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Google Sightseeing takes you on tour of the world as seen from satellite, using the free Google Earth program, or Google Maps in your web browser. Each weekday your guides James and Alex present new weird and wonderful sights as suggested by readers.

The editors: James & Alex

Chernobyl

Thursday, 23rd June 2005 by

The site of the Chernobyl nuclear power station is in Ukraine, at the far east of Europe. There isn’t super-high res imagery of the area but you can get the general idea of the layout. For an annotated image there is a handy one over on wikipedia. Of course, it is next to large water supply as this was used to generate the steam to drive the power generating turbines. Over 300,000 people had to be resettled because of the Chernobyl accident, around 600,000 participated in the cleanup, millions lived and continue to live in the contaminated area. An increased incidence of thyroid cancer among children in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia affected by the Chernobyl accident has been firmly established as a result of screening programs.

chernobyl

Thanks: Erin, Aaron & Thomas

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Locations: Ukraine / Categories:

8 Responses to 'Chernobyl'

  1. 1. Bryan says: June 23rd, 2005 at 11:18 pm

    This is a photographic journal of a Russian woman riding her motorcycle through Chernobyl some 20 years after the disaster. It is thoroughly chilling.

    http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html

  2. 2. Olly says: June 23rd, 2005 at 11:19 pm

    Good link Bryan, I’d forgotten about that article. It’s pretty creepy in places.

  3. 3. pete_krug says: June 23rd, 2005 at 11:57 pm

    Bryan, That was one of the most sobering things I have ever seen or read. Words fail…

  4. 4. Bikil says: June 26th, 2005 at 10:33 am

    As Ukraine is now an independent country, please refer to it as such: “Ukraine” and not “the Ukraine”.

  5. 5. Onur says: January 23rd, 2006 at 12:32 am

    Because of this nuclear accident, lots of people in Blacksea Region of Turkey were cancer!!!

  6. 6. Fehler says: April 25th, 2006 at 7:53 pm

    The resolution has been greatly increased. Wow. Can someone update this link, with a specific note on which building is the “Sarcophagus”?

  7. 7. Frank Castle says: April 26th, 2006 at 12:19 am

    @ Fehler: This is the building with the sarcophagus:
    Placemark: Google Maps / Google Earth

  8. Google Sightseeing Admin
    8. Alex says: April 28th, 2006 at 1:48 pm

    Please see our latest post on Chernobyl for updated imagery.