r/chernobyl • • 19m ago

Game Firefighters in protective suits clean cars at the German border in May 1986. The cars were coming from Poland and were largely contaminated

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• Upvotes

r/chernobyl • • 2h ago

Discussion The shirt arrived with this book.

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41 Upvotes

r/chernobyl • • 9h ago

User Creation MTK lamp test through SKALA keypad recreation

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17 Upvotes

This is a recreation of an illumination test of mneumonic MTK display screens 1 and 2 through a simplified version of the control room’s SKALA keypad on SIUR. Created on meownet, a rec room revival game. Feedback would be appreciated!


r/chernobyl • • 1d ago

Photo I bought this on shirt on eBay.

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22 Upvotes

r/chernobyl • • 1d ago

Discussion How much decommissioning has occured since the new containment structure was finished?

20 Upvotes

I know the war is probably limiting this, and I know a decent amount has been done on the other units. But I've never heard of anything happening inside the str, other than monitoring.


r/chernobyl • • 1d ago

Exclusion Zone Chernobyl Firefighters at Kyiv Hospital: Almost all of them survived because of a treatment different from Moscow's

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60 Upvotes

r/chernobyl • • 1d ago

Photo Found in an old convent in Ireland the nuns helped some children after the disaster

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74 Upvotes

I got permission to take it with me I just thought it was so cool I'll take more photos when I get home I know a lot of children came over here after the disaster I just thought Yee would find it cool


r/chernobyl • • 2d ago

News The last Ukrainian National Guard soldiers captured at Chernobyl in 2022 have returned home

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437 Upvotes

After 1,703 days in Russian captivity, the last three soldiers of the National Guard of Ukraine from the unit that guarded the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant have returned home. They were released during the latest prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine that took place on 23 October, 2026.

For the families of the defenders of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, this exchange marks the end of years of waiting. The Free Defenders of Chernobyl community, which has continuously supported the campaign for their release since 2022, announced the return of all National Guard of Ukraine soldiers.

It is worth recalling that the Russians were present at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant from February 24 to March 31, 2022. As they withdrew into Belarus, they abducted 169 Ukrainian National Guard soldiers.

Photo: Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War (Координаційний штаб з питань поводження з військовополоненими) / koordshtab.gov.ua

Source: licznikgeigera.pl


r/chernobyl • • 2d ago

Photo Liquidator cosplay I made

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63 Upvotes

I know it’s not the most historically accurate costume ever but I threw it together with a final budget of $55.33 and personally am really happy with how it turned out. I’m going to have to do a lot of explaining what I am this Halloween as no one has guessed correctly yet


r/chernobyl • • 2d ago

HBO Miniseries How would a control system tank explosion have worked?

15 Upvotes

Dyatlov initially assumes the explosion was caused by hydrogen build up in the generators which ignited and blew up the control system tank. But how would that work? The way he says it and the way everyone else reacts to his initial diagnosis, it sounds like there was some precedent to this kind of accident happening. So how would it work?


r/chernobyl • • 2d ago

Discussion Could someone explain to me what exactly were the soviets thinking by putting graphite displacers on the same rod system as the control rods?

0 Upvotes

I am making a "sort of in depth" slideshow on reactors and such i want to make a dedicated segment as to why the RBMK exploded in such an obscene way. And i understand that because they used light water and poorly enriched uranium they had to make the core gigantic, i know that they removed the boron burnable control rods because the fuel was degrading, i know that they poisoned the reactor by rapidly dropping from 50% for the emergency power test and i know that they had struggled with getting the pumps up to speed quickly enough, but one thing is still bugging me - WHO THE FUCK PUT MODERATORS ON THE SAME SYSTEM AS CONTROL RODS? It's even worse than HBO's "graphite tips", THOSE WERE ACTUAL RODS. Smaller rods, but definetely not just tips. Was it that hard to find a material that wouldn't fuck with the neutrons in the reactions?


r/chernobyl • • 2d ago

Peripheral Interest Does anyone have any photos of the actual inside of the reactor pit?

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1.4k Upvotes

I'm still just wondering if the actual reactor pit is still there and if some of the graphite is still inside.


r/chernobyl • • 2d ago

Exclusion Zone 13 Years of Recreating Pripyat and Chernobyl in Minecraft — Excellently Studio Returns

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95 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

Some of you might remember my work under the name Excellently Studio, particularly my old Pripyat in Minecraft videos on YouTube.

I started working on this project back in 2013, and this year marks its 13th anniversary.

Over the years, my goal has remained the same: to recreate these places as accurately as possible, using historical photographs, architectural drawings, maps, and other available documentation.

The project is not simply about building recognizable landmarks. I want to reconstruct the entire environment — residential districts, public buildings, industrial facilities, roads, infrastructure, and landscapes — with a particular focus on the appearance of the area around 1990.

Now, after several years of silence, I've decided to return and share some of my work again.

These renders show part of the project's current state.

Some of you may recognize the project from my earlier videos, while others might be discovering it for the first time.

Either way, I'm glad to finally share it with the community.

For anyone interested in seeing some of my earlier work, here's one of my older videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0BdQqVgby0

I'd be happy to hear your thoughts, especially from those interested in the architectural and historical details of Pripyat and the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

Thank you for taking a look!


r/chernobyl • • 2d ago

Photo Part of the reactor casing, lying in the reactor hall

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124 Upvotes

Reactor casing, called "component KZh", was a steel cylinder, 14.5 meters in diameter and 16 mm thick, with four 8 mm thick annular compensators, as well as some reinforcing ribs. The casing enclosed the graphite stack, and was welded to the Lower Biological Shield (LBS) and the Upper Biological Shield (UBS, also known as "Elena"), thus provising a hermetically-sealed environment for the core. The space inside was pressurised with a mixture of nitrogen and helium.

When the disaster happened, the first explosion lifted the UBS up into the reactor hall, which caused the casing to tear at the bottom-most compensator, and most of it followed the UBS. The second, more powerful explosion tore the casing into several pieces and scattered them around the reactor hall, with at least one part landing the roof.

The first image is two photos stitched together to provide a more complete view. This piece of the casing is by the eastern end of the reactor hall, quite far from the reactor itself. On top of the casing you can see the twisted fragment of a fuel assembly. 'm not sure, but I think the photos are by Alexander Kupnyi.


r/chernobyl • • 2d ago

User Creation I've Spent Months Recreating the Chernobyl Disaster in 3D – Here’s a First Look at My Work

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370 Upvotes

Hey everyone!

For the past several months, I've been working on a fully animated video explaining how the Chernobyl disaster happened.

I've spent a considerable amount of time researching the events, going through various resources, reading articles, and trying to piece together the story as accurately as possible.

I can finally say that I'm in the final stages of this project and should be able to publish the video in the next few days!

It's been quite a journey trying to balance the stories of the operators during their final minutes before the explosion with the technical side of how the Chernobyl Power Plant worked and the nuclear science behind the disaster, all while keeping such a complicated topic understandable and engaging.

I know Chernobyl is a subject that means a lot to many people in this subreddit, which is why I wanted to share a little sneak peek of my work with you first.

I'll post another update once the full video is live.

For now, enjoy some renders from the project! I'd love to hear what you think.


r/chernobyl • • 3d ago

Video What Exactly Am I Seeing?

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18 Upvotes

I’ve always loved this video of the reactor pit but I’ve never been sure at what I’m looking at.

What is the large sloped concrete slab leading into? the view of the reactor

Where are we viewing the reactor from?

Etc.

I don’t want to ask for to much but if someone could provide me with a deep dive into every shot of this video I would be very appreciative.


r/chernobyl • • 3d ago

User Creation ЧАЭС №1&2&3&4 WiP

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4 Upvotes

r/chernobyl • • 3d ago

Photo Unit 3

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100 Upvotes

r/chernobyl • • 3d ago

Photo Beauty of the RBM-K/11

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401 Upvotes

such a shame only 1 operational unit was ever completed.

this is the same modification that would have been used in Chernobyl phase III if it was ever completed.


r/chernobyl • • 3d ago

Documents The construction workers of Chernobyl

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34 Upvotes

r/chernobyl • • 3d ago

User Creation PANEL 2

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18 Upvotes

I already made the control panel but now im making the wall indicators! Im also going to make some gauges, a temp counter in Celsius and off course the megawatt output counter


r/chernobyl • • 3d ago

Discussion Free books (UK)

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49 Upvotes

Have read and enjoyed these. Happy to pass them along. Will post for free to anyone in UK. Drop me a DM


r/chernobyl • • 4d ago

Exclusion Zone Fire Station Building in Pripyat

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185 Upvotes

r/chernobyl • • 5d ago

Video The Life Saving Capacity of Chernobyl’s Gas Masks

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10 Upvotes

Disclaimer, I’m the creator. Hope y’all enjoy!


r/chernobyl • • 5d ago

Exclusion Zone Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

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231 Upvotes

ChNPPUkraine