Russians (Score:2)
Re:Motorcycle Tour Through Chernobyl (Score:3, Funny)
We've seen it. Twice.
Lurk more.
Re:Motorcycle Tour Through Chernobyl (Score:2)
Hey, I work for a living. You try running a WAN rollout while simultaneously planning your own wedding (11 days from now).
Stalker (Score:3, Interesting)
The scenes filmed inside the lush nature of the Zone are in colour, this strangely adds to the eery impression, due to the contrast with the first part of the movie (the normal world) which is filmed in black and white.
Iraq anyone? (Score:3, Flamebait)
Mod parent up / Informative ! (Score:2)
Re:Another Load of Environmentalist Twaddle (Score:5, Informative)
The debate over DU is about the dust form it takes after a shell has hit it's target and explodes. That makes it inhalable which is far more problematic than just having chunks of it on the ground that no dumbass would eat anyways.
Wonderful (Score:2)
Heh, and the FDA thought it was bad that we had genetically engineered neon zebra fish. Heh, those suckers ain't seen nothing yet.
The Anti-spa vacation (Score:3, Funny)
See this coming (Score:5, Funny)
A chicken kiev of course!
The Chernobyl motorcycle HOAX (Score:3, Interesting)
The correct transliteration is "Chornobyl" (Score:2)
What kind of security is there? (Score:3, Informative)
On the other hand, I'm sure there's unscrupulous types who are going there simply to pick up souveniers and sell them to the highest bidder. This to me is no better than the people who where trying to sell steel from the WTC.
I hope the Russian government is controlling these tourist trips to make sure no one is profiting from the ongoing suffering of thousands of people.
What do other Slashdotters think?
Re:What kind of security is there? (Score:2, Informative)
I got it! They can slap an RFID on everything in there!
Re:What kind of security is there? (Score:3, Informative)
In any case, some theft will happen, yes, but from the pictures, it does look like the local authorities are taking some precautions (armed guards, chemical showers, geiger counters, etc.).
Also, do note that a lot of our own airports are supposed to be able to detect radioactivity (although that system has been foiled a couple of times by journalists).
After you're done laughing... (Score:5, Informative)
Lone biker woman of Chernobyl (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Lone biker woman of Chernobyl (Score:2)
Pripyat (Score:5, Informative)
Nice (Score:3, Funny)
As long as you stay on the roads... (Score:3, Informative)
comments I read are mostly nutz (Score:4, Interesting)
The issue with the 1/2 life is that it is inversely proportional to the danger. Of course this is modified by what nuclear trash is ejected when a nucleus splits. This part should be obvious to all.
A second point is that the dangers of low level radiation are drastically overstated. While there is disagreement on the casualties, the fact there is a rift in the attributed numbers is very clear. The UN reports fewer than 50 people died and a few 1000 (horrible of course - I feel so sad for these people) with thyroid cancer. These numbers are in stark contrast to the 300,000+ that some people cite.
We can learn from the accident, learn a great deal and perhaps from this will come an understanding that nuclear energy has been bad mouthed for decades and has been the target of a rather large disinformation campaign.
It is my suspicion that the disinformation campaign was fueled by large Texan oil interests who collectively realised that in a nuclear economy - their oil would not be worth much... and hense their power base would erode.
So they bought themselves a few years of prosperity at the expense of mankind in general, because now this wonderful chemical feedstock has been burned about a fast as possible. From an economic point of view, oil resources are not valuable and the value can only be achieved by burning them up ass fast as freking possible and converting them into money. Right?
I personally think the disaster is a tragedy. I really feel for these people, they have suffered a great deal. Yet, we now see the beginning of a rebirth.
Perhaps what we should be looking to do is have all nuclear nations fund actinide transmutations technology based in Chornobyl. This is the perfect place to build these facilities and conduct this research. The area is alreay poisoned and public opion says it will be uninhabitalable for 1000+ years.
The Nuclear physists and engineers may choose to differ, and they should have the opportunity to put their money where their mouths are so to speak. The area is beautiful. Actinide transmutation technology can reclaim it.
Rather than be negative about this, lets be positive. Lets build the biggest bloody actinide transmutations lab, then facility in the world and end our nuclear waste problems in the process.
Stockpiling is just bullshyte. Burning the garbage gets rid of it and no-one can build a weapon out of nuclear isotopes after they have been burnt up. Its the perfect solution and the Ukrane can export the surplus power to Europe. Right?
Pathetic. (Score:3, Insightful)
What, no?
Why?
Victims' of Chernobyl suffering is a real fucking thing, I've seen it. This thread makes me sick.
Re:Three-mile island (Score:3, Interesting)
Dude, I live there. It's not that interesting. Nothing blew up, and there are only a few fish with three eyes. But it's near Hershey, so you could pick up some chocolate while you're there.
Re:Umm...can we learn about radioisotopes? (Score:3, Informative)
Please don't say something is dangerous because it has a long half life. There is an iron isotope (Fe-60) out there that has a half life of 3x10^5 years, but the only way you are going to get hurt by it is if someone smacks you on the head with it.
In fact, of the two fissile Pu isotopes (Pu-239 and Pu-241), Pu-241 has a half-life of 14.4 years [ieer.org], meaning that it has probably decaye
Re:Umm...can we learn about radioisotopes? (Score:3, Informative)