Uploaded May 2016 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
4) Fill in the blanks based on what you listen:
We’re at the first checkpoint at the entry to the Chernobyl zone at the 30 kilometer point from the reactor. Once you go through here the area is contaminated.
April 26th is the 30th anniversary of the worst nuclear accident in history - the disaster the Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 contaminated large areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
But three decades later somehow it's become a tourist attraction. You need permission to get in but it's actually pretty easy to pay a guide to take you on a tour.
“These 3 maps represent the contamination of the exclusion zone area by different types.”
“This is where we are right now?”
“Yes, exactly Simon! So right now we are at one of the entrances to the exclusion zone altogether there are 12 checkpoints scattered everywhere.”
“Do you think it's dangerous for us to go into here?”
“It depends. Is it dangerous to smoke? Is it dangerous to drive the car?” Yes. “It's a very relative question. I can't really answer it.”
“I got it! Ok! Well I guess we'll have to take the chance.”
Taking the chance with me were Wilson traveler from Hong Kong and Andrew the tourist from the UK. They both payed a few hundred bucks to get a dose of Chernobyl
Twenty minutes later we were already at the epicenter of the exclusion zone. As soon as we came up to the reactor everybody’s giga counter started going crazy.
So that’s the reactor number 4, the one that was destroyed in the accident and it's covered with something called the sarcophagus that was put there in the 80’s to keep all of the radioactive material inside but it started falling apart so they've built an even bigger cover called the arch sheet with a great cost with the help of the European Union. That's going to be rolled over to cover the entire sarcophagus. It’s gonna be rolled over on rails when it's completed in 2017.
“Why did you come to Chernobyl? We’re right next to the reactor which is the most radioactive area in the zone? Are you a little bit afraid of the radiation?”
“Not that much, but the meter is now showing it’s safe. And according to the tour guide, she told me, it’s ok. You can see all those people working inside without protective clothing or masks. So I think it’s safe.”
“So, why did you decide to come to Chernobyl?”
“I think this is quite a special experience for me. It’s not travelling by just like shopping or seeing nice scenic spots. But here I can see something that’s not common for the other tourists. I didn’t tell my parents, but my friends say that I’m mad, I’m crazy. Why will go there?”
Our next stop was the town of Pripyat, the closest city to the reactor which had to be totally evacuated and still empty for 30 years. Parts of it were relatively cleaned but you never know when you hit a bad patch.
“So do you think it's dangerous for tourists to be coming here?”
“I think it's not dangerous for ordinary people to come here on one or short day trips because the radiation levels are not as high as people would presume before coming here. According to statistics last year seventeen (17) thousand people visited the exclusion zone, as travelers.”
4) Fill in the blanks based on what you listen:
We’re at the first checkpoint at the entry to the Chernobyl zone at the 30 kilometer point from the reactor. Once you go through here the area is contaminated.
April 26th is the 30th anniversary of the worst nuclear accident in history - the disaster the Soviet Union's Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 contaminated large areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.
But three decades later somehow it's become a tourist attraction. You need permission to get in but it's actually pretty easy to pay a guide to take you on a tour.
“These 3 maps represent the contamination of the exclusion zone area by different types.”
“This is where we are right now?”
“Yes, exactly Simon! So right now we are at one of the entrances to the exclusion zone altogether there are 12 checkpoints scattered everywhere.”
“Do you think it's dangerous for us to go into here?”
“It depends. Is it dangerous to smoke? Is it dangerous to drive the car?” Yes. “It's a very relative question. I can't really answer it.”
“I got it! Ok! Well I guess we'll have to take the chance.”
Taking the chance with me were Wilson traveler from Hong Kong and Andrew the tourist from the UK. They both payed a few hundred bucks to get a dose of Chernobyl
Twenty minutes later we were already at the epicenter of the exclusion zone. As soon as we came up to the reactor everybody’s giga counter started going crazy.
So that’s the reactor number 4, the one that was destroyed in the accident and it's covered with something called the sarcophagus that was put there in the 80’s to keep all of the radioactive material inside but it started falling apart so they've built an even bigger cover called the arch sheet with a great cost with the help of the European Union. That's going to be rolled over to cover the entire sarcophagus. It’s gonna be rolled over on rails when it's completed in 2017.
“Why did you come to Chernobyl? We’re right next to the reactor which is the most radioactive area in the zone? Are you a little bit afraid of the radiation?”
“Not that much, but the meter is now showing it’s safe. And according to the tour guide, she told me, it’s ok. You can see all those people working inside without protective clothing or masks. So I think it’s safe.”
“So, why did you decide to come to Chernobyl?”
“I think this is quite a special experience for me. It’s not travelling by just like shopping or seeing nice scenic spots. But here I can see something that’s not common for the other tourists. I didn’t tell my parents, but my friends say that I’m mad, I’m crazy. Why will go there?”
Our next stop was the town of Pripyat, the closest city to the reactor which had to be totally evacuated and still empty for 30 years. Parts of it were relatively cleaned but you never know when you hit a bad patch.
“So do you think it's dangerous for tourists to be coming here?”
“I think it's not dangerous for ordinary people to come here on one or short day trips because the radiation levels are not as high as people would presume before coming here. According to statistics last year seventeen (17) thousand people visited the exclusion zone, as travelers.”
