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New images show radioactive trains at Yaniv station in Chernobyl, inside the nuclear accident exclusion zone
The disaster of Chernobyl, which occurred on April 26, 1986, is one of the most tragic events in the history of nuclear energy. Located in the then Soviet Union, the accident involved the Explosão of reactor number 4 of the Chernobyl plant, triggering a release massive of radiation which profoundly affected not only the region, but also neighboring countries and even distant parts of Europe. A beautiful local train station was completely abandoned.
To this day, the consequences are visible in Ukraine and Belarus, where the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone bears unsettling witness to the events of that fateful night.
Ghost Train Station
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When talking about Chernobyl, it is impossible not to mention Pripyat, the city planned to house the plant's workers and their families. The city was evacuated shortly after the accident, leaving behind a ghostly scene, like a time capsule. Today, Pripyat is one of the best-known areas of the exclusion zone and continues to attract tourists and curious onlookers.
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Not far from there, the show The Yaniv Ghost Station, founded in 1925, also carries deep memories. Long before Pripyat was established, Yaniv served as a passenger and freight transport station. Today, it is a largely abandoned station, with only a few tracks still in operation to assist construction crews on the new Chernobyl sarcophagus.
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Interestingly, the station was only electrified after the accident, to facilitate the transportation of the so-called “liquidators,” those who bravely worked to contain the effects of the disaster. These workers faced deadly levels of radiation and, in many cases, sacrificed their lives to minimize the damage that the accident would cause to humanity.
Lasting Impact: Radioactive Equipment and the Chernobyl Sarcophagus
The Chernobyl accident led to the contamination of a number of railway vehicles and equipment. Some of these train carriages, locomotives and rolling stock still sit at Yaniv station, contaminated with enough radiation to render them unusable, but not so much that they should be buried with other highly radioactive debris.
Among the most dangerous items is an IMR engineering vehicle, used by the Soviet Army to cut down trees in the famous “red forest“This vehicle, which still displays high levels of radioactivity, is a grim reminder of the risks faced by those directly involved in the decontamination of the area.
The new Chernobyl sarcophagus, a colossal steel structure built to cover the damaged reactor, represents a monumental effort to contain the effects of the disaster.
In 2021, Ukraine’s state-owned company Energoatom completed a new 43-kilometer track between Vilcha and Yaniv, connecting the Exclusion Zone to the Ukrainian railway system. This connection facilitates the transportation of radioactive waste, part of an ongoing effort to manage the aftermath of the accident.
Tourism in Chernobyl
The Chernobyl exclusion zone has become a unique tourist destination. The idea of exploring a site affected by a nuclear disaster may seem strange to some, but for many, it is an opportunity to witness a piece of modern history and reflect on the lessons learned from the accident.
Trained guides lead visitors through the secure areas, where you can still see the reactor, the city of Pripyat and even Yaniv Station. It’s a quiet, introspective tour, where the ruins tell a powerful story.
History
The history of Chernobyl dates back to the height of the Cold War, when the Soviet Union was determined to expand its nuclear power generation capacity. Construction of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant began in the 1970s, and the complex was designed to house four RBMK (Reaktor Bolshoy Moshchnosti Kanalnyy) type reactors.
These reactors, designed in the Soviet Union, were known for their efficiency, but they also had some questionable safety features, particularly the lack of a robust reactor containment system—a common feature of Western reactor designs. At the time, the priority was energy efficiency, and safety risks were not sufficiently considered.
The day of the accident
On the night of April 25, 1986, Chernobyl engineers conducted a safety test on reactor 4 to assess how it would react in the event of a power outage. However, a series of operational errors and flaws in the reactor design led to a rapid increase in temperature and pressure.
At 1:23 a.m. on April 26, the combination of factors culminated in a catastrophic explosion. The steel and concrete cover covering the reactor was thrown off, releasing a huge amount of radiation into the atmosphere.
The initial explosion was so strong that it lit up the night sky, and many residents of Pripyat, the city near the plant, woke up and watched the flames without knowing the severity of what had happened.
In the days that followed, the lack of accurate information about the danger left many in an extremely vulnerable situation. The evacuation of the city was only ordered 36 hours after the accident, by which time residents had already been exposed to dangerous levels of radiation.
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