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RADIATION DETECTOR CLICKS AND BEEPS

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Wow.

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SIREN WAILS

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When the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor
exploded in 1986,

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it changed Everything.

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I was 13 years old

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and it was just when I was
starting to understand the world.

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And Chernobyl for me
was such a massive

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punctuation mark.

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Now, 35 years after the disaster,

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I'm travelling to the most
radioactive place on Earth.

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This is the accident
and emergency department.

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Imagine the horrors
that went on in here.

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I've been granted special permission

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to explore some of Chernobyl's
secrets...

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Some people believe this was a mind
controller, like a brain scorcher.

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..going inside the very control room
where the fatal mistake was made...

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Goodness me.

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I mean, this is unbelievable.

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..and seeing close-up
the tomb of the doomed reactor.

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Wow. I can't quite believe
I'm actually in here.

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What has Chernobyl now become?

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Oh, look.

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So, someone's been staying in here.

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This is the Chernobyl squatter.

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And what does it mean
for the generations to come?

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I see this as a very timely visit.

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Because the world
is at tipping point.

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I'm hoping that by visiting
this place, the people,

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maybe I'll find some hope
that all is not lost.

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I'm on my way to the scene of the
world's worst nuclear accident.

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So, this road doesn't lead anywhere
but into the Restricted Zone now?

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We call it simply The Zone.
The Zone, yes.

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Where I'm going, I have to be
accompanied

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by a government sanctioned expert.

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Nikolai Fomin has in-depth
knowledge of the risks.

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So this is the checkpoint?

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Still pretty highly militarised area
so please prepare your documents.

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Beyond this border crossing
is the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone,

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a region so contaminated

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it was closed off from the rest
of the world for over a decade.

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It feels quite strange.
It's heavily militarised,

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there's load of police
and it's heavily controlled

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in terms of who can go in
and even who can go out.

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From now on, the law dictates
that the increased radiation

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I'm about to experience
must be continually monitored.

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I've got the meter for you.
The dosimeter. Yeah.

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This is the device that measures
your total radiation exposure,

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your dose. So this I have to wear
around my neck? Yes.

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And this is the Geiger counter.
Yeah.

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These units measure
radiation level.

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It's never zero, right? So there is
always a little bit of background

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radiation all over the world.

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So right now we are measuring
0.13 microsieverts per hour.

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If radiation levels exceed normal
reading, it will go off.

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It will start flashing red,
it will start beeping

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so you'll never miss that.
OK, we're good to go.

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Two worlds. I'm about to
step over the threshold.

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I'll be spending a week
living inside the Exclusion Zone,

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which covers an area of more than
1,000 square miles -

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larger than Luxembourg.

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The Zone was established
in the aftermath of the worst

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nuclear disaster in history.

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On April 26th 1986,

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Chernobyl's reactor No 4 exploded.

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The resulting fire lasted ten days,
releasing 400 times as much

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radioactive material as the
atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

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The entire civilian population
in the surrounding towns

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and villages was forcibly evacuated,

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later told never to return.

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Are these radiation signs?
Yes, they are.

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Stay away from the warning signs

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and from now on
don't touch anything.

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I'll be going inside the stricken
power plant itself,

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but first I want to visit
the ghost of Chernobyl.

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We're in the city now.
Yes, we're in Pripyat.

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In front of us
is main street of Pripyat.

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This is the main street?
This is the main street.

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So, everything, all these trees,
this has all grown

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since it was abandoned? Yeah.

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Pripyat was still being constructed
when its 48,000 residents all left.

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It was designed to be the model
socialist city, a Soviet Utopia.

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Never really seen anything like it.

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I've Been to war zones, I've seen
places that have, you know,

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experienced great upheaval and
changes but never quite like this.

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I'm imagining mums and their
pushchairs and children squealing.

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You know, a bustling place.

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And now look at it.

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I was expecting to see a few
derelict buildings but not this.

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This is not even a town.

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This is an entire city,
with five secondary schools,

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two sports stadiums
and its own Palace of Culture,

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all left to ruin
and consumed by nature.

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That's incredible, I'm on a
multistorey school building

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and there's trees
growing through the floor.

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I do feel like
I've gone back in time.

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To me, that looks like sort of
dosimetry to test for radiation.

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The great irony is that everyone
here was preparing for

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a nuclear catastrophe

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that came from the other side
of the Atlantic that would

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come in the form of a bomb, not in
the form of their own power station.

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Wow.

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Iconic, poignant.

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It's kind of everything, this.

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Cos this was the theme park
that never was.

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The abandoned city of Pripyat
is unlike anywhere I've ever been.

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Life changed here forever

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a day after the world's
worst nuclear disaster.

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By all accounts Pripyat had been
a happy, thriving city,

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full of the hopes and dreams
of a young population.

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The average age was 26.

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It was built just 3km
from the Chernobyl Power Plant

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for workers and their families,

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with brand-new facilities to
rival the West.

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Wow.

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WHISTLE PEEPS

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CHEERING

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Back in 1986 this was
state of the art in the USSR.

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This was unheard of cos Pripyat,
this was a model town, a model city.

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I suppose the comparison in
the United Kingdom is Milton Keynes.

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You know, this was built for purpose
and the living standards here

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were far better than anywhere
else in the Soviet Union.

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It makes me smile more in here
than other places,

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with an air sadness as well

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cos there would have been so many
happy times that people had in here.

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The Chernobyl No 4 reactor

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exploded in the early hours
of April 26th, 1986.

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When Pripyat awoke,

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toxic levels of radiation
were already engulfing the area.

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But no warning was given. People
continued their lives as normal.

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Alexander Sirota was a nine-year-old
schoolboy at the time.

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So, what are your memories
from the 26th of April 1986?

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So this is the school here?

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Right through here? Yes.

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This is You? Yes.
This is poignant.

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Wow.

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Alexander was sent back to school,

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despite the fact that radiation
levels in the city

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had reached alarming levels.
Incredibly, the Soviet authorities

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waited 36 hours before
starting an evacuation.

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Can I ask if you or your family

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suffered long-term
health implications?

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I-I really can't even imagine
what he went through.

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That 36 hour delay,
so much is made about that.

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Without doubt,

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that cost people their health
and probably their lives.

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The Soviet Union did not want to
admit, it was embarrassing,

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it wasn't... It wasn't Soviet.

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You know, a reactor couldn't
explode, there was disbelief

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but there was also denial
and denial cost lives.

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By the afternoon,
confusion had descended on Pripyat.

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No official information
was being provided

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other than a small fire
on the roof of the power plant.

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But there was one place in the city
that had already been a witness

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to the terrifying events
that were unfolding.

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Oh, hello, we've got company.

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In my mind this is one of the most
significant buildings, really,

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in Pripyat cos this is
the hospital, Hospital 126.

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Everyone who went to the plant that
night to fight the little fire

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on the roof that we now know
was this...

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..this world-shattering explosion...

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..would have been taken
in this door.

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Remember to just not touch stuff,
yeah.

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In the hours after the explosion,
108 firefighters and plant workers,

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suffering from acute radiation
sickness,

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were taken through these corridors.

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This is the accident
and emergency department.

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I'm trying to imagine the chaos
and but also the unknown, really.

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No-one really knew why all these
firefighters were coming

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and why they were vomiting.

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The contamination they left
is still a danger today.

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That's the reason I've got a mask on
right now, all those dust particles.

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Don't really want those
going into my nose and mouth.

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Cos this is one of the most
radioactive parts of Pripyat.

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All the first responders
were heavily radioactive

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from fighting those fires.

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Anyone exposed to radiation at the
power plant should have been washed

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and dressed in uncontaminated
clothing before they arrived here.

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That never happen.

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This is kind of strange.

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There are still the rags that the
nurses were using on the firemen.

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If I use my dosimeter that is
picking up beta...

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BEEPING AND CLICKING

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It's already gone
the highest it's been.

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The reading is 60 times higher

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than the average background
radiation just outside The Zone.

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I'm not going to spend
very long in here.

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I'm obviously being very sensible.

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But it's the invisibility of the
radiation that they would have had

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as well, they wouldn't have had a
clue. They didn't have these.

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These were just firemen
who had burns

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and unknown symptoms
that caused vomiting.

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28 people brought to this hospital
after the explosion

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lost their lives
within three months.

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It's unclear how many would
later suffer ill health as a result

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of their exposure to radiation
that night.

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I think of all the buildings
I've been into in Pripyat,

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this is...the most chilling,
most haunting.

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Imagine the horrors
that went on in here,

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the number of lives that were lost

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cos this was a town
of 48,000 people.

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In fact, they called it a city.

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So there would have been many, many
pregnant women, lots of newborns.

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And just 36 hours after the accident

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this, along with the whole city,
was evacuated.

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A whole working hospital, gone.

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Look at it now.

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I've been told that beneath this
pile of rather innocent-looking sand

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is the entrance to the basement,

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one of the most toxic parts
of the whole Chernobyl.

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All of the uniforms from the first
responders, the firefighters -

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so their boots, their tunics
their hats - was taken down

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00:16:51,750 --> 00:16:55,270
into the basement where it was left

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because they were so toxic,
so radioactive,

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they couldn't let anyone go near it.

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00:17:01,030 --> 00:17:05,310
The basement was only sealed
a few years ago to stop trespassers

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00:17:05,310 --> 00:17:10,190
intent on venturing into one of
Chernobyl's deadliest sites.

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00:17:10,190 --> 00:17:12,150
Nikolai wants to show me
some footage

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of what's actually down there.

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This is the basement of the hospital
before it was buried. Mm-hm.

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Levels of radiation there
are insanely high.

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72... 700. 720...
That's off the scale now, you see.

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And that's a pair
of fireman's boots.

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The main risk is not even the dose
of radiation you obtained there,

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it's dust. All those tiny partials
of radioactive material,

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if you ingest any of those, even
the microscopic ones you cannot see,

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they are capable
of killing human beings.

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Are these authorised individuals?

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00:17:52,870 --> 00:17:55,830
No, I'm pretty sure
they are trespassers.

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Cos it's strictly
forbidden to go there.

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00:17:59,510 --> 00:18:02,390
Although in recent years authorities
have allowed some

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00:18:02,390 --> 00:18:05,710
very strictly controlled tours
inside the wider Zone area...

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00:18:08,310 --> 00:18:12,070
..illegal thrill-seekers,
driven largely by social media,

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00:18:12,070 --> 00:18:14,350
continue to be a problem here.

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00:18:14,350 --> 00:18:17,910
I think these guys are doing it
for adrenaline, attention...

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00:18:17,910 --> 00:18:20,150
Showing off.
..social media, showing off.

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00:18:20,150 --> 00:18:24,710
That's what drives people to take
the risk and go down there.

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00:18:27,310 --> 00:18:29,790
What about the firemen's helmets,
are they down there?

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There was one helmet that
somebody took from the basement

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and put on the ground floor
of the hospital building in Pripyat.

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00:18:38,350 --> 00:18:43,230
That was in front of
the main entrance for years.

242
00:18:43,230 --> 00:18:45,430
Now it's gone. Somebody took it.

243
00:18:45,430 --> 00:18:49,750
So somewhere out there is a highly
radioactive fireman's helmet?

244
00:18:49,750 --> 00:18:52,750
Yeah, and I hope
that's within The Zone.

245
00:18:52,750 --> 00:18:55,190
I really hope
they didn't take it out

246
00:18:55,190 --> 00:18:57,710
because that's
the worst case scenario.

247
00:18:57,710 --> 00:19:00,270
Cos if you take something
radioactive from here,

248
00:19:00,270 --> 00:19:02,230
it can cause a lot of trouble.

249
00:19:02,230 --> 00:19:05,510
Radiation has no taste,
it's invisible, you can't see it,

250
00:19:05,510 --> 00:19:07,030
you can't smell it.

251
00:19:07,030 --> 00:19:10,790
The levels of radiation in the
uniforms are a sobering reminder

252
00:19:10,790 --> 00:19:14,630
of just how toxic some parts
of The Zone still are.

253
00:19:14,630 --> 00:19:18,390
Scientists predict the Chernobyl
reactor site will be uninhabitable

254
00:19:18,390 --> 00:19:22,070
for at least 20,000 years.

255
00:19:22,070 --> 00:19:24,510
Containing the disaster is ongoing.

256
00:19:24,510 --> 00:19:27,630
Almost 3,000 people still
work at the power plant.

257
00:19:27,630 --> 00:19:29,990
No-one can stay within
10km of the site

258
00:19:29,990 --> 00:19:32,710
and for some workers
this is a way of life.

259
00:19:33,830 --> 00:19:37,630
So you do this everyday, basically,
when you go into the Control Zone.

260
00:19:39,270 --> 00:19:40,270
Clean.

261
00:19:41,430 --> 00:19:47,030
This just analyses what I've got
on me, if I'm contaminated or not.

262
00:19:47,030 --> 00:19:50,550
That says I'm clean.
It's good news.

263
00:19:54,830 --> 00:19:58,510
I'm spending my first night at one
of the few lodgings in The Zone.

264
00:20:03,150 --> 00:20:04,390
Yes, of course.

265
00:20:04,390 --> 00:20:06,190
BEEPING

266
00:20:06,190 --> 00:20:07,190
OK.

267
00:20:09,750 --> 00:20:11,750
OK. Over here?

268
00:20:11,750 --> 00:20:13,950
VOICEOVER: To limit
my dose of radiation,

269
00:20:13,950 --> 00:20:18,550
I'm only allowed to stay in The Zone
for up to 14 days at a time.

270
00:20:23,750 --> 00:20:24,990
Wow.

271
00:20:24,990 --> 00:20:28,070
It's actually a lot more comfortable
than I thought this was going to be.

272
00:20:32,030 --> 00:20:35,230
But it is very weird
that I am just a few of kilometres

273
00:20:35,230 --> 00:20:40,590
from the Chernobyl
that I remember melting down

274
00:20:40,590 --> 00:20:45,510
when I was a 13-year-old. And here
I am, about to have my first night.

275
00:20:45,510 --> 00:20:48,910
And I've even got a memory of home.
That's nice.

276
00:20:48,910 --> 00:20:53,870
I've been advised that boots
should maybe be left outside

277
00:20:53,870 --> 00:20:59,070
just because they've been touching
dirt and dust that might be

278
00:20:59,070 --> 00:21:02,390
a little bit more radioactive
than anything else.

279
00:21:02,390 --> 00:21:04,830
So these need to be left outside.

280
00:21:12,270 --> 00:21:16,510
The invisible threat of radiation
is ever present in The Zone.

281
00:21:16,510 --> 00:21:20,790
Tomorrow, I'm going to the very
heart of where it all started.

282
00:21:30,700 --> 00:21:35,380
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is
a strange and unsettling place,

283
00:21:35,380 --> 00:21:39,340
filled with haunting human stories
of a paradise lost.

284
00:21:42,380 --> 00:21:45,940
I want to get closer to the events
that actually unfolded

285
00:21:45,940 --> 00:21:49,300
in the early hours of April 26th
1986,

286
00:21:49,300 --> 00:21:53,020
and so that can only lead me
to one place.

287
00:21:54,500 --> 00:21:57,900
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
itself.

288
00:22:00,900 --> 00:22:06,340
This, back in 1986,
was ground zero.

289
00:22:06,340 --> 00:22:08,780
When the roof blew off

290
00:22:08,780 --> 00:22:13,500
that was one of the things
that we were most fearful of.

291
00:22:13,500 --> 00:22:17,740
Thousands of miles away in the UK,
I remember being terrified of it.

292
00:22:17,740 --> 00:22:21,300
What happens if that reached me?

293
00:22:21,300 --> 00:22:22,460
Now I'm here.

294
00:22:24,220 --> 00:22:27,780
I'm...going to go in there.

295
00:22:27,780 --> 00:22:29,420
How mad is that?

296
00:22:38,180 --> 00:22:42,100
An enormous steel arch now shields
the highly radioactive remains

297
00:22:42,100 --> 00:22:45,300
of Chernobyl's doomed
No 4 reactor unit.

298
00:22:45,300 --> 00:22:49,780
I've been given permission to go
inside the actual control room

299
00:22:49,780 --> 00:22:51,700
where the disaster unfolded,

300
00:22:51,700 --> 00:22:55,180
which for decades has been
completely off limits.

301
00:22:59,020 --> 00:23:02,900
I'm heading into the inner workings
of Chernobyl.

302
00:23:02,900 --> 00:23:10,460
So, you have to make sure there is
nothing that can be contaminated

303
00:23:10,460 --> 00:23:13,740
so the only thing that I'm wearing
of my own is my pants.

304
00:23:15,940 --> 00:23:18,540
They may need to be changed
after this.

305
00:23:20,420 --> 00:23:23,020
Are we ready? I think so.

306
00:23:29,380 --> 00:23:31,860
From now on we have to move quickly.

307
00:23:31,860 --> 00:23:33,700
The power plant is vast

308
00:23:33,700 --> 00:23:36,940
and my permitted dose of radiation
strictly controlled.

309
00:23:40,100 --> 00:23:43,380
This is pretty extraordinary,
this, to...

310
00:23:43,380 --> 00:23:46,300
..be given access into the

311
00:23:46,300 --> 00:23:49,740
workings of Chernobyl.

312
00:23:49,740 --> 00:23:51,180
Pretty amazing.

313
00:23:54,100 --> 00:23:57,700
Lots of activity here,
there's lots of people working here,

314
00:23:57,700 --> 00:24:00,780
obviously, ensuring that it's safe.

315
00:24:02,140 --> 00:24:03,540
Wow, it's endless.

316
00:24:06,660 --> 00:24:09,580
The 800-metre so-called
golden corridor

317
00:24:09,580 --> 00:24:12,540
links what remains of Chernobyl's
reactor 4

318
00:24:12,540 --> 00:24:14,420
to its three other reactors,

319
00:24:14,420 --> 00:24:17,660
which were largely undamaged
in the explosion.

320
00:24:22,140 --> 00:24:25,020
So that says Control Room 1?
Yes. So that's in there.

321
00:24:27,740 --> 00:24:30,820
I'll only have a very limited
and restricted time

322
00:24:30,820 --> 00:24:35,100
inside the heavily contaminated
shell of Control Room 4.

323
00:24:39,340 --> 00:24:41,940
So, engineer Valerii Kulishenko

324
00:24:41,940 --> 00:24:45,060
first takes me to see
what it WOULD have looked like.

325
00:24:51,380 --> 00:24:55,100
Feels like going back in time now.
So, this is the control room

326
00:24:55,100 --> 00:24:57,460
of reactor No 3,

327
00:24:57,460 --> 00:25:01,060
the sister reactor
to the one that exploded.

328
00:25:01,060 --> 00:25:03,260
On the night of the accident,

329
00:25:03,260 --> 00:25:06,340
up the corridor
in Control Room Number 4,

330
00:25:06,340 --> 00:25:09,420
engineers were carrying out
complex reactor tests

331
00:25:09,420 --> 00:25:12,220
that were spiralling out of control.

332
00:25:12,220 --> 00:25:14,900
As an exact mirror to
Control Room Number 4,

333
00:25:14,900 --> 00:25:18,940
this was the button
that doomed Chernobyl.

334
00:25:18,940 --> 00:25:22,100
This unprecedented
chain of events had begun,

335
00:25:22,100 --> 00:25:25,420
and the final decision was made
to shut it down.

336
00:25:25,420 --> 00:25:26,860
The button was turned...

337
00:25:30,420 --> 00:25:33,300
..and that was it. Disaster.

338
00:25:39,780 --> 00:25:43,140
The shutdown triggered
a massive power surge.

339
00:25:43,140 --> 00:25:45,060
Oh, my goodness.

340
00:25:45,060 --> 00:25:49,260
The core overheated and, seconds
later, the first explosion,

341
00:25:49,260 --> 00:25:51,500
followed soon after by a second.

342
00:25:52,620 --> 00:25:55,900
This is truly extraordinary.

343
00:25:55,900 --> 00:25:59,940
I am standing on
reactor No 3.

344
00:25:59,940 --> 00:26:03,180
So, each of these is a fuel rod.

345
00:26:03,180 --> 00:26:06,940
1,661 to be exact.

346
00:26:06,940 --> 00:26:11,340
This is an exact mirror
of reactor No 4.

347
00:26:11,340 --> 00:26:16,340
This blew right through the ceiling.
Everything came off.

348
00:26:16,340 --> 00:26:20,060
This is what people thought
was impossible.

349
00:26:20,060 --> 00:26:23,260
But what you must remember
is we're talking 1986.

350
00:26:23,260 --> 00:26:26,860
That was when nuclear energy was in
its infancy, it was transitioning

351
00:26:26,860 --> 00:26:30,260
from weapon to source of power

352
00:26:30,260 --> 00:26:33,940
and the USSR were producing
these power stations

353
00:26:33,940 --> 00:26:37,020
faster than anyone else,

354
00:26:37,020 --> 00:26:39,420
but they were also cutting corners.

355
00:26:44,820 --> 00:26:48,300
These reactors weren't designed
with a concrete and steel dome

356
00:26:48,300 --> 00:26:50,500
to contain the radiation.

357
00:26:50,500 --> 00:26:53,780
Two engineers were killed
instantly in the explosion

358
00:26:53,780 --> 00:26:56,580
while the night shift in
Control Room Number 4

359
00:26:56,580 --> 00:26:59,620
were exposed to lethal levels
of radiation.

360
00:27:01,140 --> 00:27:02,940
So, there's a little hatch here.

361
00:27:02,940 --> 00:27:06,100
It looks like I'm going to be
given another dosimeter.

362
00:27:06,100 --> 00:27:08,900
Kind of shows that I'm now heading
into a more vulnerable part

363
00:27:08,900 --> 00:27:13,780
of Chernobyl. There's much higher
radiation where we're going now.

364
00:27:15,340 --> 00:27:18,060
I'm now heading into the heart
of the Chernobyl story...

365
00:27:18,060 --> 00:27:19,500
Through here?

366
00:27:19,500 --> 00:27:22,420
..where many of the decisions and
actions that led to the disaster

367
00:27:22,420 --> 00:27:24,060
played out.

368
00:27:24,060 --> 00:27:27,780
So, this door goes into
Control Room Number 4?

369
00:27:30,220 --> 00:27:34,900
I mean, this is pretty extraordinary
because beyond this door

370
00:27:34,900 --> 00:27:38,100
is a control room
that changed the world.

371
00:27:38,100 --> 00:27:40,780
I mean, this is unbelievable.

372
00:27:50,460 --> 00:27:51,820
Goodness me.

373
00:27:54,540 --> 00:27:56,500
I don't have long to take it in.

374
00:28:00,220 --> 00:28:02,580
Five minutes to absorb all of this.
Wow.

375
00:28:07,220 --> 00:28:13,500
In terms of places of historical
significance this is right up there

376
00:28:13,500 --> 00:28:17,740
because, arguably,
this was the location

377
00:28:17,740 --> 00:28:20,500
of the world's greatest mistake.

378
00:28:51,380 --> 00:28:54,380
Oh, my goodness.
It's a time capsule.

379
00:28:54,380 --> 00:28:58,340
Lots of things have been removed.
Where are they?

380
00:28:58,340 --> 00:28:59,860
Stolen over the years.

381
00:29:01,380 --> 00:29:04,300
It's hard to even imagine
the terrifying events

382
00:29:04,300 --> 00:29:06,060
that took place here.

383
00:29:06,060 --> 00:29:09,780
The panic, the fear,
the horrific effects of radiation.

384
00:29:11,540 --> 00:29:14,060
The reading is pretty high in here.
It's about as high

385
00:29:14,060 --> 00:29:18,940
as I've seen during my whole time
around Chernobyl.

386
00:29:18,940 --> 00:29:24,980
But what a profound,
extraordinary, moving place.

387
00:29:24,980 --> 00:29:26,580
I mean, look at this.

388
00:29:31,220 --> 00:29:34,900
Soviet authorities blamed
the disaster on an inexperienced

389
00:29:34,900 --> 00:29:37,980
night shift failing to follow
safety protocols.

390
00:29:37,980 --> 00:29:41,140
But was it human error,
flaws in the design

391
00:29:41,140 --> 00:29:44,460
or was the Soviet nuclear
programme's technology

392
00:29:44,460 --> 00:29:45,580
just unstable?

393
00:29:46,860 --> 00:29:49,060
Time, we have to go.

394
00:29:49,060 --> 00:29:50,820
Then my time was up.

395
00:29:52,820 --> 00:29:55,020
OK, we gotta go.

396
00:29:55,020 --> 00:30:00,860
I doubt I'll ever come back into
here but, wow, what an experience.

397
00:30:02,180 --> 00:30:04,980
It's a reminder,
I suppose, of our mortality.

398
00:30:11,060 --> 00:30:13,940
I'll be returning to the power plant
later in my journey

399
00:30:13,940 --> 00:30:17,780
to see something
perhaps even more extraordinary -

400
00:30:17,780 --> 00:30:22,620
the tomb of the doomed reactor,
deeper inside the huge steal arch.

401
00:30:34,300 --> 00:30:37,500
There are very few people
who witnessed first-hand

402
00:30:37,500 --> 00:30:40,980
the events of that night
and lived to tell their story.

403
00:30:40,980 --> 00:30:43,740
I'm returning to the ghost town
of Pripyat

404
00:30:43,740 --> 00:30:45,980
to meet one person that did...

405
00:30:48,700 --> 00:30:50,260
So, this is the police station?

406
00:30:52,220 --> 00:30:55,420
..a former policeman
called Alexey Moskalenko.

407
00:31:04,500 --> 00:31:07,940
Alexey was a 29-year-old officer
with a young family

408
00:31:07,940 --> 00:31:09,740
when the disaster happened.

409
00:31:14,220 --> 00:31:18,420
Incredibly, he was on patrol
directly outside the power station

410
00:31:18,420 --> 00:31:20,380
when reactor 4 exploded.

411
00:31:46,620 --> 00:31:51,060
Despite his injuries, long after
his own family had been evacuated,

412
00:31:51,060 --> 00:31:54,460
Alexey stayed on in Pripyat
to police the enormous,

413
00:31:54,460 --> 00:31:56,900
life-threatening clean-up operation.

414
00:31:57,980 --> 00:31:59,700
Where are we going now?

415
00:32:10,860 --> 00:32:13,420
So this, this is the claw?

416
00:32:13,420 --> 00:32:17,020
Apparently, this grappling claw
was attached to a crane

417
00:32:17,020 --> 00:32:19,220
and used to handle large chunks

418
00:32:19,220 --> 00:32:23,580
of ultra-radioactive graphite
ejected by the explosion.

419
00:32:23,580 --> 00:32:26,620
Does that not mean that this is
highly radioactive?

420
00:32:36,260 --> 00:32:38,380
BEEPING AND CLICKING

421
00:32:42,380 --> 00:32:45,340
OK. I don't want you to overdo it!

422
00:32:45,340 --> 00:32:47,980
That was as high as I've seen it.

423
00:32:58,620 --> 00:33:02,540
Toxic debris was scattered
all over the roof of reactor 3,

424
00:33:02,540 --> 00:33:05,820
spewing out lethal doses
of radiation.

425
00:33:05,820 --> 00:33:08,820
Attempts to use robots
to clear the area failed

426
00:33:08,820 --> 00:33:11,220
so another method was needed.

427
00:33:34,740 --> 00:33:37,660
The army of people drafted in
for the deadly task

428
00:33:37,660 --> 00:33:40,460
became known as the liquidators.

429
00:33:40,460 --> 00:33:42,140
Every shovel they used

430
00:33:42,140 --> 00:33:45,740
and every item of makeshift
protective clothing they wore

431
00:33:45,740 --> 00:33:50,820
had to be safely disposed of after
each potentially fatal mission.

432
00:33:50,820 --> 00:33:53,660
Thousands of liquidators
are thought to have died

433
00:33:53,660 --> 00:33:56,260
as a result of exposure
to radiation.

434
00:33:59,580 --> 00:34:03,140
Do you think people sacrificed their
lives because they had to

435
00:34:03,140 --> 00:34:05,780
or did they do it for their country?

436
00:34:15,820 --> 00:34:18,340
Did you...
Did you sacrifice your health?

437
00:34:23,700 --> 00:34:25,700
You were given five years.

438
00:34:34,660 --> 00:34:36,540
It's just incredible,

439
00:34:36,540 --> 00:34:40,620
I mean, to meet someone who not only
experienced it first-hand

440
00:34:40,620 --> 00:34:44,140
but came back, was given
five years to live.

441
00:34:44,140 --> 00:34:48,460
I-I really can't even imagine
what he went through.

442
00:34:50,860 --> 00:34:54,740
It was just a duty of humanity.

443
00:34:54,740 --> 00:34:58,820
So, what he did with arguably for
all of us, really,

444
00:34:58,820 --> 00:35:03,220
to help contain it and that's what
the liquidator's did

445
00:35:03,220 --> 00:35:08,260
and they are the unsung heroes
of this whole sorry story.

446
00:35:14,540 --> 00:35:17,740
Cleared by the liquidators
as best they could,

447
00:35:17,740 --> 00:35:20,260
deep in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

448
00:35:20,260 --> 00:35:24,340
it's still referred to
as a toxic dead zone.

449
00:35:24,340 --> 00:35:28,020
But just how true is that?
Tomorrow I'm going somewhere

450
00:35:28,020 --> 00:35:31,180
that might well turn
everything on its head.

451
00:35:31,180 --> 00:35:35,020
Could people actually
still be living here?

452
00:35:35,020 --> 00:35:37,540
DOG BARKS

453
00:35:48,520 --> 00:35:52,360
My Exclusion Zone lodgings
are in the tiny town of Chernobyl,

454
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:55,160
after which the power plant
itself was named.

455
00:35:55,160 --> 00:36:01,000
Still inside The Zone, it was also
evacuated but, being 14km away,

456
00:36:01,000 --> 00:36:04,120
didn't suffer the total abandonment
seen in Pripyat.

457
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:08,840
It has a very strange feel here.

458
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:11,280
It feels like we're the only
people here.

459
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,080
Showing me around
is Kate Goncharenko,

460
00:36:16,080 --> 00:36:18,960
whose father and grandparents
were forcibly relocated

461
00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:21,320
after the accident.

462
00:36:21,320 --> 00:36:23,920
This looks like it's a working
building over here.

463
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:28,000
Yeah, yeah, exactly. This is the
post office, of Chernobyl town.

464
00:36:28,000 --> 00:36:31,400
And, generally, the one post office
for the whole area.

465
00:36:31,400 --> 00:36:34,880
And above the window
you can see the screen.

466
00:36:34,880 --> 00:36:38,960
Usually, when we see such a screen
in a post office, we expect to see

467
00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:42,040
the time there but as long as we're
in the Exclusion Zone

468
00:36:42,040 --> 00:36:44,520
we see the level of radiation

469
00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:47,760
in the different parts
of the Exclusion Zone.

470
00:36:47,760 --> 00:36:49,360
That's kind of mad.

471
00:36:49,360 --> 00:36:53,000
So, basically, what my little
dosimeter is doing here... Yeah.

472
00:36:53,000 --> 00:36:56,520
..that's telling me every single
part and region

473
00:36:56,520 --> 00:37:01,040
of the entire Exclusion Zone.
Exactly, you're getting it right.

474
00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:06,800
No-one is allowed to stay here
for more than two weeks at a time,

475
00:37:06,800 --> 00:37:08,560
but there is a local shop.

476
00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:13,120
This is a proper supermarket.
Hello. Hello.

477
00:37:13,120 --> 00:37:16,880
You've got everything you can need -
knives, biscuits, a lot of alcohol.

478
00:37:16,880 --> 00:37:17,880
Yeah.

479
00:37:21,320 --> 00:37:24,400
Do you just come here
for two weeks at a time?

480
00:37:24,400 --> 00:37:26,160
How do you feel working here?

481
00:37:30,000 --> 00:37:33,560
I think I'm going to get myself
a little something sweet.

482
00:37:33,560 --> 00:37:37,320
Do you fancy anything, Kate?
I guess one of this. Yeah. Yeah.

483
00:37:40,360 --> 00:37:44,320
I love that she's using an abacus.
Yeah.

484
00:37:44,320 --> 00:37:46,480
Like stepping back in time.

485
00:37:46,480 --> 00:37:49,400
26. Thank you.

486
00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:52,240
Thank you so much, bye-bye.
Bye-bye.

487
00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:58,480
It's against the law
to live inside The Zone

488
00:37:58,480 --> 00:38:02,320
but Kate is taking me to the
crumbling outskirts of Chernobyl

489
00:38:02,320 --> 00:38:06,360
to meet one woman who is defying
the authorities.

490
00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:08,720
Look at all these derelict
houses here.

491
00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:15,440
This is the house of Valentina,
one of the re-settlers,

492
00:38:15,440 --> 00:38:20,440
the people who came back and
continued living in their homes.

493
00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:21,640
Let's go.

494
00:38:22,960 --> 00:38:25,800
Oh, look she's got a cat. Yeah.

495
00:38:30,320 --> 00:38:33,920
I didn't really that there were
re-settlers, as in people

496
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:35,960
who moved back here permanently.

497
00:38:35,960 --> 00:38:39,520
Still feels like this is
a dead zone.

498
00:38:39,520 --> 00:38:42,280
You know, the fact that I'm walking
around with this,

499
00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:46,800
monitoring the amount of
radioactivity that I'm absorbing,

500
00:38:46,800 --> 00:38:48,800
but Valentina lives here.

501
00:38:48,800 --> 00:38:51,360
It's kind of quite a lot to
get your head around.

502
00:38:51,360 --> 00:38:53,000
Shall we? Yes.

503
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:56,440
Thank you very much for letting me
come into your house.

504
00:38:57,960 --> 00:39:01,400
Valentina moved back to The Zone
soon after the disaster.

505
00:39:01,400 --> 00:39:04,080
Her late husband found work
here as a liquidator.

506
00:39:04,080 --> 00:39:08,400
Hello, little dog.
Who ate all the pies?

507
00:39:08,400 --> 00:39:09,960
Valentina, what is your dog called?

508
00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:13,280
Dana. I can't quite work it out.

509
00:39:13,280 --> 00:39:16,280
It's like a Chihuahua-Corgi cross.

510
00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:18,880
There's lots of bottles of water.
Do you drink from the tap?

511
00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:33,760
Valentina does have electricity and
friends bring food in from outside

512
00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:35,520
but it's a humble existence.

513
00:39:37,680 --> 00:39:40,400
So, Valentina, why did you choose

514
00:39:40,400 --> 00:39:47,120
to return to a place so close
to Chernobyl Power Station?

515
00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:57,800
Does it ever feel sad here
or lonely here?

516
00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:24,800
Will you ever leave here?

517
00:40:31,520 --> 00:40:35,080
Around 200 re-settlers
still live in The Zone,

518
00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:38,040
one of the most toxic places
on Earth.

519
00:40:38,040 --> 00:40:40,440
Already they've lived longer
on average

520
00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:42,360
than those who never returned.

521
00:40:42,360 --> 00:40:45,200
She also offers us some vodka.

522
00:40:45,200 --> 00:40:49,080
When in Ukraine, I feel
I must take a bit of vodka.

523
00:40:49,080 --> 00:40:51,600
These labels look a little
bit scary.

524
00:40:51,600 --> 00:40:54,960
Isn't that for electricity?
Electricity, yeah.

525
00:40:54,960 --> 00:40:58,280
VOICEOVER: I think Valentina is keen
to show me that there can be

526
00:40:58,280 --> 00:41:00,520
a kind of normality here.

527
00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:03,720
Is this Ukrainian hospitality?
Exactly.

528
00:41:05,000 --> 00:41:08,520
My goodness. That's quite a lot.
Is she trying to get me drunk?

529
00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:12,320
Exactly. Thank you very much.
How do we say cheers in Ukrainian?

530
00:41:12,320 --> 00:41:14,320
Budmo. Budmo. OK.

531
00:41:18,360 --> 00:41:19,360
Whoa.

532
00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:25,080
Wow. You should eat something.
Oh, should I eat something as well?

533
00:41:25,080 --> 00:41:29,280
Yeah. I think I need to.
That was quite strong.

534
00:41:29,280 --> 00:41:30,600
Thank you.

535
00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:33,840
Valentina has one more
treat for me...

536
00:41:33,840 --> 00:41:35,760
Is this the entertainment?

537
00:41:37,160 --> 00:41:40,400
..ably assisted by Dana.

538
00:41:40,400 --> 00:41:43,440
DANA HOWLS REPEATEDLY

539
00:41:58,360 --> 00:42:02,080
DANA HOWLS CONTINUOUSLY, BEN LAUGHS

540
00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:04,320
Valentina, that...

541
00:42:04,320 --> 00:42:07,080
That... I will never forget that.

542
00:42:07,080 --> 00:42:08,480
DANA BARKS

543
00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:15,240
Take Care. Thank you.

544
00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:20,320
That was kind of amazing.

545
00:42:20,320 --> 00:42:24,920
So much love and humour
and humanity and normalness.

546
00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:31,320
And then this, which is kind of what
people expect to see in Chernobyl -

547
00:42:31,320 --> 00:42:35,320
abandonment and derelict buildings.

548
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:37,760
It's kind of a tale
of two worlds, isn't it?

549
00:42:37,760 --> 00:42:40,680
And it's just completely
unexpected, that.

550
00:42:40,680 --> 00:42:45,040
Because that's such a sign
of kind of hope and beauty

551
00:42:45,040 --> 00:42:49,200
amidst such wretchedness.
Kind of flips it all on its head.

552
00:42:56,080 --> 00:43:00,560
Self-settlers like Valentina show
that life can still exist here,

553
00:43:00,560 --> 00:43:04,040
but I'm learning of a newer
generation who also want to connect

554
00:43:04,040 --> 00:43:06,360
to this strange place.

555
00:43:06,360 --> 00:43:10,680
This evening I'm returning
to the ghost town of Pripyat.

556
00:43:10,680 --> 00:43:14,360
No-one can enter here
without a government permit.

557
00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:18,600
But not everyone heeds the rules.

558
00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:21,200
What I've slowly realised
being here is that

559
00:43:21,200 --> 00:43:25,480
although it is a deserted city,
stuff still happens here,

560
00:43:25,480 --> 00:43:28,280
and police patrols
are one of the realities

561
00:43:28,280 --> 00:43:34,000
because a deserted city attracts
people for the wrong reason.

562
00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:37,880
And I'm curious to find out what
sort of people do come here and why.

563
00:43:39,400 --> 00:43:43,840
Ukrainian police carry out
24-hour surveillance of Pripyat.

564
00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:48,640
Officer Mykhailo Kuzmenko
and his team are on the night shift.

565
00:43:48,640 --> 00:43:51,320
What kind of things
do people get up to here?

566
00:44:15,200 --> 00:44:18,720
The illegal trespassers
are known as stalkers.

567
00:44:22,000 --> 00:44:23,600
They operate in groups,

568
00:44:23,600 --> 00:44:26,240
creating makeshift living quarters
inside buildings...

569
00:44:30,240 --> 00:44:31,960
..and even sleeping there.

570
00:44:34,760 --> 00:44:38,960
Stalkers seek out the most dangerous
and inaccessible places...

571
00:44:41,000 --> 00:44:42,440
..to get their thrills.

572
00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:48,720
The dangers are clearly massive.

573
00:44:48,720 --> 00:44:50,840
RAPID BEEPING

574
00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:55,840
Tonight, Mykhailo's team believe
some have been staying in

575
00:44:55,840 --> 00:44:58,200
a high-rise on the outskirts
of the city.

576
00:44:58,200 --> 00:44:59,400
Going in.

577
00:45:17,720 --> 00:45:20,120
This is so strange.

578
00:45:20,120 --> 00:45:26,320
Kind of going from apartment to
apartment...looking for people.

579
00:45:42,120 --> 00:45:44,440
People have been graffitiing here.

580
00:45:44,440 --> 00:45:48,360
They're pretty certain
that there is someone around.

581
00:45:48,360 --> 00:45:50,680
There's fresh footprints,

582
00:45:50,680 --> 00:45:53,320
fresh signs of people being here.

583
00:45:55,320 --> 00:45:57,320
Look.

584
00:45:57,320 --> 00:45:59,520
So someone's been staying in here?

585
00:46:02,840 --> 00:46:04,960
This is the Chernobyl squatter.

586
00:46:07,120 --> 00:46:08,760
Who'd have thought?

587
00:46:08,760 --> 00:46:11,840
It's a side to Chernobyl
I never even considered,

588
00:46:11,840 --> 00:46:16,400
that people would be attracted here
for the thrill of staying over.

589
00:46:17,800 --> 00:46:22,800
I mean, pretty astonishing views.
I'm drawn to the window. Wow.

590
00:46:25,440 --> 00:46:27,560
There's a little sledge there.

591
00:46:31,920 --> 00:46:34,320
Very easy to face of the facts

592
00:46:34,320 --> 00:46:38,040
that it was once
a thriving block of flats.

593
00:46:45,920 --> 00:46:47,320
Oh, yeah, look.

594
00:46:50,000 --> 00:46:53,920
So this is pretty strange.
I can't quite make heads nor tails.

595
00:46:53,920 --> 00:46:56,760
I don't think any books or anything
were left in this building,

596
00:46:56,760 --> 00:47:00,680
everything was kind of taken, so
it's almost like they've created

597
00:47:00,680 --> 00:47:04,320
this little thing.
It's got the original Soviet flag,

598
00:47:04,320 --> 00:47:06,480
it's got a map of Pripyat.

599
00:47:06,480 --> 00:47:09,840
This is the social media affect.

600
00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:12,800
It's even reached Chernobyl.

601
00:47:12,800 --> 00:47:15,480
Because people want to come here,
they want to make videos,

602
00:47:15,480 --> 00:47:21,520
they want to show off, they want to,
erm, create dangerous stunts

603
00:47:21,520 --> 00:47:26,600
and, actually, this is sort of
their playground.

604
00:47:26,600 --> 00:47:29,480
That's a post-disaster effect
nowadays.

605
00:47:36,440 --> 00:47:39,720
The problem is so widespread, it's
common for the police to arrest

606
00:47:39,720 --> 00:47:42,360
at least one stalker
on every patrol.

607
00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:45,080
If they get caught,
do they get arrested?

608
00:48:16,560 --> 00:48:19,680
Darkness has set in and it has
a whole different feel now.

609
00:48:21,360 --> 00:48:24,560
It's getting late,
and with no arrests tonight,

610
00:48:24,560 --> 00:48:27,520
the police head off to patrol
other parts of The Zone.

611
00:48:27,520 --> 00:48:30,640
I think it's fair to say
that's the strangest,

612
00:48:30,640 --> 00:48:34,680
most surreal night patrol
I've ever been on.

613
00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:38,040
It's just a whole other face
to Chernobyl.

614
00:48:41,160 --> 00:48:43,720
The stalkers might have eluded us
tonight,

615
00:48:43,720 --> 00:48:46,400
but we have another plan
to track them down.

616
00:48:50,000 --> 00:48:52,840
Nikolai, my minder,
reckons that tomorrow morning

617
00:48:52,840 --> 00:48:55,600
we'll definitely snare us
our stalker.

618
00:49:06,230 --> 00:49:10,110
I'm spending a week inside
the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone,

619
00:49:10,110 --> 00:49:12,870
a toxic wasteland
that I've discovered is now

620
00:49:12,870 --> 00:49:17,510
a major attraction for illegal
sightseers and thrill-seekers.

621
00:49:17,510 --> 00:49:21,230
I want to understand why these
so-called stalkers come here

622
00:49:21,230 --> 00:49:24,230
and what Chernobyl means to the
generation who weren't around

623
00:49:24,230 --> 00:49:26,150
at the time of the accident.

624
00:49:30,190 --> 00:49:34,030
Nikolai has managed to track down
a stalker through social media

625
00:49:34,030 --> 00:49:37,230
and he's willing to talk to me.

626
00:49:37,230 --> 00:49:41,390
He's there. Down here somewhere?
Yes, on his way back from The Zone.

627
00:49:42,790 --> 00:49:45,150
Stalkers enter The Zone illegally

628
00:49:45,150 --> 00:49:48,310
so we're meeting
just outside the border.

629
00:49:48,310 --> 00:49:51,470
Apparently they're on their way
back from Pripyat

630
00:49:51,470 --> 00:49:54,310
so they well might have been there
when I was there.

631
00:49:55,590 --> 00:49:57,910
Hey, he's over there. Hey.

632
00:49:59,910 --> 00:50:02,230
No, no, we're good. OK.

633
00:50:05,070 --> 00:50:08,790
How long were you in Pripyat for?
Four days. Four days?

634
00:50:08,790 --> 00:50:11,830
And when you're in Pripyat,
where where do you stay?

635
00:50:11,830 --> 00:50:17,070
In my apartment. Your...? Yes,
I can show you my videos from there.

636
00:50:17,070 --> 00:50:19,950
This is my house, where we live.

637
00:50:21,230 --> 00:50:22,390
Good morning.

638
00:50:25,150 --> 00:50:28,550
How did you get in?
Illegally way.

639
00:50:29,830 --> 00:50:33,710
From the perimeter fence,
it's around 30km to Pripyat.

640
00:50:37,190 --> 00:50:39,470
The Zone is a vast wilderness.

641
00:50:39,470 --> 00:50:43,470
To avoid the police, stalkers must
trek through toxic forests

642
00:50:43,470 --> 00:50:45,270
and cross ice-cold rivers.

643
00:50:49,230 --> 00:50:51,990
So, crossing the river in your
pants, it's got to be cold.

644
00:50:51,990 --> 00:50:53,270
Argh!

645
00:50:53,270 --> 00:50:55,550
The water was this deep.

646
00:50:55,550 --> 00:51:01,190
With this backpack, I turn in my
hands, and go across this river.

647
00:51:01,190 --> 00:51:02,990
You don't understand how it's cold.

648
00:51:02,990 --> 00:51:04,430
Argh!

649
00:51:05,750 --> 00:51:09,110
Why do you do it? For me it is
just like a new adventure

650
00:51:09,110 --> 00:51:11,630
and every time it is very different.

651
00:51:11,630 --> 00:51:14,950
For example,
I find police and run away.

652
00:51:14,950 --> 00:51:19,190
Second time I meet many stalkers
also illegally.

653
00:51:19,190 --> 00:51:23,110
It's like adventure
and shock for me.

654
00:51:23,110 --> 00:51:26,790
Reaching Pripyat is
the stalker's Holy Grail...

655
00:51:29,030 --> 00:51:31,830
..a place where they can share
their extreme thrill-seeking

656
00:51:31,830 --> 00:51:33,350
on social media.

657
00:51:37,310 --> 00:51:40,550
The dangers of this illegal trespass
are clear.

658
00:51:40,550 --> 00:51:43,310
That must be scary up there.
Wow. Look at that.

659
00:51:46,190 --> 00:51:48,870
Do you not worry about radiation?

660
00:51:48,870 --> 00:51:50,950
I know where it's dangerous

661
00:51:50,950 --> 00:51:55,430
and it's, like four days radiation
not kill you, so why not?

662
00:51:57,070 --> 00:51:58,070
See you.

663
00:52:01,070 --> 00:52:02,670
Fascinating, that.

664
00:52:02,670 --> 00:52:08,750
Here, I suppose, is in modern
Ukrainian youth who's embracing

665
00:52:08,750 --> 00:52:12,870
2020, 2021, and social media

666
00:52:12,870 --> 00:52:15,710
and making videos
and keeping stories alive.

667
00:52:15,710 --> 00:52:18,950
It's a form of history telling,
isn't it? Really.

668
00:52:18,950 --> 00:52:21,990
It's the new world
meeting the old world.

669
00:52:21,990 --> 00:52:23,550
It's kind of cool

670
00:52:23,550 --> 00:52:27,150
and weird and...unexpected.

671
00:52:33,830 --> 00:52:36,030
I'm back inside The Zone.

672
00:52:36,030 --> 00:52:38,310
Its size still astounds me.

673
00:52:38,310 --> 00:52:42,350
1,000 square miles of crumbling
villages, toxic forests

674
00:52:42,350 --> 00:52:44,350
and abandoned farmland.

675
00:52:45,670 --> 00:52:48,950
But when the eyes
of the world turned to Chernobyl

676
00:52:48,950 --> 00:52:53,350
they found far more here
than just a ruined nuclear plant.

677
00:52:53,350 --> 00:52:57,270
In a remote part of The Zone,
Nikolai has special knowledge

678
00:52:57,270 --> 00:53:00,710
of something that was once
classified at the highest level.

679
00:53:03,830 --> 00:53:08,790
We are off to see something secret,
remains of the Cold War.

680
00:53:08,790 --> 00:53:10,590
It's truly amazing.

681
00:53:11,870 --> 00:53:15,590
I'm going to a site that, at the
time of the Chernobyl disaster,

682
00:53:15,590 --> 00:53:18,830
was marked on Soviet maps
as a children's camp.

683
00:53:19,990 --> 00:53:20,990
Wow.

684
00:53:23,070 --> 00:53:25,070
It had quite a climbing frame.

685
00:53:26,430 --> 00:53:28,430
You guys don't do things by halves.

686
00:53:28,430 --> 00:53:31,910
This is an amazing feat
of Soviet engineering.

687
00:53:31,910 --> 00:53:35,350
The scale of this place.
I feel dwarfed by it.

688
00:53:35,350 --> 00:53:37,710
It's like a 50-storey building.

689
00:53:41,110 --> 00:53:42,870
So what exactly is this?

690
00:53:42,870 --> 00:53:47,070
During the Cold War, this was
able to detect incoming missiles

691
00:53:47,070 --> 00:53:49,110
in case of a nuclear strike.

692
00:53:49,110 --> 00:53:52,750
Purpose of this was to give
a seven-minute warning

693
00:53:52,750 --> 00:53:54,950
to the Soviet authorities.

694
00:53:54,950 --> 00:53:58,510
And this was a technology available
only in Soviet Union.

695
00:53:58,510 --> 00:54:01,670
So Americans didn't have
anything like this.

696
00:54:01,670 --> 00:54:04,870
The huge radar receiver
was built around the same time

697
00:54:04,870 --> 00:54:06,350
as the power plant,

698
00:54:06,350 --> 00:54:10,950
helping to conceal from the
Americans the 14,000 tonnes of steel

699
00:54:10,950 --> 00:54:14,470
that needed to be brought
on site for its construction.

700
00:54:14,470 --> 00:54:19,070
It stands 150 metres high
and nearly a kilometre wide.

701
00:54:19,070 --> 00:54:21,590
So how did this actually work?
Radio waves?

702
00:54:21,590 --> 00:54:25,830
Yes, and the radio geeks in the
'80s, with their radio scanners,

703
00:54:25,830 --> 00:54:28,190
could hear a sound
of the radar station.

704
00:54:28,190 --> 00:54:29,950
MECHANICAL CLICKING

705
00:54:29,950 --> 00:54:32,430
Some people were calling it
a Russian woodpecker

706
00:54:32,430 --> 00:54:34,750
because it sounded
a bit like woodpecker

707
00:54:34,750 --> 00:54:37,070
and it was clearly
coming from Russia,

708
00:54:37,070 --> 00:54:38,710
so that's why Russian woodpecker.

709
00:54:38,710 --> 00:54:42,390
If you were picking that up,
if you were a ham radio operator

710
00:54:42,390 --> 00:54:46,430
in America, I can see how you'd
start thinking, "What is this?"

711
00:54:46,430 --> 00:54:50,350
Did the Americans know about this?
When did they first see it?

712
00:54:50,350 --> 00:54:51,830
After the meltdown.

713
00:54:51,830 --> 00:54:54,790
When all the spy satellites
had turned their eyes here,

714
00:54:54,790 --> 00:54:57,350
they suddenly discovered
this massive frame

715
00:54:57,350 --> 00:54:59,350
in the middle of nowhere.

716
00:54:59,350 --> 00:55:01,310
That was quite a surprise.

717
00:55:01,310 --> 00:55:06,910
Because of its size and weird look
there are many conspiracy theories,

718
00:55:06,910 --> 00:55:10,670
so some people believe that
this was a mind controller,

719
00:55:10,670 --> 00:55:15,270
like a brain scorcher of the
Soviet Union that was operating

720
00:55:15,270 --> 00:55:18,830
radio waves to control
and change human behaviour.

721
00:55:18,830 --> 00:55:22,710
I'm trying to imagine the people who
thought it could control your mind.

722
00:55:22,710 --> 00:55:26,550
I feel I need a vodka now. You do.
Has it affected me?

723
00:55:26,550 --> 00:55:27,950
THEY LAUGH

724
00:55:27,950 --> 00:55:31,630
We're 100% sure
it's not operating now

725
00:55:31,630 --> 00:55:35,790
and we can sleep tight tonight.
We are not zombies yet.

726
00:55:42,550 --> 00:55:45,390
The radar network
is another example of the Soviets

727
00:55:45,390 --> 00:55:47,350
looking the wrong way.

728
00:55:47,350 --> 00:55:50,590
While they scanned the horizon
for the incoming threat,

729
00:55:50,590 --> 00:55:53,430
it was actually the failure of
their own nuclear technology nearby

730
00:55:53,430 --> 00:55:56,710
that ultimately led to
the disaster they all feared.

731
00:56:01,430 --> 00:56:04,390
Now, there's just one
truly extraordinary place

732
00:56:04,390 --> 00:56:06,230
I'm yet to visit.

733
00:56:06,230 --> 00:56:11,110
Somewhere that very few will
ever get the opportunity to see.

734
00:56:11,110 --> 00:56:15,790
Tomorrow I'm going directly beneath
the vast Chernobyl Radiation Shield,

735
00:56:15,790 --> 00:56:18,150
getting as close as is possible

736
00:56:18,150 --> 00:56:21,710
to get to the very epicentre
of the explosion.

737
00:56:34,980 --> 00:56:38,100
I'm returning to the Chernobyl
Power Plant to gain access

738
00:56:38,100 --> 00:56:41,780
to something off limits
to almost all outsiders.

739
00:56:41,780 --> 00:56:44,820
Deep inside the enormous steel arch,

740
00:56:44,820 --> 00:56:48,780
known as the New Safe Confinement,
is the entombed remains

741
00:56:48,780 --> 00:56:53,740
of the ruined reactor itself,
the very epicentre of the explosion.

742
00:56:53,740 --> 00:56:55,940
After months of discussions

743
00:56:55,940 --> 00:56:58,940
I've been granted
just a few minutes inside.

744
00:57:04,900 --> 00:57:08,900
This is pretty special to be
allowed to go into there.

745
00:57:08,900 --> 00:57:11,980
That's why there's lots of people
keeping an eye on me,

746
00:57:11,980 --> 00:57:17,020
lots of paperwork, it's taken a long
time to get these permissions.

747
00:57:18,260 --> 00:57:20,020
Directly underneath the arch,

748
00:57:20,020 --> 00:57:23,620
radiation levels are even higher
than Control Room Number 4.

749
00:57:23,620 --> 00:57:25,740
It's kind of like going to war.

750
00:57:27,220 --> 00:57:31,380
I think we're about to head into
the final area.

751
00:57:43,460 --> 00:57:45,860
Wow. Oh, my goodness.

752
00:57:50,380 --> 00:57:54,060
This... This is unbelievable.
I mean, I can't...

753
00:57:54,060 --> 00:57:57,700
I can't quite believe
I'm actually in here.

754
00:58:00,860 --> 00:58:04,660
Behind the scaffold is the crumbling
concrete sarcophagus

755
00:58:04,660 --> 00:58:08,740
that was hastily erected
to entomb the blown apart reactor.

756
00:58:08,740 --> 00:58:11,780
If you can hear that beeping,
that was everyone's dosimeters

757
00:58:11,780 --> 00:58:14,900
from outside going off,
cos it's off the scale in here.

758
00:58:14,900 --> 00:58:18,380
We're up to 85, almost 90.

759
00:58:21,220 --> 00:58:25,180
Over time and exposed to the
elements, the concrete sarcophagus

760
00:58:25,180 --> 00:58:29,660
has deteriorated
and is teetering on collapse.

761
00:58:29,660 --> 00:58:33,060
The entire structure will be
painstakingly disassembled,

762
00:58:33,060 --> 00:58:36,340
its still hot
radioactive core removed

763
00:58:36,340 --> 00:58:39,220
and placed in special storage
facilities.

764
00:58:39,220 --> 00:58:43,540
So when the workers eventually
start to dismantle this,

765
00:58:43,540 --> 00:58:48,780
how long can each worker
spend doing their job?

766
00:58:58,580 --> 00:59:00,460
It will all be robotics? Yeah.

767
00:59:01,660 --> 00:59:05,100
Very slowly
everything will be picked apart.

768
00:59:05,100 --> 00:59:08,980
This is modern day liquidators.
This is history repeating itself.

769
00:59:08,980 --> 00:59:11,860
All those men that were sweeping
the debris off the roof,

770
00:59:11,860 --> 00:59:13,660
it's going to happen again.

771
00:59:13,660 --> 00:59:17,660
Spearheaded by the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development,

772
00:59:17,660 --> 00:59:23,420
over 40 countries came together
to fund the £1.3 billion arch.

773
00:59:23,420 --> 00:59:25,260
For at least the next century,

774
00:59:25,260 --> 00:59:28,940
this extraordinary feat of
mega engineering will protect

775
00:59:28,940 --> 00:59:31,900
and enable the radioactive ruins
of reactor 4

776
00:59:31,900 --> 00:59:35,060
to eventually be made safe.

777
00:59:35,060 --> 00:59:38,540
Trying to explain to you now
my emotions, it's really weird,

778
00:59:38,540 --> 00:59:42,060
because I feel
surprisingly emotional

779
00:59:42,060 --> 00:59:45,420
to see what is arguably

780
00:59:45,420 --> 00:59:48,140
a wretched, terrible place.

781
00:59:49,780 --> 00:59:51,980
But what I see
coming in here is hope

782
00:59:51,980 --> 00:59:56,420
and that's what I love cos this is
the hope of what technology can do.

783
00:59:56,420 --> 01:00:00,420
This is the hope of what people
collaborating, multi nations came

784
01:00:00,420 --> 01:00:05,020
together to create this dome and
protect it for another 100 years

785
01:00:05,020 --> 01:00:10,020
and isn't that incredible that over
the next couple of decades, robots,

786
01:00:10,020 --> 01:00:13,340
you know, AI, artificial
intelligence, that so many people

787
01:00:13,340 --> 01:00:15,540
think could ruin the world,

788
01:00:15,540 --> 01:00:19,460
could actually help save it
and preserve it.

789
01:00:21,940 --> 01:00:26,740
So my emotions right now are
of great pride for this country,

790
01:00:26,740 --> 01:00:29,740
for everyone who worked on it

791
01:00:29,740 --> 01:00:33,060
and showing what humanity can do.

792
01:00:35,620 --> 01:00:39,580
BEEPING

793
01:00:39,580 --> 01:00:41,860
Got about 30 seconds left in here.

794
01:00:41,860 --> 01:00:44,460
You can hear everyone's
dosimeters going off.

795
01:00:45,700 --> 01:00:49,660
Whoo, gosh.
Chris, we have to get out.

796
01:00:49,660 --> 01:00:52,100
Chris, we've gotta go. Yeah.

797
01:00:54,260 --> 01:00:55,780
Our time is up.

798
01:00:58,980 --> 01:01:03,140
Everything is checked for
contamination but we're all clear.

799
01:01:09,420 --> 01:01:13,300
The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is
still a long way from being a safe,

800
01:01:13,300 --> 01:01:18,460
habitable environment but slowly
green shoots are emerging.

801
01:01:18,460 --> 01:01:21,540
The wider Zone itself has become
a giant laboratory

802
01:01:21,540 --> 01:01:24,780
where scientists and
conservationists can now

803
01:01:24,780 --> 01:01:28,220
safely study the effects
of radiation and what happens

804
01:01:28,220 --> 01:01:31,060
to nature when humans disappear.

805
01:01:32,380 --> 01:01:35,180
What is this we're going into now?

806
01:01:43,220 --> 01:01:47,820
Biologist Marina Shkvyria has been
studying wildlife in The Zone.

807
01:01:48,940 --> 01:01:53,580
So, all of this here has grown
since this was all abandoned?

808
01:02:03,740 --> 01:02:06,180
What's interesting is
when I look at my dosimeter,

809
01:02:06,180 --> 01:02:09,020
it's a little bit higher in here,
perhaps, and I know that

810
01:02:09,020 --> 01:02:11,460
if I go down towards the moss,

811
01:02:11,460 --> 01:02:16,500
it goes up quite a lot and yet
nature has flourished here.

812
01:02:47,780 --> 01:02:51,100
Marina and other scientists
believe that without hunting,

813
01:02:51,100 --> 01:02:54,140
farming and the destruction
of natural habitats,

814
01:02:54,140 --> 01:02:57,980
The Zone is becoming
an unlikely wildlife sanctuary.

815
01:03:00,940 --> 01:03:03,220
We're tracking wolves.

816
01:03:07,420 --> 01:03:09,260
Have you found anything, Marina?

817
01:03:09,260 --> 01:03:12,260
Yeah. You can see tracks, yeah?

818
01:03:12,260 --> 01:03:14,860
This one? Oh, yes, I've got it.

819
01:03:14,860 --> 01:03:17,100
How many wolves do you think
have come through here?

820
01:03:25,700 --> 01:03:30,140
There are plenty of wolf tracks but
in an area the size of Luxembourg,

821
01:03:30,140 --> 01:03:33,100
seeing them was always going to be
a long shot.

822
01:03:36,980 --> 01:03:40,700
Luckily, Marina and her team have
caught glimpses of the wildlife

823
01:03:40,700 --> 01:03:43,300
that live in The Zone
on remote cameras.

824
01:03:47,020 --> 01:03:48,420
So, this is from a drone?

825
01:03:50,420 --> 01:03:53,300
That's a beautiful shot.
Wow, look at that,

826
01:03:53,300 --> 01:03:55,420
galloping off across the landscape.

827
01:03:56,660 --> 01:03:58,220
How beautiful is that?

828
01:04:00,140 --> 01:04:03,060
Marina, how did these horses
get here in the first place?

829
01:04:03,060 --> 01:04:04,660
Were they introduced?

830
01:04:24,700 --> 01:04:27,460
And wolves!
Look at that. Incredible.

831
01:04:30,220 --> 01:04:34,420
Just amazing to see the array
of animals on those camera traps.

832
01:04:34,420 --> 01:04:37,500
Moose, deer, wolves, lynx.

833
01:04:37,500 --> 01:04:39,420
There's even bears.

834
01:04:39,420 --> 01:04:44,820
So many animals living in this
extraordinary Exclusion Zone.

835
01:04:59,500 --> 01:05:02,940
The planet faces
unprecedented challenges -

836
01:05:02,940 --> 01:05:06,100
many of them, like Chernobyl,
of our own making.

837
01:05:07,980 --> 01:05:09,980
I came here looking for hope.

838
01:05:11,620 --> 01:05:14,860
What I've discovered here
in Chernobyl is that this is

839
01:05:14,860 --> 01:05:18,420
supposed to be a radioactive
wasteland for tens,

840
01:05:18,420 --> 01:05:21,260
maybe hundreds
of thousands of years...

841
01:05:23,060 --> 01:05:25,180
..and yet nature's reclaiming it.

842
01:05:30,900 --> 01:05:32,380
I mean, look at this.

843
01:05:32,380 --> 01:05:35,860
This, for me, is really exciting
part of the Chernobyl story

844
01:05:35,860 --> 01:05:39,260
cos it's the accidental hope
that came from it.

845
01:05:39,260 --> 01:05:43,100
Some people are calling this
the European Amazon.

846
01:05:43,100 --> 01:05:47,620
This is almost the greatest,
accidental rewilding project

847
01:05:47,620 --> 01:05:54,580
in the world because where there was
wretchedness and disaster

848
01:05:54,580 --> 01:05:59,100
has come this extraordinary
return to the wild.

849
01:06:17,220 --> 01:06:20,220
Subtitles by Red Bee Media