Control Room 4, the room where the 1986 disaster originated. Now stripped of many of its fittings and cleaned of dust, it has been declared safe for visitors. Since autumn 2019, the power plant authorities have included it on official tours. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

Lo scrittore e fotografo britannico Darmon Richter è andato più volte nella Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, cioè la zona proibita in cui si trova la famosa centrale responsabile del disastro del 1986. Ovviamente, essendo una zona dove non è consentito accedere, le sue incursioni non sono sempre state legali. Il suo obiettivo era quello di documentare le rovine spettrali della centrale e di tutto ciò che ha raso al suolo nei dintorni. Il risultato è una serie di foto in cui si possono vedere gli interni della centrale, la stanza in cui si è verificato il malfunzionamento iniziale e anche, curiosamente, murali in cui si venerano eroi sovietici. Insomma, un progetto estremamente curioso (anche a livello antropologico) che è stato raccolto in un libro di 248 pagine, pubblicato da FUEL, dal titolo “Chernobyl: A Stalkers ‘Guide” che è possibile acquistare nel sito dell’editore o in preordine su bookshop. Io ve l’ho detto.
Ecco le immagini, buona visione!

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A tame fox poses in front of the sign pointing the way to Pripyat from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

Control Room 4, the room where the 1986 disaster originated. Now stripped of many of its fittings and cleaned of dust, it has been declared safe for visitors. Since autumn 2019, the power plant authorities have included it on official tours. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

Mural on a residential building, Heroes of Stalingrad Street, Pripyat. This Socialist-realist mural depicts virtuous citizens (a farmer, a firefighter, a police officer, and a Young Pioneer) under a radiant Soviet crest. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

Control Room 3, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. This room and the associated Reactor 3 remained in use until 1995 when they were put out of service following an agreement with the EU. Now, along with Reactors 1 and 2, it is undergoing a decommissioning process. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

Control Room 3. The top left of these cube-shaped shielded buttons marked A3-5 – or ‘AZ-5’ – was the ‘scram’ kill switch. This manually operated control would immediately terminate the fission reaction by inserting all the control rods at once. In neighbouring Control Room 4, on 26 April 1986 at 1.23.40am, this switch was flicked and a malfunction occurred, causing the meltdown. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

ost Office, Pripyat. The mural illustrates the evolution of communication, from stone tablets and scrolls, to mail trains and finally a Soviet cosmonaut. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

Izumrudniy’ (‘Emerald’) Holiday Camp, near Chornobyl. Once a popular spot for summer holiday breaks, these rustic wooden chalets, painted with characters from cartoons and fairy tales, were completely destroyed by forest fires in April 2020. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

Kindergarten No.7 ‘Zolotoy Klyuchik’ (‘Golden Key’), Pripyat. Discarded artefacts are arranged into unlikely dioramas by visitors. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

Abandoned trolleybus, Kopachi, Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. This highly contaminated village was mostly bulldozed after the disaster. In April 2020 this vehicle was severely damaged by forest fires. Chernobyl Exclusion Zone by Darmon Richter

Chernobyl: A Stalkers’ Guide

Via hyperallergic.com