Gerd Ludwig's 'Long Shadow of Chernobyl' project with pictures

[OneEyeGuy]

On April 26, 1986, operators in this control room of reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant committed a fatal series of errors during a safety test, triggering a reactor meltdown that resulted in the world's largest nuclear accident to date. Today, the control room sits abandoned and deadly radioactive. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine, 2005 (Gerd Ludwig/INSTITUTE)

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Internationally-renowned photojournalist ​

has spent years documenting the aftermath of the ​

Chernobyl

nuclear disaster. In 1986, errors at the plant in Ukraine led to an explosion that ultimately caused over a quarter of a million people to permanently evacuate their homes to escape the radiation and radioactive fallout. Over the course of several trips to the site and the region for National Geographic Magazine in 1993, 2005, and 2011, Ludwig has amassed a documentary record of a people and a place irreparably altered by a tragic accident. His 2011 trip was partially funded by a ​

Kickstarter

campaign. Now Ludwig has released an ​

with over 150 photographs, video, and interactive panoramas. Gathered here is a small selection of the work Ludwig has produced over the years of the still-unfolding tragedy. -- ​

Lane Turner

​

23 photos total

https://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2012/02/gerd_ludwigs_long_shadow_of_ch.html​

 

[OneEyeGuy]

The nuclear accident contaminated tens of thousands of square kilometers, forcing 150,000 people within a 30 km radius to hastily leave their homes. Today, nearly all the small wooden houses in the scattered villages within the Exclusion Zone are abandoned, and nature slowly takes over these remnants of civilization. Korogod, Ukraine, 2005 (Gerd Ludwig/INSTITUTE)​

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n the days, weeks and months after the Chernobyl accident, strong winds pushed the radiation released by the explosion northwest into the Gomel region of Belarus, contaminating thousands of square kilometers with the radioactive fallout. Today, girls born around the time of the accident are having children of their own. Many find themselves anxious about the contamination and what it might have done to their reproductive organs and genes. Gomel, Belarus, 2005 (Gerd Ludwig/INSTITUTE)​

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[Wise Guy]

On April 26, 1986, operators in this control room of reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant committed a fatal series of errors during a safety test, triggering a reactor meltdown that resulted in the world's largest nuclear accident to date. Today, the control room sits abandoned and deadly radioactive. Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Ukraine, 2005 (Gerd Ludwig/INSTITUTE)

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This is depressing and sad but never knew it was the fuck up of the operators.

 

[TINY]

This is depressing and sad but never knew it was the fuck up of the operators.

Most catastrophes are.

 

[tboy]

This is depressing and sad but never knew it was the fuck up of the operators.

You can also attribute the issues with:
1) the engineers who designed a system that COULD be fucked up by human error
2) the government who didn't warn anyone about the problem until 3 days after

etc etc etc

The thing about most reactors is that once the reaction starts, people and machines have to constantly work to control it. One false move and it goes critical. Unlike our Candu reactors where it takes constant attention to keep the reaction going. Any wrong move and it returns to a dormant state. That is what makes it so safe.....