Chernobyl's famous 4 reactor control room is now open to tourists as long as they wear a special protective suit.
According to CNN, the radioactive control room at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (Chernobyl) 4 Reactor, destroyed by 1986 after a nuclear accident, is now open to tourists as they wear protective uniforms, helmets and gloves.
The Chernobyl tourist agencies have confirmed that the control room is now open for guided tours, following the decision of Ukrainian President Volydymyr Zelensky to declare the area an official tourist attraction. Those entering the unit must then undergo two radiology tests to measure their exposure to infectious agents.
Chernobyl and the neighboring town of Pripyat have been the focus of a restricted area of about 3.200 square kilometers, although parts of the area have been visited by tourists for several months. The 4 reactor, including the control room, there was a forbidden area for everyone, except for a handful of scientists. According to Ruptly , the radiation in the room is about 40.000 times higher than normal.
As for what to expect, 2011 The Guardian reported that the room had been largely stripped of "souvenir hunters" plastic instrument switches, although some objects, such as diagrams referring to reactor behavior as well as cables, remained intact (most likely because they have no toner). The severely damaged 4 reactor and the original sarcophagus were covered in an arc of 32.000 tons called New Safe Confinement.
Sergiy Ivanchuk, Director of SoloEast, he told Reuters in June that its bookings for excursions had increased by 30% in May of 2019 compared to previous years, while bookings for summer months had increased by 40%.
For history, the Chernobyl nuclear accident had made 1986 resulted in 28 deaths from acute radiation exposure and 15 deaths from thyroid cancer. The full number of deaths remains controversial, with most estimates linking the number of expected long-term disasters to tens of thousands. Greece was affected by the radioactive cloud, especially northern Greece and Thessaly. Read about it here.