# Fascinating! Ghost town Chernobyl. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 30, 2004, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273 "2004-03-30T07:57:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/21 "2004-03-30T20:09:58Z")
> [@NurseCarmen](#): > > It’s interesting to see that she isn’t the only one too concerned about the radiation. It looks like the town has been pretty trashed and stripped. At the risk of being trite, they may very well be concerned, but it may be worth the risk. IIRC, old mine fields pose a similar trade-off with more striking results… ---
**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/22 "2004-03-30T20:27:39Z")
Regarding radiation safety, she’s doing fine. Her dosimeter reads microroentgen per hour, which measures intensity of gamma and X-ray activity in the air. This directly translates to microrem/hour, which is the unit used in the US for radiation work safety. You get about 6 millirem on a transcontinental round-trip airline flight, so when her dosimiter reads 500-600, it’s about like sitting on an airliner at 35000 feet. If she uses the dosimeter to avoid hotspots, and avoids blown dust, she’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/larry_griffin-kentzel/32/14787_2.png) [@Larry\_Griffin-Kentzel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Griffin-Kentzel)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/23 "2004-03-31T01:55:36Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by **Coldfire** _ > > I guess the only question now is: will **Cajun Man** ban me for falsely attributing a quote to a poster? 😃 Hmmm . . . ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/24 "2004-03-31T03:16:13Z")
[Johnstown Flood Site](http://www.jaha.org/flood/). One of the worst natural disasters in American history. The Chernobyl site turns my blood cold. It’s like those films of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after the bombings. Oh yeah, and that chick is **HOT!** ---
**Author:** ![Pedro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/919ad9/32.png) [@Pedro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pedro)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/25 "2004-03-31T14:59:43Z")
Absolutely amazing, thanks Coldfire. You can’t help but think it’s eerily like arriving from outer space after mankind wiped itself out in a Nuclear War (and the few remaining survivors are hidden away in a cave somewhere). ---
**Author:** ![Wumpus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8c91f0/32.png) [@Wumpus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wumpus)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/26 "2004-03-31T15:24:46Z")
[The ruins of Detroit.](http://detroityes.com/home.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/27 "2004-03-31T17:17:00Z")
On one page she said the wood absorbed so much radiation it became red. Is this possible? Even if she meant red with heat, it would burn, right? ---
**Author:** ![HoldOnThere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e36b37/32.png) [@HoldOnThere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoldOnThere)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/28 "2004-03-31T18:03:55Z")
Wow!, thanks for the link. That was a very sobering journey. As I was looking at the pictures of the deserted buildings, I had to keep reminding myself that most of the people that lived there are probably dead now. I was horrified to read that the government did not announce the problem until days later, after everyone had taken a major dose of radiation. I think the author is nuts for going there, but her dad is a nuclear expert so she must know what she is doing. ---
**Author:** ![Iteki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/eada6e/32.png) [@Iteki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iteki)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/29 "2004-03-31T18:50:18Z")
Seems like one of the journos for the Swedish paper Dagens Nyheter is a Doper. This was in todays paper, and they also had an article last year about the “If LOTR had been written by somone else” thread. The site is a facinating read, thanks for the link **Coldie**. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2004, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/30 "2004-03-31T19:08:22Z")
> [@Elysian](#): > > Wha…? You mean there are more like this? Give me some sites! [Forgotten New York](http://www.forgotten-ny.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/31 "2004-04-01T00:21:33Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > On one page she said the wood absorbed so much radiation it became red. Is this possible? Even if she meant red with heat, it would burn, right? It may not be the radiation which caused the wood to turn red, some types of wood will naturally develop a reddish shade if exposed to the elements. Or she might mean that it’s “hot” (i.e. radioactive), or the radiation caused a mutation in the trees, it’s difficult to say based on her text. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/32 "2004-04-01T02:13:20Z")
Thanks for posting this. It’s fascinating; she could get a museum showing or a book deal if she wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Lazlo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lazlo/32/9678_2.png) [@Lazlo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lazlo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/33 "2004-04-01T03:29:19Z")
Wow. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/34 "2004-04-01T03:59:56Z")
While not exactly one of those sites, there’s a bunch of intersting stuff at [Weird NJ](http://www.weirdnj.com) ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/35 "2004-04-01T04:32:59Z")
This is interesting, it’s a [tour of an abandoned missile silo.](http://triggur.org/silo/) ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/36 "2004-04-01T04:41:50Z")
Oh wow. Absolutely eerie , yet fascinating. The pic of the horses came as some relief - I have only seen them at Marwell Zoo ner Winchester in England before. It is horrifying and amusing at once - e.g. the mention of free drinks to get people to vote, and the mention of the motorbike shop being looted first come as a sort of light relief. ---
**Author:** ![kalex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dfb087/32.png) [@kalex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kalex)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/37 "2004-04-01T05:33:28Z")
Horrible and beautiful, and a little like every nightmare I’ve ever had. Those kindergarten pictures, my god… ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2004, 6:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/38 "2004-04-01T06:37:13Z")
I saw this before she updated it with more pictures and text. It’s chilling. Here are some more links: [Abandoned Memories](http://abandonedmemories.com) - the links page has a lot of other sites There are also a couple of livejournal communities that deal with similar subject matter (Abandoned places, not Chernobyl.) [Urban Decay](http://www.livejournal.com/community/urban_decay/), [Rural Ruin](http://www.livejournal.com/community/rural_ruin) and [Rundown Town](http://www.livejournal.com/community/rundown_town/). ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/39 "2004-04-02T04:12:49Z")
What stunning pictures. It’s like i imagine would happen if most of us killed ourselves off and just dropped everything. The pictures remind me of how the army base here, Ft. Ord looks in certain places. It was abandoned pretty rapidly once they shut the base down. So fast that some of the buildings you find left over army implements (a coworker’s son found night vision goggles in one of the buildings). The housing areas are the eeriest. The houses have rooves falling in. Some have trees growing in their gutters or roofs. Weeds have overtaken the streets, and some of the trees have died or fallen. I get creeped out driving through it at night because it is so empty. ---
**Author:** ![WolfpackJeep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpackjeep/32/2921_2.png) [@WolfpackJeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WolfpackJeep)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273/40 "2004-04-02T05:24:24Z")
[Dead Places](http://deadplaces.gnuk.net/) explores various abandoned spots in Utah, and also has some very good links. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fascinating-ghost-town-chernobyl/237273.md?page=3)