Is it safe (for film) to visit the site of the Chernobyl disaster?

I may be visiting Kyiv, Ukraine in a few months, and I am curious about visiting Chernobyl/Pripyat. Apparently it is open to tourists since 2010/2011, and can be visited on an easy day-trip from Kyiv. According to this article from The Independent newspaper, "The amount of radiation you’re exposed to is similar to on a long haul flight. The main danger is not radiation, but unsafe structures which have been deserted for 30 years."

 

I'm just wondering though - since I still shoot film, would there be additional concerns around protecting my film? Or would it really be no different to bringing the film on a(nother) long-haul flight?

I know nothing exactly.

How does radiation exposure get measured? By evaluating a credit card sized sheet of film inside some plastic cover that you (as a worker) have to wear around your neck. - All year long? - I'm not sure. Maybe ask an X-ray tech.

If they write your day trip will be that safe, your film will most likely be fine.

During the 80s I wore an inherited wristwatch with radioactive fluorescent hands. We visited a nuclear power plant with school, where they belittled the dangers by having an exhibit, where you could move bathroom tiles, such a watch or a pellet for the nuclear reactor in front of a geiger counter and yes, the watch rattled more vehemently.

A bit later we did some Geiger counter involving experiments during class and my teacher tried my watch. He was the liable guy for radiation protection at my school and ended having the headmaster call the education ministry, to ask if I could get permitted to wear my watch. (Answer was "yes" but a solid lead container on his desk awaited it, during his lessons).

I had a darkroom back then and thought I might be able to detect the watch's radioactivity Curie style, by storing it near my Multigrade. - No success.

Radiation sufficient to fog your film will also fog your DNA. That's actually how cumulative exposure is measured for personnel working around radiation sources. If it helps ease your state of mind, sensitivity of film badges is enhanced by the addition of fluorescent pigments. Ordinary film is much less sensitive, so if it is fogged, get your affairs in order.

 

Areas open to the public near Chernobyl are tested for radiation. Of course that depends on who is doing the testing, what levels are considered safe, and for how long you are exposed to it.

 

Radioactive paint used in watches uses alpha emitters (such as radium and polonium). Alpha rays are much more actinic than beta or gamma radiation, but easily stopped by as little as a sheet of paper or skin. Do not eat old watches, though. Alpha emitters settle in growing bone tissue, precisely where they can do the most damage.

 

If you fly with film, you should have it processed before spending more than 1000 hours in the stratosphere, or 200 passes through carry-on X-Ray machines.

Edited January 2, 2020 by Ed_Ingold

There was a TV show mentioning Chernobyl trips.

 

If you follow the rules you, and your film, should be safe.

 

Among others, they suggest not rolling around on the ground, which is generally

a good think not to do, but especially near Chernobyl.

 

As well as I know, there are alpha and beta emitters in the ground, with range small

enough not to bother you through shoes. Bare foot might not be good.

 

Areas where you are allowed to go are tested, but going outside the specified

areas could be bad.

FWIW, in the area of nuclear tourism:

 

Trinity (nuclear test) - Wikipedia

The Trinity site is open again for two public visitations a year

FWIW, in the area of nuclear tourism:

 

Trinity (nuclear test) - Wikipedia

The Trinity site is open again for two public visitations a year

 

To save some reading if you aren't interested in the whole article, it is the

first Saturday in April and October.

Unlike polonium, a pure alpha emitter, the radioactive paint containing radium also emits gamma rays. These are quite penetrating. I have samples of old radium luminescent watch hands that trigger my Geiger detector even through lead sheeting. It's why have two heads.

Based on a current discussion on another photography forum, I think I would be more worried about Xray scans at airports than Chernobyl. A woman I know electronically visited there a year or so back with film and apparently did fine with it. Meanwhile there is concern that new scanners coming into use for carry-on bags are using CAT technology that some are claiming is damaging film. So far there has apparently been no formal testing or comment from film makers. Schipol in Amsterdam now has such machines, although just within the week one film user reports they accepted a request to hand check his film. One test roll he intentionally left in his carry-on did indeed appear to have some damage.

 

Purportedly film use is rising, it would be nice if the security folks could agree on some reasonable procedure to allow us to still enjoy traveling with the stuff.

There were stories from many years ago of Russia using film-damaging X-rays for

carry-on baggage. They may have changed by now, but in the less traveled areas,

they might have just moved the old ones.

 

TSA will still hand inspect when asked, but others often won't do that.

I visited Russia in 2018. Took some internal flights too. There was no damage to my film.

 

I've been doing a bit more reading on visiting Chernobyl/Pripyat, and apparently due to structural unsoundness, visitors may no longer enter any buildings. It has kind of put me off the idea of visiting.

fukishima is far more dangerous. Read a nice article how the robots designed for the chernobyl cleanup have a life expectency of HOURS inside fukishima plant.

 

i guess the trick is, dont try to eat any canned food you find in an abandoned house or store.

I finally got to do this trip to Ukraine/Kiev/Chernobyl - my original booking last year was cancelled of course.I have to say, an extremely interesting, insightful... and poignant trip. It exceeded my expectations. Day trips from Kiev to Chernobyl are common and safe. I wanted to use my Noblex panoramic camera, and my film was unharmed. On the way there, you pass through 2 police checkpoints, and I did a quick headcount at the the first one and counted 80 tourists, before another coach-load of tourists pulled up. The website of the Ukrainian government department responsible for the exclusion zone says they had 8870 visitors in August 2021 - that's an average of almost 300 per day. A few in our group hired Geiger counters, and readings basically hovered at less than 1 microsievert per hour during the visit, though there are pockets of higher levels around, and the counters did beep on a couple of occasions. The highest reading I saw during the day was 16.29 microsieverts per hour, but bear in mind that we were exposed to this level only for a second or two. There's an interesting site with information on radiation levels here:

Radiation levels now | The Chernobyl Gallery

 

I assume the tours are designed to keep silly tourists away from areas with higher radiation levels, and in any case, everyone is required to wear a dosimeter, which keeps track of cumulative radiation levels and which are monitored in a general sense by the authorities. You're also required to pass through radiation scanners when leaving the zone - though these looked like they were 30+ years old themselves, and nobody was really monitoring them very closely it seemed to me.

 

The reactor itself is now covered by the "New Safe Confinement", which was quite a feat of engineering, but... it's basically just a big metal shed, so you don't get any sense that you are looking at a disaster zone. What I was much more interested in seeing was the city of Pripyat, which was essentially evacuated in a day. You are not allowed to enter any buildings, but many windows are broken, and you can approach and peer inside. I am sure that over the years many things have been moved around - so it's not like you are really looking at things exactly as they were left. But I still felt it was "genuine", and quite poignant, especially when you see a kindergarten with toys, books and children's shoes inside. Overall, if anyone is in Ukraine and thinks they could be interested, I think it's definitely worth a trip.

 

 

 

One more thing... I saw lots of "Leicas" for sale in the market stalls around Andriyivskyy Descent in Kiev, many with supposedly Nazi engravings on them. I don't know much about Leicas, but they caught my attention, and after a very short amount of googling, I discovered that they are all invariably fake - not even modified Leicas. I asked one seller how much he was selling it for, and if I recall correctly, the price was 3000 hryvnia - about USD 110.

 

Usually modified Zorki and FED.

 

You can also get real Zorki and FED, and for maybe half that price.

 

As part of reparations after WW2, Germany was forced to concede their patents, copyrights, and trademarks.

 

Among others, that was the beginning of the Japanese camera industry, with Canon and Nikon.

It seems it was also the beginning of the Soviet camera industry.

 

There are also some who specifically collect fake Leicas.

Actually around a US$ 100 is not too bad a price considering all the work that has gone into them.

 

I have a gold & rosewood "Leica" with Swedish Army markings, and a wonderfully rare Contax II in all black:

One reason mine are "rare" is that they lack Nazi insignia.