On Sunday a group of teachers and two Swedish tourists went to Chornobyl (not CHERNOBYL, that's the Russian spelling, gallantly though obviously covered over on the sign to the town).
As might be expected, there was a lot of gallows humor. We were told by the 30-year-old guide not to walk on anything green, especially the moss on the asphalt at the amusement park (bereft-looking never-used Ferris wheel and bumper cars. This park was supposed to open on May Day 1986, five days after the disaster). Moss on soil isn't as bad, but moss on asphalt has absorbed all of the radiation that didn't sink into the ground.
Yuri, our guide, kept putting his handheld docimeter on the road, the soil, the grass, asphalt, moss on asphalt. The counts went up and up. A count of 12-20 is normal radiation here on earth. The counts went up to 1500 on the moss on asphalt.
We all squeamishly stepped over the grass and moss and wondered about the guide. He works for two weeks and has two weeks off. He's from the area. There aren't many job opportunities other than tour guide or tearing apart the reactors, two weeks on, two weeks off. Then they go home and throw away their shoes, where the radiation collects.
I went home, showered, washed my clothes, looked at my watch, and left it out on the balcony. "Yeah, leave it there for 300 years" one of my friends joked.
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1 comment:
I'm fascinated by the things you're seeing and doing. Any chance you could post more pictures?
I've been meaning to ask my parents exactly where their parents emmigrated from. I'll let you know when I find out.
Take care!
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