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The now famous Ferris wheel of Pripyat amusement was opened just a few days before the disaster
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
The world's worst nuclear disaster took place on 26 April 1986, when nuclear reactor No. 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant exploded. The explosion released radioactive clouds that spread across Europe. An Exclusion Zone in a 30km radius around the disaster zone was evacuated and will remain uninhabitable for the next 22,000 years. Estimates of long-term fatalities run into the tens of thousands.
The nearby city of Pripyat was built in 1970 to house nuclear scientists and power plant workers in a futuristic model of Soviet of sophistication. Around 49,000 people were provided with luxurious apartments, an amusement park, swimming pool, restaurants, a cultural centre, cinema and a stadium. Today, a ghost town remains just as it was left behind by the people who were evacuated from there in 1986.
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The sarcophagus covering reactor No. 4 is visible from the roofs of the apartment blocks in Pripyat
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Thousands of discarded gas masks
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Luxurious housing facilities included a swimming pool, basketball court and plenty of play grounds
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160 apartment blocks were built to house the workers of the power plant and their families
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The exclusion zone has become a wildlife haven, and is now home to bears, wolves, foxes, boars and deer
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The mythological figure of Prometheus was the symbol of young Pripyat
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The last remaining Lenin statue in Ukraine
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School books and toys are still lying as they were left behind during the evacuation
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The Duga radar station was part of the Soviet missile defense system and remained in use until 1989