*Thanks for watching.* This video concludes the series’ overall arc of the three main areas of the Zone. After this, we have 3-4 smaller videos with smaller stories, like the wild dogs of Chernobyl's woods. This has been the biggest video thing we've ever done, so any feedback is welcome.
Man this is nice! Can you make a video on renewables? You said before that you were kinda tired of doom and gloom videos, and I thought that was a pretty good idea. :D
The level of engineering of the confinement building is a testament to radiophobia run wild. According to the best available science there have been under 60 deaths related to the accident in the 38 years since the accident, and a possible 150 more from thyroid cancer although those are failing to materialize. The dose to the 6 million inhabitants most affected amounts to the equivalent of one full body CT received over 20 years.
Seeing the camera show artifacts of radiation in the footage is like a creepy callback and reminder to the photos of the elephants foot that were bombarded with radiation. Also I think a testament to how well the containment units now work.
@@kylehill when you initially began researching the elephants foot all those years ago did you ever imagine you’d end up standing more or less in the same building as it? (albeit a football stadium sized building; with layers)
This was one of those episodes I didn't want to end. I could watch hours of explanations about how the NSC works, the engineering and design that went into it, and how the NSC changed the lives/jobs of those who have dedicated their lives to cleaning up this disaster. Thank you for your professionalism and willingness to go out there and see these things first hands for us! What an incredible series this has been.
This is so true, I really hope this is one of a series. It would also be awesome if Kyle does a video on Fukushima Daini, they were hit with the same conditions with Daiichi but quick action from the Daini plant operators allowed them to restore power to manage their decay heat and prevent the H2 detonations Daiichi suffered.
@@anydaynow01 If you're brand new to the channel, you should definitely check out the other Expedition Chernobyl and Half-Life Histories video series. Both are incredible and Kyle does an excellent job of acknowledging the very real risks (and history) of nuclear disasters, but also the promise and progress that has been shown over recent decades.
7:24 Astronauts actually experience a similar phenomenon in their own eyeballs! While in space, occasionally a cosmic ray will pass through the vitreous humor in the eye, releasing Cherenkov radiation as it goes. The retina detects the light and perceives it as a flash. Some reported having difficulty sleeping due to the effect, since it was visible even with their eyes closed.
I heard someone call the effect "pollywogs" once, but I don't know if that's what the astronauts really call it or not. I was, after all, listening to a science fiction author...
@@_ee75 I think it's mostly Sun's radiation, plus a bit of cosmic (not background) rays. Cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is a specific type of low energy electromagnetic radiation (in the microwave spectrum as the name suggests) which is harmless
Keeping the site under negative pressure is a genius idea. Not only does it keep the radioactive dust and particles inside, but also it is easier to tell whether there are any leaks if the pressure inside changes
And the filters are a great gauge to exactly how much radiation is leaking into the environment, or would be leaking into the environment. Since they can be studied and particulate matter counted every time they are replaced.
Can we just take a moment and salute the liquidators, firefighters and all the other people that gave their lives to conceal the core after the accident. Heroic efforts with a huge prize they payed for our safety.
@@dropsboms6153 he's referring to a scene in the show where it depicts miners who worked on the disaster site choosing to be naked at times because wearing those suits made it basically impossible to work given the harsh conditions that already existed.
When Kyle says "until next time..." at the end of his videos, it feels like a wise old npc guide in a video game telling you to stay safe until you meet again. A really comforting feeling
That line gives me chills everytime 🥴😂 it's the way he says it and his calm voice telling us all about that what killed too many people not that long ago. It's super awesome and terrifying at the same time to me 😁
@@kylehill "Stay awhile, and listen... to the sound of the giger counter and my radiation alarm, or perhaps a few reactions I've got going properly supervised in the background!"
I remember the early images of the New Safe Confinement Arch right after they put up the superstructure for it. It was so massive it looked eerie and almost otherworldly.
A bit like the feeling of a long time ago, standing about a hundred feet away from the old WTC towers, and looking from the ground level and up towards the top. It's uncanny, eerie - it's like your eyes, your brain, your vestibular nerve can't properly process it, it gets gassy and lets rip a little squeeky poof of vertigo.
I feel so sorry for the 4000 workers whose important work (and their very LIVES) have surely been upended by the war. I hope they're okay. Well done on showing us a beautiful glimpse into one of the most infamous places on Earth! Thank you!
"The goal of Chernobyl's clean up is to have no more Chernobyl" That's fascinating that they're disassembling the plant. I had always assumed that they were going to just build bigger containment structures over the ruins.
Disassembly and sequestration is really the only viable path forward for any significant radiological accident. The radiation hazard that is Chernobyl NPP isn't going to magically deal with itself, and if we do nothing then we'd be forced to build _considerably_ bigger containment structures over the ruins time and time again. We would inevitably reach a point where materials science will fail and bigger containment structures _can't_ be built. What, then? Do we have to start dismantling the entire nested doll of containment structures? What if the innermost layers have long since collapsed and become an almost _unmanageable_ pile of radioactive rubble? The NSC I think was designed to last longer than it's going to take to fully dismantle the corpse of Chernobyl, so that disassembly and sequestration can be fully completed before we will need to consider building an even newer containment structure.
@@smoadia85 that was my first thought too. That sounds amazing, hopefully some indie dev sees these comments. Stalker like games are always decent sellers
7:25 The really horrifying part about those scintillations caused by gamma rays hitting the camera sensor: if you look at old Soviet footage taken in Pripyat on the day of the accident, the film typically shows a lot of them. The town’s about 2 miles away, yet the area around the power plant was radiologically hot enough to significantly affect film even at that distance.
@@kormannn1 Go look for 1HmLIElmHRI, titled “Chernobyl, Pripyat , RARE FOOTAGE OF 1986-1988 Part 2”. There are a bunch of shots showing them, but the one at about 2:42 is quite striking, showing some bloke in uniform. The big white blob-looking flashes are the film being exposed to gamma ray hits. Another is at around 3:00, with a couple of troops walking down a street and an APC in the background.
@@kormannn1 There's also a documentary showing a lot of previously unreleased footage on HBO. It's called Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes. Some of that footage is in it.
"Who'd want to look after this place?" Me, I would. I find it fascinating, I love history and science. Chernobyl always has been my favourite thing to read about, learn about and talk about. I could go for hours just talking about it, when it's safe again, I'd love to go there. I have huge respect for the workers there, they're amazing and I'd love to talk with them
Me too. There's something so emblematic of humanity about it. Really shows both the heights and depths we can reach. It's beautiful, ugly, terrifying, inspiring, and despair-inducing all at once.
My wife and I took a trip and done a chernobyl tour back in 2019 and it was so beautiful humbling and absolutely amazing, after reading the stories of professor lagasav and boring sherbina and General pikalov I hope I spelled those right lol but what they all did and also the coal mines that dug the tunnel for the heat exchanger was just absolutely amazing to me. I do deeply feel sorry for the men and women and children that have passed due to information being kept from them like the firemen the night of the explosion. But just being there my wife and I you can truly feel what happened and it just unreal knowing what happened and being able to be there, when this horrible war is over we hope to visit again. Stay safe and hope you get a chance to go there oneday as well
I used to be obsessed with Chernobyl, watching hours or videos on youtube over the years about the forest, Pripyat, the liquidators and everything in between. Now i've been watching Kyle for a little while now and as always, the content is s-tier. But if there is one thing that i have learnt about Chernobyl during the Expedition series, its that Chernobyl is a beautiful place. While it houses one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, something about it is so alluring and truly beautiful. Especially down to the "smaller" details like the negative pressure inside the dome. It shows, in some ways that while humans can screw things up to a monumental point, we are also more than capable of rising to a challenge that cannot be avoided and throwing our hearts and souls into it to just do what is right.
Very well said! Another very understated fact (and I wish they said this in the excellent HBO Chernobyl series) is the other units in the same building were being safely operated at full power all the way until the end of their designed operational lives, or problems besides the reactor caused their decommissioning, many years after the unit 4 accident!
There indeed is beauty in it … the area is free of humans … asides some catastrophe tourists and explorers … and nature can bloom. No stupid humans interfering with wildlife and a chance … the wolves that developed genes fighting cancerous changes … could be ground breaking …
20 uSv/hour, literally spending one hour in there would give 1/10 the dose of a Tokyo-New York flight. People really need to get their stuff together when it comes to radiation
As someone old enough to remember when the Chernobyl incident occurred and as a physicist by inclination, education and training I have to say, what a magnificent tribute to the workers at Chernobyl. You deserve nothing but the sincerest praise for your work. Well done.
What workers? The liquidators, the nuclear power station staff, those working on the new cover … Chernobyl nuclear power station kept running as usual after the accident till the max life of the other reactors was reached … staff had no choice as were ordered to do so.
The part that blows my mind the most is that this is an active work site. It's not simply a lab, a waste site, a burden or a wasteland but a job. An actively maintained 9-5 for hundreds of people ever day. It's always occupied the same space in my mind like the aftermath of a fire or ruins after a flood rarely you find hundreds of people sifting through the ashes for years on end with the hopes of turning it back into a forest or at the very least stop more fires from happening.
Reactor 4 was 1 of 4 at the plant. The other three continued to operate for years after the disaster. Last reactor was shut down in the late 90s. People never stopped working there
I always knew it was big, but there's knowing it's big, and then there's seeing how massive it is from inside. And knowing that Lady Liberty would fit under it really puts a scale on the structure that you can't get any other way... what a feat it was to complete this, and thank you for bringing this to us Kyle. You really are a treasure!
Honestly there's a lot of fascinating things that would be cool to expand on whether brief or in depth that I know don't fit half-life histories in their seriousness; The fact that this structure is under constant increased pressure because the atmosphere inside is less than that outside, and that likely needed to be taken into account when creating it. The interesting fact that you get scanned and checked before you go in (and assuming the same when you come back out) The statement "touch nothing, sit nowhere and don't drop anything" and how that must be a serious concern for the workers inside (not to mention the fact the concept of that rule is terrifying)
"touch nothing, sit nowhere and don't drop anything", That's contamination and radiation control 101, even for the companies who service the medical radiation field.
@@anydaynow01: That sounds like the mantra of a, let's call them a priestly sect of the far, _far_ future, dedicated to safeguarding "cursed" sites. This whole scenario goes right to the heart of the problem with radioisotopic decay and warning future generations of the dangers, while keeping in mind that languages shift and change over the centuries and millennia.
@@anydaynow01 I'd imagine that the radiation poisoning you get from picking up radioactive dust and subsequently inhaling it would be attributed to the spirits of the damned cursing you for breaking the rules.
3:23 The so called "chimney" you see on this footage is not the one that people used to perceive as the iconic one. The iconic 4th reactor VT-2 funnel got dismantled around 10 years ago.
For my high school graduation science project, I did a report on nuclear reactors and containment systems. When you started this series, I knew I was watching the exact reason why I did that study. Part of me wishes I still became a nuclear engineer, but alas, my path took me a different direction. But, Kyle, seriously, thank you for this. I know it's not what you intended, but this was a gift. I covered my report on the disaster and some of the scientific knowledge we learned from this and also automatic containment systems like the ceramic encapsulations. I have enjoyed all three parts of this. And, I really do look forward to the small videos you plan on the outside environment of the disaster zones.
Whatever career you ended up with I think was a better choice. In nukes there's mountains of paperwork and it takes forever to get the smallest things done. Makes you feel like you never accomplish anything
I remember my mother telling that my grandfather working there, well, when he was still alive. He was probably entering the place(we assume, to the date he went out of his home and went in the train) when the explosion happened. My grandfather was found somewhere near core 1, so he probably ran away from the first explosion, only to get crushed by a piece of steel that flew out during the explosion. The information may not be exact, becouse no one around him came out alive. I wish I had a chance to meet him, heard he was a nice guy.
I had no idea about the cranes and that they were actively working to dismantle and make the site safe. That’s awesome and sobering work. Thank you so much for sharing this place and its story with us!
@@ddmn3648 Ukraine ingenuity and ingeneering!!! Only Ukraininans is capable of such an amazing job!!! Ukraine is keeping the world safe!!! Etermal glory to Zelensky!!!! Slava Ukraine!!!! Heroyam slava!!!!!!!
Man, this channel and these docuseries episodes really give me old school discovery/history Channel vibes. The amount of effort and time you put into this content is awesome. Somebody really needs to hire you to do this kind of work and bring back good, educational content back into the limelight. Such awesome content. Thank you.
I think the internet and youtube specifically killed the market for content like this on those cable channels like Discovery/TLC/History. In the 90s that was where science and history junkies got our fix.
@@kylehill hey, I know this is random. But I had a random science theory that I can't get out of my head ever since I came up with it. I know this isn't the appropriate video to comment on but this is the only way I thought of sending this message to you so that you actually might see it. And I don't really have the knowledge of math it takes to test or see if this theory is a legit thing or if nobody else has come up with it. And you were the first person I thought of when I thought of who might have enough reach to take this information and do anything potentially useful with it, if it has any use to it at all. Is there any way to get in contact with you somehow to share my idea? If not, I'll try my best to summarize it here. Basically, it's a theory about light/gravity wave propagation and spiral galaxy formation. In essence, it comes down to this. Imagine light tavelling around galaxies as if individual light particles/waves were track runners on a racetrack. If all track runners were to run the same speed, their relative positions to each other would still diverge in a spiral-like pattern because they run in different lanes that results in each runner having to run a separate distance relative to one another. This is why track runners have to start at different positions so that the inner runners don't have an innate advantage. What if Galaxies spiral because light and gravity, despite traveling/interacting at the same speed locally (the speed of light) at all reference frames, warps space itself because of the difference in the distances that it has to travel in each galactic "lane". Wouldn't the galaxies spiraling simply just be a consequence of the difference in spatial geometry similarly to how track runners diverge from each other on a race track despite running at the same speeds but in different lanes? I came up with this idea based on a thought experiment thinking about how cars travel different distances in a roundabout despite traveling at the same speed due the the inherent geometry of the paths they're driving on. So I thought to myself "what if the same were true of light traveling through space? What if that's how gravity also influences galaxy formation? My idea itself is a little more complex than the analogy I'm using to explain it. I just can't think of a proper way to explain it without actually knowing complex math. Originally, I was thinking how light curves around stars and I was imagining light traveling around the curvature of spacetime kind of like how cars curve along different lanes in a roundabout. Light traveling closer to an area of high gravity still travels at the same "speed" but has to travel a greater distance due to the increased curvature of space relative to an observer farther away, where light would still travel at the same speed but less distance due to flatter spacetime curvature. I was thinking of how this might be relevant to galaxy spiral formation. I don't know if somebody else came up with that idea. Somebody probably did. But I can't sleep until I at least make an attempt to get this thought out somewhere. And it bothers me that I don't understand complex math enough to even test if my theory has any merit. If you manage to see this message, that would be awesome! And I'd appreciate any insight you have in the matter. If not, and somebody else sees this, can somebody help me get this message to Kyle somehow? Or somebody who has the brain and the math skills to test if this is a legit theory. Even if it's already a known theory. It would be cool if somebody let me know it was a real thing. And that I was able to intuitively come to this conclusion on my own.
7:09 20.5 Microsieverts/Hour is equivalent to 2 millirem/hour for those unfamiliar with that measurement... it's not much. At that rate, you'd be safe to stay in the area for 50 hours.
@@taras9436 Any radiation has the chance to cause cancer, but the limit I gave comes from federal guidelines for safety. They're very conservative limits and it's very unlikely to get cancer from this dosage
Thank you Kyle for showing us something we probably would've never seen. Hopefully in the next 20,000 years someone will come back to this video & comment saying that the threat of radiation is alleviated & people have finally started a new settlement around the plant, while it stands as a symbol for remnants of one of the worst mistakes of mankind.
I think it would done way sooner. Radioactive dust would be stored somewhere safe and it would so less much radioactive that it currently now. 20 000 for returning to background level of radiation I guess that we actually don't know what radiation level would be here in 20 000 years and obviously we not sure if humans would be here for so long. Our whole civilization is 10 000 and our modern world is only couple hundreds of years.
The most interesting part of this for me was hearing about the workers in charge of keeping it all under wrap. The technical prowess and know-how at work here is extremely comforting. These guys clearly understand the importance of their work. They knowingly sit themselves down and keep vigil over one of the most lethal places on Earth. Very impressive video, Kyle. Thanks for sharing.
@@MuchKoku Thanks! haha I saw them in Pontiac. I was actually against the rails in the front center. Franck threw me a thumbs up and a smile and the Adrien threw me devil horns twice. Amazing fucking show.
@@clueless6775 Hell, yeah. I saw them at the Fillmore in Silver Spring; left of center, row back from the rail. Heavy moshing going on. They started playing Maniac and it nearly blew the roof off the place. Somebody actually posted a video of it on RUclips.
A lot of international money, workforce and know how was provided … the sarcophagus was at the brink of collapse … still is … the consequences a disaster for the region and the world … back in 1986 it cost European Countries millions as we all dealt with consequences … especially farmers as food was contaminated in Europe and tons were binned.
I’ve never had my jaw involuntarily drop in such a way. I never expected to be able to see it in this way. Props to you for filming this, and major thanks to those who allowed for this.
If you find this interesting, look up the videos by bionerd23 who actually has quite a lot of footage of chernobyl and the area, including a tour inside the control room of reactor number 4 where it all happened
What's more, researchers have actually entered the reactor core itself. Check out "Inside Chernobyl Reactor - Expedition to sub-reactor/reactor rooms after explosion [1988]". It's a trip to behold. Then there's Alexandr Kupnyi's channel, he posted a vid to provide schematics and additional explanations about that expedition. I hoped Kyle would be showing at least the elephant's foot to us, and instead he just shows the outside of sarcophagus and describes it as "almost no one has been allowed inside the New Safe Confinement to document what I’m about to show you" smh
this shouldnt be something amazing, theres no reason people cant enter and film here, employees work there daily, they used to work inside the sarcophagus now just being outside of it is considered dangerous.. they just keep amping up whats considered "safe" i thiink at this point its gone too far, theyre too cautious... 30 years ago people were touching graphite bare handed... now you can even look at the control room thatd take months or years of exposure to even have a very minimal chance of health risks with used to be on the top of my places i wanted to visit but since the NSC its lost all interest too me, everything that used to be interesting or exciting is now too dangerous.. i dont get the obsession with 0 risk, 0 illness, 0 death... theyre all part of life people have free will to choose theyre own
Medical facilities use pressures greater than 1atm. This keeps dust and microbes out and is the premise behind a cleanroom. Pressure below 1atm like that in the chernobyl containment structure is used to keep air inside and is used in virology labs. They are inversed.
I took I guided tour there last year when I was working in Kiev. I didn’t go inside the sarcophagus but I recorded some videos outside, next to the monument raised to pay homage to the ones who fought the fire after the explosion. In my video footage you can see the radioactive particles you mentioned even in broad daylight. But the highest radiation levels registered were near the red forest which is a lifeless area nearby. Scary how nuclear power can be extremely useful but destructive at the same time.
It's hard for many people to imagine the feeling you get crossing through an airlock into a nuclear facility. I've been in our campus reactor a number of times and large doors slowly swinging closed and the sound and feel of the air pressure changing really serve as a big exclamation mark telling you that you are entering a different world.
Playing STALKER Anomaly the last couple years really kindled my interest in the Chernobyl disaster and the areas around Pripyat. Even without all the supernatural elements, it's so spooky, interesting and sort of beautiful in the way someone might look at the ruins of the Colosseum. Such great videos from Kyle and the friends in the facility.
The weirdest part about the war was when they mentioned the the chernobyl area and I'm like 'hey, I recognize that pump station, I got ambushed there!'
Kyle Hill, you are a Mastercraft at telling stories, informing your audience, and an overall positive impact in the world. When you announced your visit to Chernobyl, I was excited to see the results, the TRUE Chernobyl. Video games and media have always spun it as a continuous, out of control danger zone. I cannot put easily into words how much I've loved this experience you provided. ❤️ Keep up your excellent work, even the goofy stuff. We all, the true fans, love the goofy stuff too.
Out of control danger zone? What nonsense … nobody spun such nonsense … the media did report about it, but not in a sensational way … games and movies are fiction if you should not be aware … in the exclusion zone nature is flourishing, Pripyat is decaying … animals love the human free zone … adapt to their environment … wolves developed cancer resisting genes … that could be a sensation for cancer research … then there was the plant with the sarcophagus … that was indeed a massive danger zone … hence the new one was needed as it was about to collapse. Prior to this the region was deemed safe enough to operate the nuclear power station’s remaining reactors. Till they were finally put out of service.
I loudly gasped when you entered the dome and the remains of the plant where there. Stunning work! I can only pray that occupation and the combat going outside there hasn't affected it too badly, but I feel pessimistic that the damage done will not be something to easily dismiss.
im currently preparing a presentation about the chernobyl incident for my science class im actually so happy i got to do this because this has been my special interest for ages already. the presentation will most likely take me half an hour to 45 minutes, i can imagine it being boring to some but many of my classmates have been encouraging me to keep going. i want to thank you for the videos you've provided because they've helped me understand a lot more!
I’m at a loss for words for how inspiring this is; “for the happiness of all mankind” these ordinary people work to clean up and take care of our world; I couldn’t be more proud
seeing it from the inside after having studied the incident for so long is just... woah... you are right, no airborn photo can EVER show the true scare of the disaster. im at a loss for word at this horrible yet beautifully interesting place.
The most impressive videos were those shot from a helicopter the day after the explosion. None very showed the true scale of destruction better than that one. A true battlefield …
4:56 This is *easily* my favorite part of the video. The Head of Radiation Safety at Chernobyl showing that transparency even towards foreign scientists and engineers. Truly a great man.
Most scientists will talk their face off to anyone who will listen about their work. This is also the type of position where they’re going to want to hire the type of person who has a documented history or being open and transparent given how dangerous hiding a fault could be. I’m not surprised he is the type to answer questions openly so much as I’m surprised he’s allowed to say that much at all.
That first view when entering the tomb was amazing. Seeing the weather damage on the side of the inner structure and the stairs to the top of the outer structure really hits home what was accomplished there in confining the site.
As someone who's been to Chernobyl/Pripyat myself, it's really interesting to actually see inside the NSC. There were animations and such on our tour through the plant (we went through Plant 3, which was then operational as a power routing station) and even got to the wall where they have a remembrance for Valery Kodemchuk, where my dosimeter did indeed also start spiking to about 13-16 (so I was surprised to see it only being around 20 in the NSC). The amount of information I learnt during the tour was incredible and humbling. It's so sad that the Russian invasion happened and affected the zone :/
That is some extremely low levels of radiation.. being from the U.S. and working in the nuclear industry, I am accustomed to millirem instead of microsieverts, but converting shows that 20 microsieverts/hour is equivalent to 2 mrem/hour. I have personally worked on things that are 5000 millirem/hour, or 50,000 microsieverts. That's certainly not normal, and is high by my typical work standards, but it isn't uncommon for myself and others to spend multiple hours in fields of 200-300 microsieverts/hour.
@@Voxphyle interesting. I was wondering how high those levels were as they casually walked through. Doubt those masks are doing anything at all. Thanks for explaining the radiation levels.
@@scottturnick7883 They are anti-dust, some radioactive dust is still in the air and inhaling it would be dangerous, because they will create radioactive source inside of you.
I remember hearing that the new safe confinement was finally going into place over the sarcophagus. I remember wondering if this meant that we could finally start cleanup and maybe have it done before the 100 years was up. Seeing the sheer size though, that was something that stunned me. I never thought it was that big, I never even imagined it was that tall. The shock of the size made me realize that we're going to be working on the clean up for longer than 100 years if other countries don't try to help. This is an amazing chance for so many countries to go and try to help and learn what they can, but no one seems to want to work together. For all we know, there could be new scientific discoveries waiting for us down there, or even in the minds of the scientists doing the clean up. I wish they would realize how much the world as a whole would benefit if more countries would try to help with the clean up and monitoring.
@alybloodshade: The entire world seems now to be at the tipping-point precipice of a much-delayed choice between altruism and selfishness, between sociopathy & fascism and cooperation & compassion, between oblivion and continued existence. People like you and Kyle Hill (and hopefully myself) give me the barest frisson of hope for the future, that we can make the right choice, but there's just so much evidence to the contrary that it's getting hard to see any reason to go on beyond just continuing on for its own sake.
@@sdfkjgh Right? I do have one argument that could tip the scales in our favor, however everyone has already argued against said point because apparently it does us more good not to let natural selection take the idiots out. In my opinion, if you can't use common sense, which most of the selfish people I know can't, and you do something stupid then it should be on you, not someone else. If you get severely hurt doing something you're not supposed to with an item, you should be the one in trouble, not the company. We tell these people that it's ok to be selfish and ignore the rules because someone else will take the fall and people don't seem to realize that taking common sense out of things is ruining us.
@@vadnegru Actually, we don't know yet if nuclear waste, or the elephants foot, has a use yet. We haven't done enough research into such things yet as it is dangerous but this, Chernobyl, as it stands now is perfect to find out. They are keeping it as safe as possible and have made it the perfect lab to figure these things out while safely and carefully cleaning it up as well. Scientists all over the world are missing an opportunity to go and further the field of nuclear power even further because we produce so much waste from it, but we don't yet have a use. We store it in tanks of water and bury it into tombs, but we don't really have a use. This is our chance for everyone to work together to find what the possible uses are, that is part of cleaning it up and dealing with it. We can't just throw it into water and tombs or barrels and storage places for the rest of known time, that's just a time bomb waiting to happen. If we don't figure out what to do with it while we have such a good chance to study it and do what we need to then we could very well end up running out of places to put it.
@@biswajit07Why terrible? Makes no sense … you simply need to keep an eye on radiation exposure. A joke based upon a lack of knowledge how to work in such environments.
The bit where we see the superstructure of reactor 4 completely housed inside the NSC is awe-inspiring. An already massive building inside the cave-like cavity of the New Safe Confinement is so viscerally impressive
This whole project is INCREDIBLE. The entire world should see this series. If you ever see this, super proud and wildly impressed by you, Kyle! You and your whole team have given the world a gift.
It got me crazy when i first saw the little white spots, i was actually searching for them, but i tried to think it was just a camera failure, and it wasnt, its so amazing to believe that you could stand there, Surrounded so to speak, of Gamma particles. So impressive
I am a radiation worker, and we actually use a baby monitor to keep watch over a small component in a high radiation area. It is funny to see which brands perform better, but usually the color goes first, then the white spots become really obvious, then the fps gets horrible. If you plan to keep your precious newborn in a high radiation area, the HelloBaby monitor will be the most bang for your buck!
Why camera failure … we know the radiation interferences … most impressive from the 1986 videos right after the accident … when the one from above the reactor on day 1 1986 was taken it led to complete camera malfunction,
You’re almost at an asmr level with your delivery, it’s so gosh darn calming. And yes, you drop all the knowledge. Just saying when you do these more “essay” type videos your cadence and tenor change and it’s very soothing. I appreciate it. If you ever decide to also do asmr you’d be amazing at it.
watching this brings up feelings of wonder, sadness, and admiration for the hundreds of thousands of people that have worked to try and undo the calamity that was caused by not only lies, but corruption, negligence, and the thoughts of the people in charge. I really believe that the final words that the actor from the television show of the same name, Chernobyl. “the gift of Chernobyl: where I once would fear the cost of truth, I only ask what is the cost of lies?”
Corruption? … the original disaster was caused mainly by stupidity … driving that test that night … combined with poor design and no safety features compared to western reactor buildings …
@@nardalis4832They do not at all care for safety … little regard to caution comes not even close to how they act … of the soldiers ordered to dig in in and around the red forest 200 died in Belarus from radiation sickness and 20k suffer from radiation poisoning … how reckless they are can be seen how carelessly they provoke a further catastrophe in Ukraine.
You mentioned at 2:30 that you weren’t sure if anyone has been inside to document it, there have been several RUclipsrs who have done it throughout the years. I remember there being a walkway above the building that allows you to look down on it. The radiation at that point is insane. You get 10 seconds total to quickly get onto the walkway in order to look at it, and then you’re shouted at to get back inside behind the protective door.
What nonsense … what ‘RUclipsrs’ entered the strictly controlled areas inside the building? Maybe those that filmed inside the White House 😂 There have been several teams that were granted access to unit 4 to do research.
@GanymedeXD The Daily Mail news RUclips channel did it 4 years ago. Bionerd23 did it 7 years ago. Carl Willis also did it 7 years ago. Do some research next time so you don't sound like a stupid American.
@@GanymedeXD The Daily Mail news RUclips channel did it 4 years ago. Bionerd23 did it 7 years ago. Carl Willis also did it 7 years ago. Maybe do yourself a favour and do some research next time.
Was to be expected … the reactor building was massive … the old sarcophagus was massive … building a cover for a massive building can only result in a gigantic megastructure …
Kyle, you are a phenomenal science communicator. Your enthusiasm for your genre is infectious and your voice is clear and easy to follow. Thanks so much for another insightful and knowledgable video. And thanks to whoever were your colleagues who arranged the visit.
I have seen quite a bit on this project but I havent seen it conducted in such a humanising tone. It has always been the facts and figures but you did very well to reemphasise the importance/impact/significance of this I think. very well done to you and your team
@@Benzona arent there drones that can film almost 360 degree? they could try to fly one or two in that space between old and new coffin. and then give the footage to someone who knows how to put the footage together and make an vr world out of it.
@@Benzona We run drones through containments all the time these days, and even fly through pipe systems and dive into the reactor vessels for inspections. Then we bag the drones and save them for the next round of refueling inspections. The videos are uploaded to the company share drive for inspection by engineers. Nuclear power management and regulation has come a long way since the '70s and '80s it's approaching what you would see in a near future science fiction movie.
You are one of the coolest youtubers out there. I cant tell you enough how much I look forward to these videos! Made my weekend! Thanks for what you do ! Keep up the hard work! 🤘
@@gaganb "Inside Chernobyl Reactor - Expedition to sub-reactor/reactor rooms after explosion [1988]". Then there's Alexandr Kupnyi's channel, he posted a vid to provide schematics and additional explanations about that expedition.
Seeing the white specks when you entered the NSC gave me chills. While it's safe now, that was a sudden reminder of just how radioactive this place was soon after the disaster, and it really made me think. Amazing video.
funny because i saw those white pixels pop up and my mind immediately went to radiation. glad you also actually explained it as it's a cool bit of knowledge
Those radiation artefacts are pretty well known from impressive videos shot in 1986 during the first 3 days following the disaster. We know those artefacts from the videos taken from a helicopter taken from above the destroyed reactor back in 1986 … it even caused the cameras to malfunction … and the videos from Pripyat showing the decontamination of the streets before evacuation.
The best thing about what Kyle has done with this channel is brought back that fun something teachers and students can have to talk about. The wide array of subjects he covers let’s me talk to a lot of my teachers at school about them. And it’s amazing having found them relatively early in the channels life. He’s up there with Bill Nye and Mythbusters.
The comparison to the statue of liberty, does so little to truly give the size of the building depth for me. But seeing the inside towering over a building, that itself is built around another building. It's just amazing
This video really opened my eyes in a way I was not expecting. The amount of work that the men and women put into keep their country and the world safe is beyond me. This was beautiful and you did a great job on this Kyle. You’ve earned a new subscriber.
This makes no sense … it is ‘beyond you’ … what? It is a ticking time bomb. If it is not done many can die … it poses a massive risk to water supply for an insanely large area … there is a lot of agriculture as well … it’s about their survival … it’s not about the world for them … the world or countries that would be affected are heavily involved and invested millions … the old sarcophagus is at risk of collapsing … that again would send a radioactive dust cloud towards Europe … the impact would be enormous again … back in 1986 we in the heart of Europe had to stay indoors, our camping trip got cancelled, tons of veggies got destroyed … home grown veggies and fruit was not to be used, collecting mushrooms was forbidden, farmers were in deep deep trouble as even when cleared people still avoided Fred local food and veggies, sand of playgrounds was replaced … countries do not want to face that again … hence they were also driving forces …
I'm so glad you were able to go there and film this whole docuseries. you're one of the best youtubers to listen to about radiation- you're aware of its dangers, but stress the safe points more than anyone else. Learning about the invision shortly after visiting, though... i can't imagine how you feel, having met all these scientists and diligent workers, now knowing their new danger. when the safest opportunity comes, I hope we can show our support- maybe via a fundraiser.
I watched with fascination how the new containment was built, truly a marvel of modern engineering. I suppose in less than 100 years all of the deadly debris can be picked up, contained and burried safely somewhere else. I hope the builders made for proper maintenance of the cranes, repair and preventative. Great documentary, Kyle.
There is no need to pick up the debris and burry it somewhere else; instead, I'd say the #4 building itself should be the temporary cemetry of the radioactive waste. So everything as it is now should stay in its place. The reason is that there are no permanent or long-term solutions to burry the waste in Ukraine. It is technologically very difficult and expensive. All those radioactive waste and spent fuel storage facilities are temporary - ranging from 50 to 200 years. But afterwards it's awaiting another, permanent solution. You can take any nuclear power plant in the world as an example. So, what's the point of pickung up the debris from where it is now and transporting it elsewhere to temporary storage? That would only unnecessary expose people, robots, vehicles, equipment and nature itself to radiation, as well as even more increase radioactive waste and area it's spread on, increasing risks of other possible incidents/accidents related to dismantling, transporting and storing contaminated material. The #4 and its surroundings are and will stay contaminated forever.
@@hid3naxWhat nonsense … you do not seem to understand why it was build … the sarcophagus was at the brink of collapse … it still is … they either have to make it safe or have to start the task of removing it … leaving as is is no option at all … if it collapses inside the new one that would also be a disaster, but at least immediate consequences for Ukraine and the world are reduced.
@@hid3nax Your points are valid however, corrosion and age/time will weaken the structure, so in 100 years there may be a need to remove it or parts of it? I used to work in a hospital which had a cyclotron. When it was decommissioned even the demolished concrete was taken away and buried. The solution will probably be a combination of both.
One story I heard a few times, and is exemplified here, is that : "You don't need great people to do great things. Give good people enough time and other resources, and great things will come". Both in this video and its subject matter this is proven true. It's been a while since the last episode of this series, and I don't care cause what came out is a short (maybe too short ) and sweet story of human achievemnt in both constuction and science. Also the secondary subject matter of Chernobyl it-self is an example of the opposite. People with not enough expertiese forced to crunch and achieve some preset goal before a deadline. It didn't end well ... I guess my point is - crunch is evil (and a failuer of managment), deadlines should be flexible, and science and saftey guidelinse should be folowed.
The sarcophagus on the inside is so beautifully haunting. It's both terrible and fascinating to see up close like this. HLH are always my most anticipated videos of yours, and it's amazing you've been able to film it in such detail. I only wish it were longer.
I don't know why exactly, but when you said "dust suppression system" that really hit me. I suddenly realized just how much WORK they have to put in. They can't even let DUST get into the air it's so radioactive.
Can’t even dust? That’s quite obvious that dust is a major risk! Dust poses one of the highest risks … that’s what brought the contamination to Pripyat … back in 1986 1800 km away we were not allowed to camp … had to keep windows closed … we’re not allowed to use any home grown veggies or collect mushrooms … tons of vegetables were destroyed … because of dust being carried around the world. The whole accident was discovered by radioactive dust having been carried over to Sweden who raised it … after double checking own facilities and western neighbours ones they asked the Soviet Union if there is anything they have to tell us.
This was fascinating!! I'm a retired nuke worker & this never ceases to amaze me! I'd seen the video on the building of the dome! I can't be sure but, I believe that set a record as the largest structure ever moved! This technology is just incredible! Great video!👍
I would like to personally thank you. Not just for the concept of the half life series, which I find extremely informative and entertaining, and for your courage in documenting these things in Tschernobyl first hand, but also for something that I have not seen mentioned enough: And that is the poetic choice of words you find to narrate and espescially to end your videos... It is very appreciated. If you are ever in Germany and want an excellent meal and good company, your are welcome at my home in Heidelberg. Tobi
I love all your vids but really love the ones about radiation related stuff seating the old confinement inside of the new one was epic ❤️ thanks again for all the vids
I visited Barsebäck nuclear power station in 2014, almost 10 years after it was politically decommissioned and they were still running the negative air pressure inside the entire facility, with all vented air going through a gigantic air filter. The guide remarked that this filter would have captured all the accidental radiation leak from Three Mile Island. The building was always designed for negative air pressure, the filter was added at a later date.
The biggest misconception I ever had when first hearing about Chernobyl was that the entire site was abandoned, plant and all, with the only human presence being military enforcers to keep people out of the most contaminated areas. Especially seeing this, it’s not really apocalyptic at all, it’s teeming with hard working people doing everything to contain and clean the site. I’m guessing even the truly abandoned Pripyat city probably has so many tourists and documentary producers flowing in and out, it wouldn’t be as eerily quiet as it’s often made out to be.
The nuclear energy worker in me kept screaming at you to stop touching your face... I've worked in contaminated areas so much I can sweat profusely and still never have the urge to scratch my nose. Drives my wife nuts.
This. Most of our contamination control areas are very clean, but all it takes is one contaminated touch to ruin your day/career. Also this seems like a good spot for this, 20 microsieverts/h is a lot lower than I expected and I chuckled at the alarm, but I understand that they have to protect the public.
@@Lilee177 any amount is not ideal, but a couple hundred times that is "normal" to be in for some workers. What matters way more is exposure time and the accumulated dose. 200x that for 2.5 hrs puts you at the maximum yearly dose here. At his dose, you could spend 10 hours every week for a year.
Watching your videos has completely chnaged my mind on nuclear power and having a respectful opinion on it vs having nothing but fear of it. Hoping nuclear fusion can really take off as a main power source.
There was an amazing blend of dialogue and detailed video. There were even a few scenes that made my toes tingle from biological wtf factor. Really do appreciate the massive amount of time and effort you and your team put in. This is second to none. All the various diagrams and little things down thru out really did open up thoughts and possible good and bad and what dangers really are along every inch. Of course as always, your personality and attention to detail took it over the top in so the best ways
Why shouldn’t it be clean? What should be there? Around the old sarcophagus there was the building site of the old one … that was cleared after completion.
@@kevinthomas895 She was amazing, I loved the video where she was finding small fragments of the highly radioactive core a long way from the reactor. She had a cool curious way about looking at radiation. For her it was like playing with toys.
@@leokimvideo I didn't know whether to be scared out of my wits, or utterly impressed, when she found that actual fragment of nuclear fuel, just by using a pair of portable geiger counter ... ... with her bare hands ... Granted, it was barely bigger than a pencil tip, but still ... I have had had handled an alpha source, with rubber gloves (because the darn thing was physically difficult to get into the fixture holding it ... and sweaty palms didn't help ...), but that was on a whole other level ...
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this absolutely wonderful series. It is fascinating, it is informative and above all it is superbly educational.
Been looking forward to another in the series. So far I rate the series 3.6. Edit: of course it’s far better than 3.6. Just couldn’t resist the reference.
I love watching these episodes, I remember when this disaster happened, I was a youngster in Arizona and when it was announced on TV. I love the facts that you are sharing and what they've done since then. Keep up the great high quality videos and awesome knowledge!
There is a video out there showing some people exploring probably the deepest remnants of the reactor, there the screen is literally flooded by those white pixels you have mentioned on 7:39
There are plenty of those videos … like those taken above the reactor right after the accident from a helicopter … or the ones from Pripyat before evacuation. Compared to those the 2009 elephant foot videos hardly had any.
Most of what was shown in other videos in the series I knew, this I did not expect. The dome always felt like an ominous dead zone looming over the area and I imagined the crew always outside of it working remotely. I never would have expected people to actually go into it. Amazing job
Why not? It is all about radioactivity doses that workers are exposed to … they will now have to deal with the old one as it is still at the brink of collapse. Remotely this is impossible.
Serrated? You do not need that … a blade can cause irreversible damage. Why is it a double edged blade? Chernobyl was incredibly unsafe and cannot be compared to any western nuclear power station and their safety measures. They were build earthquake, plane crash and rocket safe. The test videos of the reactor domes are so impressive. Of course there is a risk … hence important to continuously improve safety features.
Honestly, seeing whats underneath the dome is incredible. Props to you for not just going, but being in a position to show others what it's like as well. Great video Kyle :D
I'm absolutely so fascinated with Chernobyl and every video you've done about it has been amazing. I could literally watch this content for hours on end. The disaster, aftermath and now clean up are some of the most fascinating things I've ever learned about. Please keep making this content if you can! And thank you so much for sharing all of this and thanks to everyone who has made this possible.
2 things on my bucket list are visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza and visiting Chernobyl but I probably won’t get the chance for either of those things
What an incredible documentary. Thank you for sharing this with us. I really hope you are able to do a follow up at some point to see if/how this facility and its operation have been affected by the invasion and what plans there are for the future.
It’s shocking that soldiers were ordered to dug in in and around the red forest … 200 dying from radiation sickness and 20k acquiring radiation poisoning as the main invasion route led through the red forest … the plant itself was devastated by the 1000 soldiers stationed there … stealing computers and equipment … they even looted highly radioactive material … handled it with bare hands, spreading it to an extend leading to spikes in radiation.
*Thanks for watching.* This video concludes the series’ overall arc of the three main areas of the Zone.
After this, we have 3-4 smaller videos with smaller stories, like the wild dogs of Chernobyl's woods.
This has been the biggest video thing we've ever done, so any feedback is welcome.
As with everything in this series this was amazing, thank you for making these!
Man this is nice! Can you make a video on renewables? You said before that you were kinda tired of doom and gloom videos, and I thought that was a pretty good idea. :D
Amazingly well done story telling and videography.
The only thing I didn't like about the video is that we were not able to see more
The level of engineering of the confinement building is a testament to radiophobia run wild. According to the best available science there have been under 60 deaths related to the accident in the 38 years since the accident, and a possible 150 more from thyroid cancer although those are failing to materialize. The dose to the 6 million inhabitants most affected amounts to the equivalent of one full body CT received over 20 years.
Seeing the camera show artifacts of radiation in the footage is like a creepy callback and reminder to the photos of the elephants foot that were bombarded with radiation. Also I think a testament to how well the containment units now work.
The Sarcophagus immediately reduced the escaping radiation by something like 90%
@@kylehill when you initially began researching the elephants foot all those years ago did you ever imagine you’d end up standing more or less in the same building as it? (albeit a football stadium sized building; with layers)
I noticed them before it is said in the video
@@f.falkwings want a cookie?
@@aydynx
I did too. I wanna cookie
🍪
This was one of those episodes I didn't want to end. I could watch hours of explanations about how the NSC works, the engineering and design that went into it, and how the NSC changed the lives/jobs of those who have dedicated their lives to cleaning up this disaster. Thank you for your professionalism and willingness to go out there and see these things first hands for us! What an incredible series this has been.
This is so true, I really hope this is one of a series. It would also be awesome if Kyle does a video on Fukushima Daini, they were hit with the same conditions with Daiichi but quick action from the Daini plant operators allowed them to restore power to manage their decay heat and prevent the H2 detonations Daiichi suffered.
@@anydaynow01 If you're brand new to the channel, you should definitely check out the other Expedition Chernobyl and Half-Life Histories video series. Both are incredible and Kyle does an excellent job of acknowledging the very real risks (and history) of nuclear disasters, but also the promise and progress that has been shown over recent decades.
I'm just over here grateful to see another stepmania fan XD
@@drumkommandr9779 I'm an OG DDR fan, but Stepmania and Flash Flash Revolution were also pretty excellent.
There's some really good documentaries on the NSC, it's construction, the vent systems, the cranes and how they work and what attachments they use
i genuinely did think that they left this place to be forgotten, amazing that people still stay here and help the country and the world
When the fusion reactor starts powering the earth, this nuclear fission tech will become obsolete.
Its in ukraine. not russia.
@@Paultimate7 ok?
@@Paultimate7 that’s true… am I missing something?
@@chrisS19019 that Russia would leave it forgotten, for nature to deal with it on its own. Not the ukraine
7:24 Astronauts actually experience a similar phenomenon in their own eyeballs! While in space, occasionally a cosmic ray will pass through the vitreous humor in the eye, releasing Cherenkov radiation as it goes. The retina detects the light and perceives it as a flash. Some reported having difficulty sleeping due to the effect, since it was visible even with their eyes closed.
I heard someone call the effect "pollywogs" once, but I don't know if that's what the astronauts really call it or not. I was, after all, listening to a science fiction author...
But in that case it's caused by particle radiation, not electromagnetic like gamma-rays, right?
@@leogama3422 isn't it just the cosmic background radiation?
@@_ee75 I think it's mostly Sun's radiation, plus a bit of cosmic (not background) rays. Cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation is a specific type of low energy electromagnetic radiation (in the microwave spectrum as the name suggests) which is harmless
Yeah but what if you see that all the time?
Keeping the site under negative pressure is a genius idea. Not only does it keep the radioactive dust and particles inside, but also it is easier to tell whether there are any leaks if the pressure inside changes
And the filters are a great gauge to exactly how much radiation is leaking into the environment, or would be leaking into the environment. Since they can be studied and particulate matter counted every time they are replaced.
Imagine if a Russian bomb had hit it. It would still do its job and only irradiate a few Russian soldiers, not all of Europe.
Who knew if it worked for quarantine hospitals, it’d work for this…
so like a double walled glass with a vacuum between the walls?
Genius or obvious. Basic containment protocol…
Can we just take a moment and salute the liquidators, firefighters and all the other people that gave their lives to conceal the core after the accident. Heroic efforts with a huge prize they payed for our safety.
Don’t forget those miners
yep, without them most of europe would have been inhabitable for 20,000 years
@@VaCRAYtionnakey bois
@@SeprexOG what?
@@dropsboms6153 he's referring to a scene in the show where it depicts miners who worked on the disaster site choosing to be naked at times because wearing those suits made it basically impossible to work given the harsh conditions that already existed.
When Kyle says "until next time..." at the end of his videos, it feels like a wise old npc guide in a video game telling you to stay safe until you meet again. A really comforting feeling
I'm Science Deckard Cain
And I will gladly stay a while and listen.
That line gives me chills everytime 🥴😂 it's the way he says it and his calm voice telling us all about that what killed too many people not that long ago. It's super awesome and terrifying at the same time to me 😁
@@kylehill "Stay awhile, and listen... to the sound of the giger counter and my radiation alarm, or perhaps a few reactions I've got going properly supervised in the background!"
@@kylehill thanks for spreading radioactive awareness to the world. Soon we will probably rid of these nuclear facilities for good.
I remember the early images of the New Safe Confinement Arch right after they put up the superstructure for it. It was so massive it looked eerie and almost otherworldly.
A bit like the feeling of a long time ago, standing about a hundred feet away from the old WTC towers, and looking from the ground level and up towards the top. It's uncanny, eerie - it's like your eyes, your brain, your vestibular nerve can't properly process it, it gets gassy and lets rip a little squeeky poof of vertigo.
There is a tropical-themed water park in Germany inside a hangar of almost exactly the same size
I feel so sorry for the 4000 workers whose important work (and their very LIVES) have surely been upended by the war. I hope they're okay. Well done on showing us a beautiful glimpse into one of the most infamous places on Earth! Thank you!
"The goal of Chernobyl's clean up is to have no more Chernobyl"
That's fascinating that they're disassembling the plant. I had always assumed that they were going to just build bigger containment structures over the ruins.
Disassembly and sequestration is really the only viable path forward for any significant radiological accident. The radiation hazard that is Chernobyl NPP isn't going to magically deal with itself, and if we do nothing then we'd be forced to build _considerably_ bigger containment structures over the ruins time and time again. We would inevitably reach a point where materials science will fail and bigger containment structures _can't_ be built. What, then? Do we have to start dismantling the entire nested doll of containment structures? What if the innermost layers have long since collapsed and become an almost _unmanageable_ pile of radioactive rubble?
The NSC I think was designed to last longer than it's going to take to fully dismantle the corpse of Chernobyl, so that disassembly and sequestration can be fully completed before we will need to consider building an even newer containment structure.
Keep building bigger containment on top of it, like Paris build on top of more city like 3 or 4 times.
But it doesn't work like that.
And create the Chernobyl catocombs? No thanks.
@@MM-xy4th think of the potential for more game ideas
@@smoadia85 that was my first thought too. That sounds amazing, hopefully some indie dev sees these comments. Stalker like games are always decent sellers
7:25 The really horrifying part about those scintillations caused by gamma rays hitting the camera sensor: if you look at old Soviet footage taken in Pripyat on the day of the accident, the film typically shows a lot of them. The town’s about 2 miles away, yet the area around the power plant was radiologically hot enough to significantly affect film even at that distance.
The nuclides are all over the ground near the camera due to fallout; it's not a question of distance.
which footages? Share video titles, links will probably autodelete your comment
@@kormannn1 Go look for 1HmLIElmHRI, titled “Chernobyl, Pripyat , RARE FOOTAGE OF 1986-1988 Part 2”. There are a bunch of shots showing them, but the one at about 2:42 is quite striking, showing some bloke in uniform. The big white blob-looking flashes are the film being exposed to gamma ray hits. Another is at around 3:00, with a couple of troops walking down a street and an APC in the background.
@@kormannn1 There's also a documentary showing a lot of previously unreleased footage on HBO. It's called Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes. Some of that footage is in it.
@@Smegheid thanks
"Who'd want to look after this place?"
Me, I would. I find it fascinating, I love history and science. Chernobyl always has been my favourite thing to read about, learn about and talk about. I could go for hours just talking about it, when it's safe again, I'd love to go there. I have huge respect for the workers there, they're amazing and I'd love to talk with them
Me too. There's something so emblematic of humanity about it. Really shows both the heights and depths we can reach. It's beautiful, ugly, terrifying, inspiring, and despair-inducing all at once.
I'd love to work on something like this. A truly worthy use of your working life, in my view.
My wife and I took a trip and done a chernobyl tour back in 2019 and it was so beautiful humbling and absolutely amazing, after reading the stories of professor lagasav and boring sherbina and General pikalov I hope I spelled those right lol but what they all did and also the coal mines that dug the tunnel for the heat exchanger was just absolutely amazing to me. I do deeply feel sorry for the men and women and children that have passed due to information being kept from them like the firemen the night of the explosion. But just being there my wife and I you can truly feel what happened and it just unreal knowing what happened and being able to be there, when this horrible war is over we hope to visit again. Stay safe and hope you get a chance to go there oneday as well
The whole point. somebody needed to look after the place, its dangerous radiation levels
The main reason im studying Russian is so one day after this war i can go to Chernobyl
I used to be obsessed with Chernobyl, watching hours or videos on youtube over the years about the forest, Pripyat, the liquidators and everything in between. Now i've been watching Kyle for a little while now and as always, the content is s-tier. But if there is one thing that i have learnt about Chernobyl during the Expedition series, its that Chernobyl is a beautiful place. While it houses one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, something about it is so alluring and truly beautiful. Especially down to the "smaller" details like the negative pressure inside the dome. It shows, in some ways that while humans can screw things up to a monumental point, we are also more than capable of rising to a challenge that cannot be avoided and throwing our hearts and souls into it to just do what is right.
Very well said! Another very understated fact (and I wish they said this in the excellent HBO Chernobyl series) is the other units in the same building were being safely operated at full power all the way until the end of their designed operational lives, or problems besides the reactor caused their decommissioning, many years after the unit 4 accident!
If you watched it all then you saw Bionerd23 videos too.
There indeed is beauty in it … the area is free of humans … asides some catastrophe tourists and explorers … and nature can bloom. No stupid humans interfering with wildlife and a chance … the wolves that developed genes fighting cancerous changes … could be ground breaking …
It's only for short while.
The screaming of the radiation monitor, is one of the most terrifying sounds I've ever heard.
I felt the same way about the hydrogen sulfide monitor we had to wear when I worked on a gas rig.
that is part of there purpose, its meant to strike fear into you so you cant just ignore it as other background noise
@@laner.845 i would be more scared if the h2s monitor went wild. tbh
oooo so scary
20 uSv/hour, literally spending one hour in there would give 1/10 the dose of a Tokyo-New York flight. People really need to get their stuff together when it comes to radiation
As someone old enough to remember when the Chernobyl incident occurred and as a physicist by inclination, education and training I have to say, what a magnificent tribute to the workers at Chernobyl.
You deserve nothing but the sincerest praise for your work. Well done.
What workers? The liquidators, the nuclear power station staff, those working on the new cover … Chernobyl nuclear power station kept running as usual after the accident till the max life of the other reactors was reached … staff had no choice as were ordered to do so.
@@GanymedeXDokay ?
Nothing is as cool as filming...in FRONT OF reactor 4. Education, information, and entertainment at its finest. Excellently done, Kyle.
The part that blows my mind the most is that this is an active work site. It's not simply a lab, a waste site, a burden or a wasteland but a job. An actively maintained 9-5 for hundreds of people ever day. It's always occupied the same space in my mind like the aftermath of a fire or ruins after a flood rarely you find hundreds of people sifting through the ashes for years on end with the hopes of turning it back into a forest or at the very least stop more fires from happening.
Reactor 4 was 1 of 4 at the plant. The other three continued to operate for years after the disaster. Last reactor was shut down in the late 90s. People never stopped working there
It still needs power to not blow up, therefore, 9-5 people working there.
...and in an active war zone...
@@benoitbvg2888 not anymore for quite some time, it's another one (Zaporizka in Energodar)
@@Iamthestig42069 Close. It was late 2000 when Reactor 3 was finally shutdown and decomissioned.
I know a liquidator, and he is still alive. He actually was a bio-robot who went on that roof! Incredible man for sure.
I want to meet that man I really want to know his story
I always knew it was big, but there's knowing it's big, and then there's seeing how massive it is from inside. And knowing that Lady Liberty would fit under it really puts a scale on the structure that you can't get any other way... what a feat it was to complete this, and thank you for bringing this to us Kyle. You really are a treasure!
It was obvious how massive it will be as the building was massive … and the new one needed to fit the entire massive previous sarcophagus.
Honestly there's a lot of fascinating things that would be cool to expand on whether brief or in depth that I know don't fit half-life histories in their seriousness;
The fact that this structure is under constant increased pressure because the atmosphere inside is less than that outside, and that likely needed to be taken into account when creating it.
The interesting fact that you get scanned and checked before you go in (and assuming the same when you come back out)
The statement "touch nothing, sit nowhere and don't drop anything" and how that must be a serious concern for the workers inside (not to mention the fact the concept of that rule is terrifying)
"touch nothing, sit nowhere and don't drop anything", That's contamination and radiation control 101, even for the companies who service the medical radiation field.
@@anydaynow01: That sounds like the mantra of a, let's call them a priestly sect of the far, _far_ future, dedicated to safeguarding "cursed" sites. This whole scenario goes right to the heart of the problem with radioisotopic decay and warning future generations of the dangers, while keeping in mind that languages shift and change over the centuries and millennia.
@@anydaynow01 I'd imagine that the radiation poisoning you get from picking up radioactive dust and subsequently inhaling it would be attributed to the spirits of the damned cursing you for breaking the rules.
3:23 The so called "chimney" you see on this footage is not the one that people used to perceive as the iconic one. The iconic 4th reactor VT-2 funnel got dismantled around 10 years ago.
For my high school graduation science project, I did a report on nuclear reactors and containment systems. When you started this series, I knew I was watching the exact reason why I did that study. Part of me wishes I still became a nuclear engineer, but alas, my path took me a different direction. But, Kyle, seriously, thank you for this. I know it's not what you intended, but this was a gift. I covered my report on the disaster and some of the scientific knowledge we learned from this and also automatic containment systems like the ceramic encapsulations. I have enjoyed all three parts of this. And, I really do look forward to the small videos you plan on the outside environment of the disaster zones.
Whatever career you ended up with I think was a better choice. In nukes there's mountains of paperwork and it takes forever to get the smallest things done. Makes you feel like you never accomplish anything
What are you doing now?
I remember my mother telling that my grandfather working there, well, when he was still alive. He was probably entering the place(we assume, to the date he went out of his home and went in the train) when the explosion happened. My grandfather was found somewhere near core 1, so he probably ran away from the first explosion, only to get crushed by a piece of steel that flew out during the explosion. The information may not be exact, becouse no one around him came out alive. I wish I had a chance to meet him, heard he was a nice guy.
I had chills throughout this video. The gravity of this place and the work being done is immense.
I had no idea about the cranes and that they were actively working to dismantle and make the site safe. That’s awesome and sobering work. Thank you so much for sharing this place and its story with us!
I saw the cranes and remembered and old Atari Computer game from the 80s. "Uncle Henry's Nuclear Waste Dump".
american cranes!
@@ddmn3648 Ukraine ingenuity and ingeneering!!! Only Ukraininans is capable of such an amazing job!!! Ukraine is keeping the world safe!!! Etermal glory to Zelensky!!!! Slava Ukraine!!!! Heroyam slava!!!!!!!
@@MikeRoch-m4r LOL😂🤣
Man, this channel and these docuseries episodes really give me old school discovery/history Channel vibes. The amount of effort and time you put into this content is awesome.
Somebody really needs to hire you to do this kind of work and bring back good, educational content back into the limelight. Such awesome content. Thank you.
Yesss. 💯
Working on that
@@kylehill 😮 the elation I had reading that! 🎉
I think the internet and youtube specifically killed the market for content like this on those cable channels like Discovery/TLC/History. In the 90s that was where science and history junkies got our fix.
@@kylehill hey, I know this is random. But I had a random science theory that I can't get out of my head ever since I came up with it. I know this isn't the appropriate video to comment on but this is the only way I thought of sending this message to you so that you actually might see it. And I don't really have the knowledge of math it takes to test or see if this theory is a legit thing or if nobody else has come up with it. And you were the first person I thought of when I thought of who might have enough reach to take this information and do anything potentially useful with it, if it has any use to it at all.
Is there any way to get in contact with you somehow to share my idea? If not, I'll try my best to summarize it here.
Basically, it's a theory about light/gravity wave propagation and spiral galaxy formation.
In essence, it comes down to this.
Imagine light tavelling around galaxies as if individual light particles/waves were track runners on a racetrack. If all track runners were to run the same speed, their relative positions to each other would still diverge in a spiral-like pattern because they run in different lanes that results in each runner having to run a separate distance relative to one another. This is why track runners have to start at different positions so that the inner runners don't have an innate advantage.
What if Galaxies spiral because light and gravity, despite traveling/interacting at the same speed locally (the speed of light) at all reference frames, warps space itself because of the difference in the distances that it has to travel in each galactic "lane".
Wouldn't the galaxies spiraling simply just be a consequence of the difference in spatial geometry similarly to how track runners diverge from each other on a race track despite running at the same speeds but in different lanes?
I came up with this idea based on a thought experiment thinking about how cars travel different distances in a roundabout despite traveling at the same speed due the the inherent geometry of the paths they're driving on. So I thought to myself "what if the same were true of light traveling through space? What if that's how gravity also influences galaxy formation?
My idea itself is a little more complex than the analogy I'm using to explain it. I just can't think of a proper way to explain it without actually knowing complex math. Originally, I was thinking how light curves around stars and I was imagining light traveling around the curvature of spacetime kind of like how cars curve along different lanes in a roundabout. Light traveling closer to an area of high gravity still travels at the same "speed" but has to travel a greater distance due to the increased curvature of space relative to an observer farther away, where light would still travel at the same speed but less distance due to flatter spacetime curvature. I was thinking of how this might be relevant to galaxy spiral formation.
I don't know if somebody else came up with that idea. Somebody probably did. But I can't sleep until I at least make an attempt to get this thought out somewhere. And it bothers me that I don't understand complex math enough to even test if my theory has any merit.
If you manage to see this message, that would be awesome! And I'd appreciate any insight you have in the matter.
If not, and somebody else sees this, can somebody help me get this message to Kyle somehow? Or somebody who has the brain and the math skills to test if this is a legit theory. Even if it's already a known theory. It would be cool if somebody let me know it was a real thing. And that I was able to intuitively come to this conclusion on my own.
7:09 20.5 Microsieverts/Hour is equivalent to 2 millirem/hour for those unfamiliar with that measurement... it's not much. At that rate, you'd be safe to stay in the area for 50 hours.
Afterward lethal Dose?
@@taras9436 Any radiation has the chance to cause cancer, but the limit I gave comes from federal guidelines for safety. They're very conservative limits and it's very unlikely to get cancer from this dosage
@@hannibal8637 thank you sir
@@taras9436 4 Sv/h is considered a lethal dose.
@@gamemechanic8950but not 4MS/h… easy to mix up
Thank you Kyle for showing us something we probably would've never seen. Hopefully in the next 20,000 years someone will come back to this video & comment saying that the threat of radiation is alleviated & people have finally started a new settlement around the plant, while it stands as a symbol for remnants of one of the worst mistakes of mankind.
By that time they might call it "the first of many mistakes". Grim thoughts
I like the idea that RUclips is still kicking after 20k years
I think it would done way sooner.
Radioactive dust would be stored somewhere safe and it would so less much radioactive that it currently now.
20 000 for returning to background level of radiation I guess that we actually don't know what radiation level would be here in 20 000 years and obviously we not sure if humans would be here for so long.
Our whole civilization is 10 000 and our modern world is only couple hundreds of years.
Maybe that far in, they'd have developed a ground version for the radiation shields we're developing for spacecraft
problem is, plutonium 239 have half live 30 000years,....
The most interesting part of this for me was hearing about the workers in charge of keeping it all under wrap. The technical prowess and know-how at work here is extremely comforting. These guys clearly understand the importance of their work. They knowingly sit themselves down and keep vigil over one of the most lethal places on Earth. Very impressive video, Kyle. Thanks for sharing.
1. sick Carpenter Brut pfp
2. It truly is something else. I find it so amazing, and these people are very impressive and brave.
@@clueless6775 Had the pleasure of seeing them live last month. Wild show.
Sick Femto pfp. I see that you, too, are a fan of big sword guy.
@@MuchKoku Thanks! haha
I saw them in Pontiac. I was actually against the rails in the front center. Franck threw me a thumbs up and a smile and the Adrien threw me devil horns twice. Amazing fucking show.
@@clueless6775 Hell, yeah. I saw them at the Fillmore in Silver Spring; left of center, row back from the rail. Heavy moshing going on. They started playing Maniac and it nearly blew the roof off the place. Somebody actually posted a video of it on RUclips.
A lot of international money, workforce and know how was provided … the sarcophagus was at the brink of collapse … still is … the consequences a disaster for the region and the world … back in 1986 it cost European Countries millions as we all dealt with consequences … especially farmers as food was contaminated in Europe and tons were binned.
9:36 The Backrooms are located in Chernobyl, of course!
I’ve never had my jaw involuntarily drop in such a way. I never expected to be able to see it in this way. Props to you for filming this, and major thanks to those who allowed for this.
If you find this interesting, look up the videos by bionerd23 who actually has quite a lot of footage of chernobyl and the area, including a tour inside the control room of reactor number 4 where it all happened
What's more, researchers have actually entered the reactor core itself. Check out "Inside Chernobyl Reactor - Expedition to sub-reactor/reactor rooms after explosion [1988]". It's a trip to behold. Then there's Alexandr Kupnyi's channel, he posted a vid to provide schematics and additional explanations about that expedition.
I hoped Kyle would be showing at least the elephant's foot to us, and instead he just shows the outside of sarcophagus and describes it as "almost no one has been allowed inside the New Safe Confinement to document what I’m about to show you" smh
this shouldnt be something amazing, theres no reason people cant enter and film here, employees work there daily, they used to work inside the sarcophagus now just being outside of it is considered dangerous.. they just keep amping up whats considered "safe" i thiink at this point its gone too far, theyre too cautious... 30 years ago people were touching graphite bare handed... now you can even look at the control room thatd take months or years of exposure to even have a very minimal chance of health risks with
used to be on the top of my places i wanted to visit but since the NSC its lost all interest too me, everything that used to be interesting or exciting is now too dangerous.. i dont get the obsession with 0 risk, 0 illness, 0 death... theyre all part of life people have free will to choose theyre own
Negative pressure rooms are so cool. We used to use them in medical wings for isolation of immuno-compromised patients.
Medical facilities use pressures greater than 1atm. This keeps dust and microbes out and is the premise behind a cleanroom. Pressure below 1atm like that in the chernobyl containment structure is used to keep air inside and is used in virology labs. They are inversed.
I took I guided tour there last year when I was working in Kiev. I didn’t go inside the sarcophagus but I recorded some videos outside, next to the monument raised to pay homage to the ones who fought the fire after the explosion. In my video footage you can see the radioactive particles you mentioned even in broad daylight. But the highest radiation levels registered were near the red forest which is a lifeless area nearby. Scary how nuclear power can be extremely useful but destructive at the same time.
My jaw dropped when I saw the Russians dug trenches in the Red Forest.
@@MrPig40 yeah they are not well!
@@MrPig40 most of those russians are probably dead from radiation poisoning, those poor bastards
It's hard for many people to imagine the feeling you get crossing through an airlock into a nuclear facility. I've been in our campus reactor a number of times and large doors slowly swinging closed and the sound and feel of the air pressure changing really serve as a big exclamation mark telling you that you are entering a different world.
Playing STALKER Anomaly the last couple years really kindled my interest in the Chernobyl disaster and the areas around Pripyat. Even without all the supernatural elements, it's so spooky, interesting and sort of beautiful in the way someone might look at the ruins of the Colosseum. Such great videos from Kyle and the friends in the facility.
The weirdest part about the war was when they mentioned the the chernobyl area and I'm like 'hey, I recognize that pump station, I got ambushed there!'
Get out of here stalker!
Anomaly gang reporting in, currently on my very first GAMMA ironman run. I love the taste of radiation in the morning, tastes like metal.
Kyle Hill, you are a Mastercraft at telling stories, informing your audience, and an overall positive impact in the world. When you announced your visit to Chernobyl, I was excited to see the results, the TRUE Chernobyl. Video games and media have always spun it as a continuous, out of control danger zone. I cannot put easily into words how much I've loved this experience you provided. ❤️ Keep up your excellent work, even the goofy stuff. We all, the true fans, love the goofy stuff too.
Out of control danger zone? What nonsense … nobody spun such nonsense … the media did report about it, but not in a sensational way … games and movies are fiction if you should not be aware … in the exclusion zone nature is flourishing, Pripyat is decaying … animals love the human free zone … adapt to their environment … wolves developed cancer resisting genes … that could be a sensation for cancer research … then there was the plant with the sarcophagus … that was indeed a massive danger zone … hence the new one was needed as it was about to collapse. Prior to this the region was deemed safe enough to operate the nuclear power station’s remaining reactors. Till they were finally put out of service.
I loudly gasped when you entered the dome and the remains of the plant where there.
Stunning work! I can only pray that occupation and the combat going outside there hasn't affected it too badly, but I feel pessimistic that the damage done will not be something to easily dismiss.
I'd recommend looking up Alexander Kupny on youtube, he has footage from him going INSIDE of the sarcophagus
@@smirnoff3841 Thank you! Will do
im currently preparing a presentation about the chernobyl incident for my science class
im actually so happy i got to do this because this has been my special interest for ages already. the presentation will most likely take me half an hour to 45 minutes, i can imagine it being boring to some but many of my classmates have been encouraging me to keep going.
i want to thank you for the videos you've provided because they've helped me understand a lot more!
I’m at a loss for words for how inspiring this is; “for the happiness of all mankind” these ordinary people work to clean up and take care of our world; I couldn’t be more proud
Many people work in such hard and dangerous jobs … they should not be forgotten!
seeing it from the inside after having studied the incident for so long is just... woah... you are right, no airborn photo can EVER show the true scare of the disaster. im at a loss for word at this horrible yet beautifully interesting place.
The most impressive videos were those shot from a helicopter the day after the explosion. None very showed the true scale of destruction better than that one. A true battlefield …
4:56
This is *easily* my favorite part of the video.
The Head of Radiation Safety at Chernobyl showing that transparency even towards foreign scientists and engineers. Truly a great man.
Most scientists will talk their face off to anyone who will listen about their work.
This is also the type of position where they’re going to want to hire the type of person who has a documented history or being open and transparent given how dangerous hiding a fault could be. I’m not surprised he is the type to answer questions openly so much as I’m surprised he’s allowed to say that much at all.
That first view when entering the tomb was amazing. Seeing the weather damage on the side of the inner structure and the stairs to the top of the outer structure really hits home what was accomplished there in confining the site.
You have got to be the most unique wonderful person! I always wanted to see a update on this but to scared to even go close lol thanks for sharing 👍
Actually insane to see the full close up scale of the NSC, that is truly absolutely huge.
As someone who's been to Chernobyl/Pripyat myself, it's really interesting to actually see inside the NSC. There were animations and such on our tour through the plant (we went through Plant 3, which was then operational as a power routing station) and even got to the wall where they have a remembrance for Valery Kodemchuk, where my dosimeter did indeed also start spiking to about 13-16 (so I was surprised to see it only being around 20 in the NSC).
The amount of information I learnt during the tour was incredible and humbling. It's so sad that the Russian invasion happened and affected the zone :/
That is some extremely low levels of radiation.. being from the U.S. and working in the nuclear industry, I am accustomed to millirem instead of microsieverts, but converting shows that 20 microsieverts/hour is equivalent to 2 mrem/hour. I have personally worked on things that are 5000 millirem/hour, or 50,000 microsieverts. That's certainly not normal, and is high by my typical work standards, but it isn't uncommon for myself and others to spend multiple hours in fields of 200-300 microsieverts/hour.
@@Voxphyle interesting. I was wondering how high those levels were as they casually walked through. Doubt those masks are doing anything at all. Thanks for explaining the radiation levels.
@@scottturnick7883 the masks are meant to impede the inhalation of harmful particles that are in the air as you walk and disturb the environment.
@@scottturnick7883 Covid
@@scottturnick7883 They are anti-dust, some radioactive dust is still in the air and inhaling it would be dangerous, because they will create radioactive source inside of you.
3:28 thats the replacement ventilation, the original smokestack was demolished
I remember hearing that the new safe confinement was finally going into place over the sarcophagus. I remember wondering if this meant that we could finally start cleanup and maybe have it done before the 100 years was up. Seeing the sheer size though, that was something that stunned me. I never thought it was that big, I never even imagined it was that tall. The shock of the size made me realize that we're going to be working on the clean up for longer than 100 years if other countries don't try to help. This is an amazing chance for so many countries to go and try to help and learn what they can, but no one seems to want to work together. For all we know, there could be new scientific discoveries waiting for us down there, or even in the minds of the scientists doing the clean up. I wish they would realize how much the world as a whole would benefit if more countries would try to help with the clean up and monitoring.
@alybloodshade: The entire world seems now to be at the tipping-point precipice of a much-delayed choice between altruism and selfishness, between sociopathy & fascism and cooperation & compassion, between oblivion and continued existence. People like you and Kyle Hill (and hopefully myself) give me the barest frisson of hope for the future, that we can make the right choice, but there's just so much evidence to the contrary that it's getting hard to see any reason to go on beyond just continuing on for its own sake.
@@sdfkjgh Right? I do have one argument that could tip the scales in our favor, however everyone has already argued against said point because apparently it does us more good not to let natural selection take the idiots out. In my opinion, if you can't use common sense, which most of the selfish people I know can't, and you do something stupid then it should be on you, not someone else. If you get severely hurt doing something you're not supposed to with an item, you should be the one in trouble, not the company. We tell these people that it's ok to be selfish and ignore the rules because someone else will take the fall and people don't seem to realize that taking common sense out of things is ruining us.
@@alybloodshade: As Berkeley Breathed once said, via his character Steve Dallas, "Accountability is un-American!"
This moving thing was built with international help. IMO there are nothing usefull there, unless you want to play with radiation, like radiate rats.
@@vadnegru Actually, we don't know yet if nuclear waste, or the elephants foot, has a use yet. We haven't done enough research into such things yet as it is dangerous but this, Chernobyl, as it stands now is perfect to find out. They are keeping it as safe as possible and have made it the perfect lab to figure these things out while safely and carefully cleaning it up as well. Scientists all over the world are missing an opportunity to go and further the field of nuclear power even further because we produce so much waste from it, but we don't yet have a use. We store it in tanks of water and bury it into tombs, but we don't really have a use. This is our chance for everyone to work together to find what the possible uses are, that is part of cleaning it up and dealing with it. We can't just throw it into water and tombs or barrels and storage places for the rest of known time, that's just a time bomb waiting to happen. If we don't figure out what to do with it while we have such a good chance to study it and do what we need to then we could very well end up running out of places to put it.
Chernobyl videos always bring tears to my eyes. May they all rest in peace.
-Mom i got a job
+Really? Where?
-chernobyl
Mom: "Not Great. Not Terrible."
@@biswajit07Why terrible? Makes no sense … you simply need to keep an eye on radiation exposure. A joke based upon a lack of knowledge how to work in such environments.
@@GanymedeXDyou’re overthinking it…
The bit where we see the superstructure of reactor 4 completely housed inside the NSC is awe-inspiring. An already massive building inside the cave-like cavity of the New Safe Confinement is so viscerally impressive
It’s insane … the reactor building is massive … the sarcophagus was … and all this is housed in a new sarcophagous.
This whole project is INCREDIBLE. The entire world should see this series. If you ever see this, super proud and wildly impressed by you, Kyle! You and your whole team have given the world a gift.
The entire world (specially Europe) knows about Chernobyl a long time ago, only brain dead people got in touch with this reality because of a tv show.
It got me crazy when i first saw the little white spots, i was actually searching for them, but i tried to think it was just a camera failure, and it wasnt, its so amazing to believe that you could stand there, Surrounded so to speak, of Gamma particles. So impressive
I am a radiation worker, and we actually use a baby monitor to keep watch over a small component in a high radiation area. It is funny to see which brands perform better, but usually the color goes first, then the white spots become really obvious, then the fps gets horrible. If you plan to keep your precious newborn in a high radiation area, the HelloBaby monitor will be the most bang for your buck!
@@llallogen7380 I'll keep it in mind!
Why camera failure … we know the radiation interferences … most impressive from the 1986 videos right after the accident … when the one from above the reactor on day 1 1986 was taken it led to complete camera malfunction,
You’re almost at an asmr level with your delivery, it’s so gosh darn calming. And yes, you drop all the knowledge. Just saying when you do these more “essay” type videos your cadence and tenor change and it’s very soothing. I appreciate it. If you ever decide to also do asmr you’d be amazing at it.
watching this brings up feelings of wonder, sadness, and admiration for the hundreds of thousands of people that have worked to try and undo the calamity that was caused by not only lies, but corruption, negligence, and the thoughts of the people in charge. I really believe that the final words that the actor from the television show of the same name, Chernobyl. “the gift of Chernobyl: where I once would fear the cost of truth, I only ask what is the cost of lies?”
And its bad enough that the russians overtook it now, with very little regard to caution.
Corruption? … the original disaster was caused mainly by stupidity … driving that test that night … combined with poor design and no safety features compared to western reactor buildings …
@@nardalis4832They do not at all care for safety … little regard to caution comes not even close to how they act … of the soldiers ordered to dig in in and around the red forest 200 died in Belarus from radiation sickness and 20k suffer from radiation poisoning … how reckless they are can be seen how carelessly they provoke a further catastrophe in Ukraine.
You mentioned at 2:30 that you weren’t sure if anyone has been inside to document it, there have been several RUclipsrs who have done it throughout the years. I remember there being a walkway above the building that allows you to look down on it. The radiation at that point is insane. You get 10 seconds total to quickly get onto the walkway in order to look at it, and then you’re shouted at to get back inside behind the protective door.
Well he was definitely in there longer than 10 sec
What nonsense … what ‘RUclipsrs’ entered the strictly controlled areas inside the building? Maybe those that filmed inside the White House 😂 There have been several teams that were granted access to unit 4 to do research.
@GanymedeXD The Daily Mail news RUclips channel did it 4 years ago. Bionerd23 did it 7 years ago. Carl Willis also did it 7 years ago. Do some research next time so you don't sound like a stupid American.
@@GanymedeXD The Daily Mail news RUclips channel did it 4 years ago. Bionerd23 did it 7 years ago. Carl Willis also did it 7 years ago. Maybe do yourself a favour and do some research next time.
@@MK_2023. you fell for rage bait
The shot at 6:26 literally took my breath away. The scale of it... wow.
Was to be expected … the reactor building was massive … the old sarcophagus was massive … building a cover for a massive building can only result in a gigantic megastructure …
@@GanymedeXDstop talking
Kyle, you are a phenomenal science communicator. Your enthusiasm for your genre is infectious and your voice is clear and easy to follow. Thanks so much for another insightful and knowledgable video. And thanks to whoever were your colleagues who arranged the visit.
I have seen quite a bit on this project but I havent seen it conducted in such a humanising tone. It has always been the facts and figures but you did very well to reemphasise the importance/impact/significance of this I think. very well done to you and your team
Would have loved to see a good 360 camera for this walkthrough. I want to see this in VR at human scale.
PPE would probably have made a setup like that impossible to operate safely unfortunately
@@Benzona arent there drones that can film almost 360 degree?
they could try to fly one or two in that space between old and new coffin.
and then give the footage to someone who knows how to put the footage together and make an vr world out of it.
@@Amelie12 I mean maybe? Good luck safely remote controlling a drone through all the concrete and lead etc though
@@Benzona We run drones through containments all the time these days, and even fly through pipe systems and dive into the reactor vessels for inspections. Then we bag the drones and save them for the next round of refueling inspections. The videos are uploaded to the company share drive for inspection by engineers. Nuclear power management and regulation has come a long way since the '70s and '80s it's approaching what you would see in a near future science fiction movie.
I was thinking the same thing! And there are 360° cameras that are super compact
You are one of the coolest youtubers out there. I cant tell you enough how much I look forward to these videos! Made my weekend! Thanks for what you do ! Keep up the hard work! 🤘
Thank you for supporting us youtubers!!
There's something chilling about you casually mentioning the Elephant's Foot, sitting just meters away.
I expected views from inside the actual Tomb, the old one. There is footage on YT of guys walking around the bend fuel rods. It's crazy.
Link?
@@gaganb "Inside Chernobyl Reactor - Expedition to sub-reactor/reactor rooms after explosion [1988]". Then there's Alexandr Kupnyi's channel, he posted a vid to provide schematics and additional explanations about that expedition.
Why crazy … it was an expedition … and having an eye on exposition you can manage it safely.
Seeing the white specks when you entered the NSC gave me chills. While it's safe now, that was a sudden reminder of just how radioactive this place was soon after the disaster, and it really made me think.
Amazing video.
funny because i saw those white pixels pop up and my mind immediately went to radiation. glad you also actually explained it as it's a cool bit of knowledge
Those radiation artefacts are pretty well known from impressive videos shot in 1986 during the first 3 days following the disaster. We know those artefacts from the videos taken from a helicopter taken from above the destroyed reactor back in 1986 … it even caused the cameras to malfunction … and the videos from Pripyat showing the decontamination of the streets before evacuation.
The best thing about what Kyle has done with this channel is brought back that fun something teachers and students can have to talk about. The wide array of subjects he covers let’s me talk to a lot of my teachers at school about them. And it’s amazing having found them relatively early in the channels life. He’s up there with Bill Nye and Mythbusters.
The comparison to the statue of liberty, does so little to truly give the size of the building depth for me. But seeing the inside towering over a building, that itself is built around another building. It's just amazing
Well, it must be as the reactor building was massive … to cover all this …insane …
7:36
Seeing it effect the camera is what makes it chilling
Nothing compared to the video effects the day following the duster … especially the helicopter flying right above the reactor.
This video really opened my eyes in a way I was not expecting. The amount of work that the men and women put into keep their country and the world safe is beyond me. This was beautiful and you did a great job on this Kyle. You’ve earned a new subscriber.
I didn't know about the air pressure, feel a little safer. Not much, just a little. If Russia doesn't screw up the NSC...
This makes no sense … it is ‘beyond you’ … what? It is a ticking time bomb. If it is not done many can die … it poses a massive risk to water supply for an insanely large area … there is a lot of agriculture as well … it’s about their survival … it’s not about the world for them … the world or countries that would be affected are heavily involved and invested millions … the old sarcophagus is at risk of collapsing … that again would send a radioactive dust cloud towards Europe … the impact would be enormous again … back in 1986 we in the heart of Europe had to stay indoors, our camping trip got cancelled, tons of veggies got destroyed … home grown veggies and fruit was not to be used, collecting mushrooms was forbidden, farmers were in deep deep trouble as even when cleared people still avoided Fred local food and veggies, sand of playgrounds was replaced … countries do not want to face that again … hence they were also driving forces …
I'm so glad you were able to go there and film this whole docuseries. you're one of the best youtubers to listen to about radiation- you're aware of its dangers, but stress the safe points more than anyone else.
Learning about the invision shortly after visiting, though... i can't imagine how you feel, having met all these scientists and diligent workers, now knowing their new danger. when the safest opportunity comes, I hope we can show our support- maybe via a fundraiser.
I watched with fascination how the new containment was built, truly a marvel of modern engineering. I suppose in less than 100 years all of the deadly debris can be picked up, contained and burried safely somewhere else. I hope the builders made for proper maintenance of the cranes, repair and preventative. Great documentary, Kyle.
There is no need to pick up the debris and burry it somewhere else; instead, I'd say the #4 building itself should be the temporary cemetry of the radioactive waste. So everything as it is now should stay in its place. The reason is that there are no permanent or long-term solutions to burry the waste in Ukraine. It is technologically very difficult and expensive. All those radioactive waste and spent fuel storage facilities are temporary - ranging from 50 to 200 years. But afterwards it's awaiting another, permanent solution. You can take any nuclear power plant in the world as an example. So, what's the point of pickung up the debris from where it is now and transporting it elsewhere to temporary storage? That would only unnecessary expose people, robots, vehicles, equipment and nature itself to radiation, as well as even more increase radioactive waste and area it's spread on, increasing risks of other possible incidents/accidents related to dismantling, transporting and storing contaminated material. The #4 and its surroundings are and will stay contaminated forever.
It will take 20,000 years for the area to actually be safe to visit.
Need little Kingspan/Kalzip project
@@hid3naxWhat nonsense … you do not seem to understand why it was build … the sarcophagus was at the brink of collapse … it still is … they either have to make it safe or have to start the task of removing it … leaving as is is no option at all … if it collapses inside the new one that would also be a disaster, but at least immediate consequences for Ukraine and the world are reduced.
@@hid3nax Your points are valid however, corrosion and age/time will weaken the structure, so in 100 years there may be a need to remove it or parts of it? I used to work in a hospital which had a cyclotron. When it was decommissioned even the demolished concrete was taken away and buried. The solution will probably be a combination of both.
One story I heard a few times, and is exemplified here, is that :
"You don't need great people to do great things. Give good people enough time and other resources, and great things will come".
Both in this video and its subject matter this is proven true. It's been a while since the last episode of this series, and I don't care cause what came out is a short (maybe too short ) and sweet story of human achievemnt in both constuction and science.
Also the secondary subject matter of Chernobyl it-self is an example of the opposite. People with not enough expertiese forced to crunch and achieve some preset goal before a deadline.
It didn't end well ...
I guess my point is - crunch is evil (and a failuer of managment), deadlines should be flexible, and science and saftey guidelinse should be folowed.
Yeah and anno 2022 200 soldiers ordered to dug in the red forest died from radiation sickness … and 20k acquired radiation poisoning.
The sarcophagus on the inside is so beautifully haunting. It's both terrible and fascinating to see up close like this.
HLH are always my most anticipated videos of yours, and it's amazing you've been able to film it in such detail. I only wish it were longer.
I am always so amazed by the quality of these expedition Chernobyl videos and I just can't express how much I love them.
I don't know why exactly, but when you said "dust suppression system" that really hit me. I suddenly realized just how much WORK they have to put in. They can't even let DUST get into the air it's so radioactive.
Can’t even dust? That’s quite obvious that dust is a major risk! Dust poses one of the highest risks … that’s what brought the contamination to Pripyat … back in 1986 1800 km away we were not allowed to camp … had to keep windows closed … we’re not allowed to use any home grown veggies or collect mushrooms … tons of vegetables were destroyed … because of dust being carried around the world. The whole accident was discovered by radioactive dust having been carried over to Sweden who raised it … after double checking own facilities and western neighbours ones they asked the Soviet Union if there is anything they have to tell us.
This was fascinating!! I'm a retired nuke worker & this never ceases to amaze me! I'd seen the video on the building of the dome! I can't be sure but, I believe that set a record as the largest structure ever moved! This technology is just incredible! Great video!👍
I think you're right, I remember reading about it. It also just makes sense, I can't think of any other moving structures that big
I would like to personally thank you.
Not just for the concept of the half life series, which I find extremely informative and entertaining, and for your courage in documenting these things in Tschernobyl first hand, but also for something that I have not seen mentioned enough:
And that is the poetic choice of words you find to narrate and espescially to end your videos...
It is very appreciated.
If you are ever in Germany and want an excellent meal and good company, your are welcome at my home in Heidelberg.
Tobi
I love all your vids but really love the ones about radiation related stuff seating the old confinement inside of the new one was epic ❤️ thanks again for all the vids
This is crazy man. Respect for your dedication to learning about this.
I visited Barsebäck nuclear power station in 2014, almost 10 years after it was politically decommissioned and they were still running the negative air pressure inside the entire facility, with all vented air going through a gigantic air filter. The guide remarked that this filter would have captured all the accidental radiation leak from Three Mile Island. The building was always designed for negative air pressure, the filter was added at a later date.
The biggest misconception I ever had when first hearing about Chernobyl was that the entire site was abandoned, plant and all, with the only human presence being military enforcers to keep people out of the most contaminated areas. Especially seeing this, it’s not really apocalyptic at all, it’s teeming with hard working people doing everything to contain and clean the site. I’m guessing even the truly abandoned Pripyat city probably has so many tourists and documentary producers flowing in and out, it wouldn’t be as eerily quiet as it’s often made out to be.
Kyle this is just absolutely amazing I was in awe while watching this. And your commentary was so soothing.
The nuclear energy worker in me kept screaming at you to stop touching your face...
I've worked in contaminated areas so much I can sweat profusely and still never have the urge to scratch my nose. Drives my wife nuts.
Good point. At least I wasn't handling ANYTHING. Didn't touch any surface at any time.
@@kylehill good to hear, at my plant there's a possibility you might have had to poop in a bucket... (100% serious.) Internal Alpha uptake is no joke.
This. Most of our contamination control areas are very clean, but all it takes is one contaminated touch to ruin your day/career. Also this seems like a good spot for this, 20 microsieverts/h is a lot lower than I expected and I chuckled at the alarm, but I understand that they have to protect the public.
@@gill998 Out of curiosity - what amount did you expect/what would be a more concerning amount? Thanks!
@@Lilee177 any amount is not ideal, but a couple hundred times that is "normal" to be in for some workers. What matters way more is exposure time and the accumulated dose. 200x that for 2.5 hrs puts you at the maximum yearly dose here. At his dose, you could spend 10 hours every week for a year.
"Can I sit on the elephants foot for a brief moment? My ankles are aching."
😂
Watching your videos has completely chnaged my mind on nuclear power and having a respectful opinion on it vs having nothing but fear of it. Hoping nuclear fusion can really take off as a main power source.
There was an amazing blend of dialogue and detailed video. There were even a few scenes that made my toes tingle from biological wtf factor. Really do appreciate the massive amount of time and effort you and your team put in. This is second to none. All the various diagrams and little things down thru out really did open up thoughts and possible good and bad and what dangers really are along every inch. Of course as always, your personality and attention to detail took it over the top in so the best ways
always shocks me how clean it is inside this dome, just couldn't picture that level of clean up.
Why shouldn’t it be clean? What should be there? Around the old sarcophagus there was the building site of the old one … that was cleared after completion.
Strong memories of the Atomic RUclips girl Bionerd. She was in the zone well before the masses turned up
She had some informative videos but I think she met a guy and probably got married
@@kevinthomas895 She was amazing, I loved the video where she was finding small fragments of the highly radioactive core a long way from the reactor. She had a cool curious way about looking at radiation. For her it was like playing with toys.
@@leokimvideo
I didn't know whether to be scared out of my wits, or utterly impressed, when she found that actual fragment of nuclear fuel, just by using a pair of portable geiger counter ...
... with her bare hands ...
Granted, it was barely bigger than a pencil tip, but still ...
I have had had handled an alpha source, with rubber gloves (because the darn thing was physically difficult to get into the fixture holding it ... and sweaty palms didn't help ...), but that was on a whole other level ...
@leokimvideo
Do you know the RUclips channel name?
@@kevinthomas895 she now works for Zelensky as minister of atomic affairs
Another great video. Informational yet interesting, and you manage to keep everyone entertained and focused. Amazing work Kyle. (As per usual)
Thank you, thank you, thank you for making this absolutely wonderful series. It is fascinating, it is informative and above all it is superbly educational.
Been looking forward to another in the series.
So far I rate the series 3.6.
Edit: of course it’s far better than 3.6. Just couldn’t resist the reference.
Not great, not terrible.
3.6 out of what? 5? 10?… 10,000?
@@Painted_Owl 15,000
@@ChairmanMeow1 I understood that reference.
@@Painted_Owl Out of 3.7. The scale begins at 1.4. You haven't heard of @Sparky scale? It's pretty standard.
I love watching these episodes, I remember when this disaster happened, I was a youngster in Arizona and when it was announced on TV. I love the facts that you are sharing and what they've done since then. Keep up the great high quality videos and awesome knowledge!
There is a video out there showing some people exploring probably the deepest remnants of the reactor, there the screen is literally flooded by those white pixels you have mentioned on 7:39
There are plenty of those videos … like those taken above the reactor right after the accident from a helicopter … or the ones from Pripyat before evacuation. Compared to those the 2009 elephant foot videos hardly had any.
Wow! It looks so alive with all of those workers.
I love this series of videos. Thanks Kyle!
Most of what was shown in other videos in the series I knew, this I did not expect. The dome always felt like an ominous dead zone looming over the area and I imagined the crew always outside of it working remotely. I never would have expected people to actually go into it. Amazing job
Why not? It is all about radioactivity doses that workers are exposed to … they will now have to deal with the old one as it is still at the brink of collapse. Remotely this is impossible.
Nuclear energy is like a double-edged blade.. except, one of those sides is serrated and does irreversible damage.
Serrated? You do not need that … a blade can cause irreversible damage. Why is it a double edged blade? Chernobyl was incredibly unsafe and cannot be compared to any western nuclear power station and their safety measures. They were build earthquake, plane crash and rocket safe. The test videos of the reactor domes are so impressive. Of course there is a risk … hence important to continuously improve safety features.
@@GanymedeXD lol bro... you arguing the terms i used?? Thats not the point..
Honestly, seeing whats underneath the dome is incredible. Props to you for not just going, but being in a position to show others what it's like as well. Great video Kyle :D
I'm absolutely so fascinated with Chernobyl and every video you've done about it has been amazing. I could literally watch this content for hours on end. The disaster, aftermath and now clean up are some of the most fascinating things I've ever learned about. Please keep making this content if you can! And thank you so much for sharing all of this and thanks to everyone who has made this possible.
2 things on my bucket list are visiting the Great Pyramids of Giza and visiting Chernobyl but I probably won’t get the chance for either of those things
What an incredible documentary. Thank you for sharing this with us. I really hope you are able to do a follow up at some point to see if/how this facility and its operation have been affected by the invasion and what plans there are for the future.
I want to go back!
It’s shocking that soldiers were ordered to dug in in and around the red forest … 200 dying from radiation sickness and 20k acquiring radiation poisoning as the main invasion route led through the red forest … the plant itself was devastated by the 1000 soldiers stationed there … stealing computers and equipment … they even looted highly radioactive material … handled it with bare hands, spreading it to an extend leading to spikes in radiation.