Chernobyl to be turned into an official tourist site

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has revealed plans to make Chernobyl a 'growth point' for the country

Robin Charlesworth, a retired Houston resident, left, and her husband take a 'selfie' in front of a new mural on an abandoned building within the Chernobyl exclusion zone in Pripyat, Ukraine. Bloomberg

A rusty radioactivity warning sign sits beneath the inter-ballistic early warning radar system, known as Duga Radar, in the Chernobyl exclusion zone. Bloomberg

Soviet art relief decorates the entrance to a former cinema within the exclusion zone in Pripyat. Bloomberg

A tourist photographs the radiation reading on his dosimeter near a field with a high radiation level near Pripyat. Bloomberg

A Soviet era mural sits on the side of an abandoned building near the Duga Radar. Bloomberg

Tourists walk around rusty child-sized bed frames in a former preschool building. Bloomberg

Posters and portraits are seen in a building. Getty Images

Tourists explore the decaying interior of the abandoned swimming pool complex. Bloomberg

Tourists take pictures at a rusty ferris wheel, one of the most famous landmarks in Pripyat. Getty Images

A playground is seen in Prypyat. Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP

Tourists search for photo opportunities amongst the seating in the decaying sports stadium. Bloomberg

A tour group visits the site of the Duga Radar. Bloomberg

Tourists stop for pictures at a sign marking the entrance to the abandoned city of Pripyat. Getty Images

Tourists visit the memorial site to those responsible for the cleanup operation following the nuclear disaster. Bloomberg

The new Safe Confinement covering the 4th block of Chernobyl Nuclear power plant. EPA

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has signed a decree setting out plans to turn Chernobyl, where a nuclear reactor exploded in 1986, into a tourist site.

The plans include new walking trails, checkpoints and improved mobile phone reception. Restrictions on filming in the area will also be lifted.

“Chernobyl has been a negative part of Ukraine’s brand,” said Zelensky at the inauguration of a giant €1.7 billion (Dh7bn) dome, which encases the destroyed nuclear reactor. “The time has come to change this.

“Chernobyl is a unique place on the planet, where nature revives after a world-wide man-made disaster, where there is a real ‘ghost town’. We should show Chernobyl to the world: scientists, environmental specialists, historians and tourists.”

Zelensky added that the exclusion zone surrounding the site would become “one of new Ukraine’s growth points”.

The president also hopes that this decree will help to reduce corruption in Chernobyl, which has become an unlikely tourist destination, a trend exacerbated by the success of popular HBO series, Chernobyl.

“Unfortunately, the exclusion zone has so far remained a symbol of corruption,” said Zelensky. “Security forces collect bribes from tourists, illegally ship metal and take advantage of natural resources. We will soon put an end to this.”

It remains unclear how many people have died as a result of the nuclear disaster. Thirty workers at Chernobyl were killed at the moment of the explosion or soon after from acute exposure to radiation.

Millions of people in the surrounding area were also exposed to elevated levels of radiation. Contamination from the explosion spread across 200,000 square kilometres of land, mostly in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia.

Five thousand cases of thyroid cancer, directly linked to nuclear contamination from Chernobyl, have so far been recorded.