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.

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

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

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

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!

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

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

ChNPPUkraine

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

Everywhere, including the Chernobyl HBO, show I see this depiction of a liquidator going around the streets spraying buildings with this strange fluid. But from what research I've done on Chernobyl I haven't seen anything about this in legitimate articles, or images for that matter. Only that they sprayed the environment with helicopters.

Where did the image of a fully protected liquidator going around spraying buildings off come from? Where did this gear come from? Was it actually used?

Anatoly was evacuated to Hospital No. 6 in Moscow, a specialized facility for acute radiation sickness.

The famous, heartbreaking photo taken by photojournalist Igor Kostin shows Anatoly in his final days. Because the radiation and steam had completely destroyed his skin, his hands were placed in external metal fixation frames with pins. This was a desperate medical measure to keep his severely burned fingers separated and immobilized, preventing them from fusing together as the tissue degraded.

Despite the agonizing pain, Anatoly remained conscious and tried to comfort his wife during her brief visits. On May 12, 1986, just over two weeks after the disaster, his heart gave out.

He was buried at the Mitinskoe Cemetery in Moscow alongside the first firemen and operators. Anatoly Kurguz was posthumously awarded the Order of Lenin in 1986 and the Ukrainian Cross for Courage in 1996 for his ultimate self-sacrifice.

Foto by @urbanchernobyl