12 INTERESTING FACTS THAT YOU PROBABLY DID NOT KNOW ABOUT CHERNOBYL

№1

The Chernobyl disaster is so severe that the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES) assigned it the 7th danger level (Major Accident).

№2

In the second half of the 18th century, the city of Chernobyl was one of the main centers of Hasidism, which in its significance was not inferior to Uman. At the end of the XIX century, the population of the city was more than 10 thousand people, and two-thirds of them were Jews. There were about 10 synagogues in the city.

№3

A powerful radiation "painted" the forest near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in a bright red color. Since that time, it is called the Red Forest.

№4

50 million curies - that's a total release of radioactive materials. This sum is equal to the consequences of the explosion of 500 atomic bombs, which the Americans dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

№5

The number and diversity of flora and fauna in the Exclusion Zone can compete with the most famous reserves and national parks of the world.

№6

There are a lot of films about Chernobyl: Chernobyl: Chronicle of difficult weeks (1986), The Bell of Chernobyl (1987); Decay (1990);  Chernobyl Heart  (2003); Aurora (2006), Chernobyl 3828 (2011); Voices from Chernobyl (2016 ); Transformers: Dark of the Moon (2009, USA); Universal Soldier: Regeneration (2010, USA);

the short movie The Arch, which was filmed in the Chernobyl Exclusion zone, collected many prestigious international awards; HBO's TV Mini-Series Chernobyl (2019) produced by the creators of "Game of Thrones".

№7

In 2014 the cult band Pink Floyd presented a music video for the song Marooned, shot in the ghost town of Pripyat.

№8

It is impossible to get to Chernobyl without official support. Your name and passport must be submitted to a special institution 7-10 days prior the visit. There are checkpoints at the entrance to 30 km and 10 km zones and to the ghost town, and the military will check you at each point.

№9

There is a curfew on the territory of Chernobyl after 8 pm.

№10

There is a top- secret radar Duga-2 in Chernobyl. This huge construction directed its antennas toward the United States, tracking down approaching aircraft and missiles.

№11

The last radioactive element plutonium-239 will completely decay in contaminated areas only in 26 486 (24,500 years after the accident).

№12

The plots of many books and computer games are based on the Exclusion zone: S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (de_cache).