Kyiv (TAN): The site of a massive nuclear disaster Chernobyl, near Pripyat in northern Ukraine, is set to officially be turned into a tourist attraction.
According to reports, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has announced plans to transform the area, associated with dark tourism, into a legitimate tourist destination. Plans include new walking trails and waterways, improved cellphone reception, and zero restrictions on filming.
“Chernobyl has been a negative part of Ukraine’s brand. The time has come to change this,” President Zelensky was quoted by media reports as saying.
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Visitors’ curiosity about Chernobyl went up since television channel HBO aired its mini series about the tragedy earlier this year.
A reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded in April 1986, immediately killing at least 28 people and exposing millions to unsafe radiation levels. The effects of the explosion continue to be felt after three decades through conditions associated with radiation such as cancer, birth defects, and malfunctioning immune system.
It also contaminated nearly 50,000 acres of land after radioactive traces wafted a couple of kilometres into the Earth’s atmosphere and across Europe. Authorities set up an ‘exclusion zone’ for an 18-mile radius around the reactor, including Pripyat, after reportedly evacuating 100,000 people from the area.
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Although guides take tourists around Pripyat’s abandoned structures, the place is portrayed as bleak and frozen in time. Zelensky, in favour of giving Chernobyl and the area surrounding it a positive spin, reportedly said: “We will create a green corridor for tourists. Chernobyl is a unique place on the planet where nature was reborn after a huge man-made disaster. We have to show this place to the world: to scientists, ecologists, historians and tourists.”
But the return of plants and wildlife may not necessarily mean the town does not pose threat to tourists anymore. When experts say the region could still be hazardous for visitors, radiation is not the only danger they have in mind. Entering the buildings in the town of Pripyat can itself be a risk, as the houses devoid of maintenance for over three decades could collapse under pressure.
Writer of the HBO miniseries Chernobyl Craig Mazin took to Twitter requesting visitors to be respectful, after Instagram began to get flooded with tourists’ selfies.
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He tweeted: “It’s wonderful that #ChernobylHBO has inspired a wave of tourism to the Zone of Exclusion. But yes, I’ve seen the photos going around. If you visit, please remember that a terrible tragedy occurred there. Comport yourselves with respect for all who suffered and sacrificed.”
