As the conflict in Ukraine persists, chilling new visuals have surfaced from within the location of the world’s most alarming nuclear disaster.
Genya Savilov, a photographer from AFP, in collaboration with Greenpeace, has been granted uncommon entry into the site of the most severe nuclear catastrophe in history.
Greenpeace has cautioned that an uncontrolled collapse of the internal radiation shield at the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power station in Ukraine could heighten the risk of releasing radioactivity into the surroundings.
Our collection unveils the unsettling state of the facility today, nearly four decades after the radioactive fallout spread globally following the explosion in 1986.
The detonation and subsequent fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on April 26, 1986, initiated the release of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere.
Numerous individuals perished in the immediate aftermath of the incident, with the long-term death toll from radiation exposure estimated to be in the thousands.
Oleksandr Skomarokhov, Chornobyl’s deputy technical director for radioactive waste management, is seen using a cellphone in the control room of the now inactive reactor 3.
Images show various scenes inside the control room of the decommissioned reactor 3, including a radioactivity indicator panel.
Engineers are depicted conversing in front of screens in the control room of the New Safe Confinement, a metal dome enclosing the structure covering the ruined fourth reactor.
A radiation protection engineer is shown working in front of the containment structure encompassing the destroyed fourth reactor.
Oleksandr Skomarokhov is captured speaking on a mobile device in the “golden corridor” at the nuclear plant, leading to the control rooms of reactors 3 and 4.
Visitors are shown preparing protective masks before entering the control room of the devastated fourth block, while others are depicted in protective gear inside the same location.
A poignant image of the first casualty of the Chornobyl disaster, Valery Khodemchuk, is displayed on the wall between blocks 3 and 4.
A glimpse of the Prometheus monument from the plant’s construction era is visible outside the facility.
Greenpeace representatives and media personnel are seen touring the New Safe Confinement at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, with engineers discussing in the control room of the structure.