RADIOACTIVE TRANSPORT

This adventure happened already mid November, but was kept secret until the transport safely arrived in Russian nuclear facility Mayak.

Ongoing project run by the US, Russia and IAEA, aims at sending all poorly stored radiactive material from former East European research reactors to a save place. This was the third that I have filmed, and for me the most exciting one.

On a sunny afternoon in Vinca, only a short drive from Belgrade, the biggest nuclear shipment in the history of the project was loaded onto 16 trucks, each weighing 25 tons (though the highly radioactive  fuel inside had only about 13 kg). For security reasons, it had to wait till deep night to minimize possible risk of sabotage, theft, blockades. About 3000 security personnel of different brands were involved.

My colleague Greg, IAEA reporter, at one point complained that we and a BBC crew, which was in his custody, were not given any more access than all other TV guys that had populated the place during the evening got. Then the Serbians decided to give us more treatment than we probably wanted. We were given a police escort with a task to bring us to the destination ahead of the transport.

The convoy, about 1 km long, set off on a highway direction North. For some reason, we were not allowed to overtake it and could only use country roads. By then, we did not sleep for about 30 hours, which were filled by travel from Vienna and concentrated filming work. The police driver new the terrain and his car. We didn't. Trying to follow police blue light vanishing in the front, on bad roads, among other traffic, speeding up to 140 km/h, was one of the biggest driving challenges in my life. Knowing that any time I could loose control over the rented Chevy, with a father of two dozing next to me, made me really uncomfortable, though, the high alert kept me from falling asleep. One stop in-between, on a crossing which the convoy would pass, then full speed again. We arrived about 10 minutes ahead of the trucks.

The work went on straight away - the casks were reloaded on a train, which lasted till late morning.

Then only we had some sleep. For same reasons, the transport had to wait till after midnight. The train leaving has made an end of the adventure for me, but not for the others.

The transport went through Hungary to the Slovenian port Koper. There the casks were reloaded again, this time on a ship, which then started a 3 week journey to Murmansk. Another reloading, on a train, and a trip to final destination Mayak.

CHERNOBYL REVISITED

First I filmed PRIPYAT from a helicopter, four years after the accident. Though I knew that 45 thousand people have been forced to leave their homes and never came back, from the air it looked like a tourist attraction. Maybe similar feelings to those of the pilots of Enola Gay when they were approaching Hiroshima.

In March 2001 the horror of the place ovewhelmed me. Ghost town, nice looking houses, modern streets, no people, just creeps in the back.

Summer 2005, doctor Ganzha, who had treated liquidators during the most dramatic times, showed us her former home in Pripyat. 

"Before Chernobyl, we were so proud of the achievements of our country. Then something happened, what we could not comprehend. Suddenly, everything was in ruins."

October 2010

Shortly before the 25th anniversary, a trip to Pripyat appearss just like a routine visit. The vegetation is slowly "eating" the city, and the colors of the autumn are giving it even a romantic atmosphere.

Amusement park, which was to be opened for the 1986 1st of May celebration, but never was

During the years, a strange kind of humor is becoming visible in the streets of Pripyat:

Is this to remind the "wiped out" human beings after the Hiroshima blast?

In the middle of a Kindergarden toy room

Roof of a 17 floors building, to the left is an outline of the ill-fated plant,  just 3 km away

The roof is a popular place to bring the "Chernobyl tourists", which a state owned agency is driving through the city, that is slowly disappearing like Angkor Vat in the wild vegetation.

SAMOSELI are so called self settlers, couple hundred old people, who came back to their villages, after they had been re-located.
Baba Nastja and ded Nikolaj from the village Opachichi were a jolly couple in 2005, saying on the camera they had a happy marriage.

In October 2010, ded Nikolaj was already five years dead, and baba Nastja was so depressed that she didn't want to let us in with a video-camera.

Baba Nastja, 86 years old, says she is only waiting to die

Baba Valja lost her husband before Chernobyl accident, and raised two children, who were already living and working in Pripyat in 1986.

They all had been re-located to different places. After a year, baba Valja decided to come back, because she got a job to take care of the liquidaters, who were living in the village Chernobyl, about 10 km from Opachichi.
She had really liked visiting her children in Pripyat, because it was such a nice city, and she believes they would both come back if it was possible.
Baba Nastja is her friend, and they often call each other on their mobile phones (Baba Nastja has to ask her neighbors to operate it) and then Nastja come for visit.


SARCOPHAG was built to last about 30 years as a shelter for the ill-fated reactor, containg lot of rubble and lot of extremely radioactive nuclear fuel.

With the lifetime expiring soon, the whole plant, chimney included, will be covered with a new shelter, which is being built a few hundred meters away. In the front is a concrete basement to hold the rails on which the new sarcophag will be moved over the plant.

The three other reactors had been in operation until 2000, when the EU became successful in the pressure on Ukrainian government to close them.

Control room of the closed unit 3, where workers study books for their new jobs in a waste facility

Until now, about 3.000 workers come here every day by train from the 50 km far away city Slavutic, to carry out de-commissioning work. In 2065, the whole place will be leveled, including the half constructed reactors 5 and 6.


FOREST RESERVE
The so called Zapovednik, is a contaminated area in Belarus, just 12 km North of the Chernobyl plant. It is fenced off and entry is possible only with a special permit, through a checkpoint similar to those around Chernobyl in Ukraine.

Several hundred forest workers are regularly taking samples and identifying trees that can be cut and the wood used in industry.
With no settlements in the area, the animals have ideal conditions, and some unique species are doing very well in the reserve.

Local ornithologist Valerij has a colorful collection of pictures

Upon a presidential decree, a horse farm has been established on the Zapovednik territory. About 200 horses live here.

STRELICHEVO
A village on the Northern border of the Zapovednik exclusion zone. People live a normal live, and a school was recently renovated and re-opened. There is a small radiological lab in the building which is checking food for the  school kitchen. The children get a complex radiological examination once a year.

The teacher Svetlana was 10 years old when her family was re-located as a consequence of the accident. She suffered a lot, because for other children, the newcomers were stigmatized as being "irradiated".

Svetlana says she had a childhood until Chernobyl, afterwards she was suddenly adult

Ten days spent around Chernobyl in the two most affected countries. The impression is the same as during previous visits. The living of the people is pretty much the same as in other parts of the country. They are poor, because the economy is not doing well. The effects of the disaster are visible, but are getting more and more under control.

On the "viewing" roof in Pripyat, and in the "golden corridor" that connects all four Chernobyl reactors