Tourists can now visit Chernobyl

A 30-mile exclusion zone encircles the site of world's worst nuclear explosion. In 1986, a nuclear reactor exploded in Chernobyl, sending a radioactive cloud up into the sky. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate their homes.

Now, 24 years after the disaster, tourists can have the chance to visit Chernobyl and experience the devastation that the explosion caused. But is Chernobyl a place for tourists and are the radiation levels a health risk?

A tour operator in Kiev now offers day trips to people who want to visit Chernobyl. For £139 you can visit Chernobyl which includes a military permit that entitles you to enter the exclusion zone. The Ukrainian government is assuring tourists that a visit to Chernobyl is perfectly safe.

Controlled guided tours of Chernobyl will ensure that tourists are kept safe. The tours will take visitors to see reactor four, the source of the explosion.

Visitors will also be shown round the Chernobyl community, which takes in thousands of deserted homes. Pripyat is like a ghost town - thousands evacuated after the explosion, and never returned. A tour of Pripyat is an eerie experience. You can wander around deserted shops, schools and hospitals that are slowly starting to decay. There is a creepy, post-apocalyptic feel about the place.

Many of the people that lived in and around Chernobyl worked in the power station. In some parts, people have returned to their homes, years after they were evacuated.

While many parts of Chernobyl are deserted of people, wildlife is thriving. Plants and animals have taken over areas where humans used to live. Herds of Przewalski's horses are thriving, eagle owls are roosting and the rare lynx has made Chernobyl its home. Many species that lived in the area before the explosion have multiplied since the disaster.

A visit to Chernobyl might not be for everyone, but a tour of Chernobyl would be like nothing you've ever experienced before. Chernobyl is around 70 kilometres north of Kiev making it a convenient excursion if you are taking a holiday in the Ukrainian capital.

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