Pripyat (Or Prypiat), is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1970 as the ninth atomgrad to serve the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which is located in the adjacent ghost city of Chernobyl. Pripyat was officially proclaimed a city in 1979 and had grown to a population of 49,360.[1] It was abandoned on the afternoon of April 27, 1986 in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster, one day after.
Coverage[]
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant during the Chernobyl disaster.
It sees the future in 20 years after people where concrete buildings begun to crumble and animals that long avoided human population centers return to make new homes among its decaying walls. It was evacuated in the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster and the city population 50,000 turns into a ghost town overnight. Ron Chesser, along with Sergey Gashchak and Brenda Rogers, explores and analyze the abandoned structures and the progress of nature.
Exploration[]
Ron Chesser introduce Pripyat in the middle of central square, he stated that it once the most modern city in the former Soviet Union and gives a picture on what would happen if people abandoned the place after 20 years without people. Showing the abandoned areas are dust-covered school rooms which remains as the students left them, vegetation pries apart the masonry as it crawls over the buildings, and an amusement park scheduled to open four days after the accident never used. Within the amusement is the Ferris Wheel which accumulates rust and the bumper cars that sit in a state of motionless decay. Ron Chesser stated that radiation levels are not very high according to his Geiger counter and explores the cultural center of the city of Pripyat where 20 years of nature have decay the facility.
The documentary then shows a computer-generated sequence of the concrete Soviet facility Palace of Culture Energetik stating that it's no match for the frigid Ukrainian winters. As the temperature drops below freezing, water accumulated in cracks have expand and burst the pressure that pulls apart the masonry. After the winter, vegetation then grows unchecked with the roots spread through foundations and stairs which then the roots suck in moisture in order to make them expand and grow, slowly pushing apart the concrete.
Despite scientists expected the worst for the wildlife after the incident, 20 years in absence of humans have outweighed the initial damage. Ron Chesser shows the Red Forest where the trees were killed by radioactivity as well killing all of the wildlife in the region. He shows an example of wildlife resurgence like an antler from a healthy red deer and Russian wild boars that have a population 10 to 15 times higher than outside of the zone. Sergey Gashcak explores the kindergarten in Karpachi Village not far from Chernobyl station, where the room continues to live by birds sitting on the bars and shows an evidence of an owl living in the abandoned kindergarten. Even trees that were vulnerable to radioactive fallout suddenly returns, Brenda Rodgers explains the activity in the abandoned Pripyat soccer stadium where it starts to return what it was originally hundreds of years ago mixed with a deciduous forest.
Exploration Conclusion[]
The exploration concludes with a quote from Ron Chesser stated that he grew up in a town like Pripyat and used to enjoy riding bumper cars. He seems pretty sad to look at what's become the city of Pripyat but he also explains another story, an encouraging one, where life is much more resilient than what man thought possible. He explains that in the absence of man, life will continue and thrive and the legacy of life will always continue, even if man disappear.
Gallery[]
