Museum of Chernobyl (Kiev, lane of Horeva, 1): modern exposition, reviews

Chernobyl became known after a terrible catastrophe occurred at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The older generation remembers well The day on which the alarming message of the President of the USSR Mikhail S. Gorbachev sounded on television that on April 26, just 110 kilometers from Kiev, the most serious technogenic catastrophe in nuclear power took place, which subsequently took the lives of thousands of people and became the source of radioactive contamination of a huge territory in 200 thousand square meters. Km. The consequences of the tragedy are still felt not only by Ukraine, but also by the territories of Russia and Byelorussia adjoining it.

The Museum of Chernobyl in Kiev

So that mankind would not forget about the dangers of nuclear power, in 1992 the Chernobyl Museum was opened. Kiev has allocated for it the buildings of a fire station with an area of 1100 square meters. Currently, the exposition of the museum includes more than 7,000 copies, telling about the events of the night when the accident occurred, and the consequences of the disaster. A strong impression on the visitors is made by the road leading to the halls of the Museum. On it to the ceiling are attached tablets with the names of villages and towns that were abandoned after the tragedy. In connection with the accident, 76 villages and settlements disappeared from the territory of Ukraine.

On the road there is an apple tree, which was torn from the root. This is the biblical symbol of life, the knowledge of evil and good. On the road are scattered red apples, symbolizing well-being and joy. They seem to say that the lives of many thousands of people have changed in an instant. People left their native places, and fields and gardens were overgrown with weeds, thousands of hectares of land were ruined. The road to the halls of the museum symbolizes the road to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Expositions of the museum

The Museum of Chernobyl (Kiev) created expositions that make it possible to realize the consequences of the destructive effect of an atom that has escaped from control. The road leads visitors to the Temple in the center of the hall. Here stands the iconostasis, some elements of which were brought from the Ascension Church, which fell into the exclusion zone. Not far from the iconostasis there is a boat symbolizing Noah's Ark, candles are constantly burning here, as a symbol of the maternal and child's happiness that was destroyed by radiation. There are always a lot of toys in the ark that children leave when they visit the museum. The entrance to the iconostasis is entangled with barbed wire with an orange shamrock - a symbol of increased radiation.

In the center of the hall, a functioning diarama was recreated, which shows how Chernobyl was before the accident, the moment when the Chernobyl disaster occurred, As well as the way the station looks now. In front of visitors there is a moment of explosion and destruction of the station, after which a sarcophagus appears over it.

The ceiling of the hall is made in the form of a map of the world. The lights of all nuclear power stations on all continents flash on it. The floor of the hall has the appearance of a plate for biological protection, which should be on the main reactor.

Photo and video materials about the tragedy in Chernobyl

The National Museum of Chernobyl presented not only the exposures of the nuclear power plant. Here you can see classified videos about how several explosions occurred, during which two workers of the station died, how the fire began, how people left the city, and how the fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was extinguished. Among these materials you can see photographs of the cemetery of military equipment that took part in the liquidation of the accident.

In the museum exhibits there are documents, photographs and maps with the stamp "Secret". In addition, there are exhibits of the liquidators of the accident, valuable icons and handicrafts taken from the exclusion zone, samples of protective suits in which the military and firefighters were engaged in extinguishing fire in the station. Given the concept and nature of the presentation of the material, the Chernobyl Museum (Kiev) has no analogues in the world.

Evacuation of people

Among the photographs and video materials you can find documentary footage of the evacuation of people who did not know the scale of the incident and expected to return to the city in 3 days. None of them could not imagine that they would no longer see their native city, and in a new place they would have to start life from the beginning.

Evacuation of people was started on April 27, when no one else in the world knew about the tragedy. 1225 buses arrived in the city of Pripyat, where workers of the Chernobyl NPP lived. Two diesel trains were delivered to the railway station. More than 50 thousand people left the city in three hours. Buses brought people to different parts of Kiev. One of such places was Kontraktova Square, near which a museum was opened. Until the end of 1986, near Chernobyl, a 30-kilometer exclusion zone was created. From there all the population and more than 60 thousand heads of farm animals were taken out.

Fire extinguishing at the station

After the accident, none of the scientists could predict the course of events. Experts feared another explosion of other objects, so it was decided to pellet the flaming reactor with borax and other materials that extinguished the nuclear reaction. To this end, the aviation division, which was engaged in the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan, was involved in its entirety.

In order to drop the cargo accurately into the reactor, it was necessary to fly at a small height above the reactor, the combustion temperature of which exceeded 1000 ° C. Because of this, several helicopters fell to the ground, and by a lucky chance none of the pilots died. Only one helicopter fell into a burning reactor with the crew, but this fact has been kept secret for many years.

How to clean the roof

The most tragic pages for eliminating the accident are associated with cleaning the roof of pieces of graphite, which flew out of the reactor. According to experts, it was about 300 tons. The workers of the nuclear power plant and the fire department of the city were the first to join the work. Later, they were replaced by conscript soldiers. On the roof were installed video cameras, according to which the soldiers were shown what pieces to clean first.

All of them were warned of danger, so only volunteers were sent to the roof. To protect soldiers from radiation, they made armor from lead, covering the torso, the back of the head, and other vital organs. The dose of irradiation was so high that they were on the roof for no more than a minute, after which they were taken out to a clean zone. Officers testified that the children were given 1,000 rubles each and were immediately fired.

Construction of a sarcophagus over the ChNPP

To reduce the radiation background, it was decided to build a sarcophagus over the exploded reactor. All works were carried out by specialists with experience of working with radiation sources from specially equipped shelters.

For this, devices with remote control were used. Protective metal structures were assembled in clean places and delivered in place by heavy-duty cranes. People who went to the most dangerous places, provided a special protection, so none of them received a dose of radiation exceeding the permissible value.

The construction of the sarcophagus was conducted according to a project developed by Leningrad scientists. To ensure the front of the work, 4 plants of reinforced concrete structures were built near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The territory of the station could be visited by vehicles with a special permit, so the cars brought the cargo to a certain place, after which it was transferred to the transport operating in the accident zone. All these events are told in the museum's expositions.

Book of Memory in the Museum of Chernobyl

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is the tears and pain of Ukraine. A book of memory is dedicated to people who accepted the challenge of an uncontrolled atom. It has about 5 thousand names.

The memory book is an electronic search engine, to which every visitor has access. It contains the names and photographs of all the liquidators of the accident, there is information about what dose each of them received, and what work was carried out in the disaster zone. Photos of people who are no longer among the living are marked with a yellow-black circle. Some of the images are under the wing of a white angel. This is a photo of children who were born after the accident and are currently struggling with diseases caused by the effects of radiation.

The international importance of the museum

The Museum of Chernobyl (Kiev) leaves no one indifferent. He is well known outside of Ukraine. Several times the museum staff arranged exhibitions abroad. After that, numerous reviews and new exhibits began to arrive here.

Many foreign mass media respond to the philosophical orientation of the expositions. The museum was visited by more than 80 foreign delegations, as well as heads of states and governments from many countries of the world. The UN Mission was here, led by the Secretary General of this organization, the OSCE president, and also the President of the European Commission. All of them noted that the museum's expositions play an important role in the spiritual development of man.

Thanks to the work carried out by the museum, the US Congress initiated a program to improve the children of Chernobyl. As part of the program in Ukraine, five Ukrainian-American health centers were built in the areas that were most affected by the accident. For the purpose of revealing thyroid diseases, more than 116,000 children were examined. Also, the Ukraine-Cuban program "Children of Chernobyl" is operating, according to which about 18,000 children with cancer, orthopedic and other diseases underwent rehabilitation in Cuba.

How to get to the Museum

Today everyone can visit the Chernobyl Museum in Kiev. Address of him: per. Horyva, etc. 1. It is open from 10.00 am to 6.00 pm every day, except on Sundays. It's not difficult to get to it. Next to it stop trams number 13, 14 and 19, as well as bus number 62. It is most convenient to get there by metro. It is necessary to go to the stop "Kontraktovaya Ploshchad".

Visiting the museum gives an idea of what catastrophes can happen to humanity due to possible mistakes in nuclear energy, so not only students and schoolchildren, but also serious delegations come to the Chernobyl Museum (Kiev). The ticket price is considered symbolic. For schoolchildren and students, it is 5 UAH, for adults - 10 UAH. For the service of foreign delegations with an interpreter you need to pay 100 UAH. For the liquidators of the accident the entrance to the museum is free.