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Pripyat -

The city was founded on February 4, 1970, so that the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant workers could move there.

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Disaster - The Chernobyl nuclear disaster, near Pripyat, is still the only level seven accident on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

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Radiation -

The city was hit with 100 times more radiation than the amount contained in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs.

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Evacuation - The city was only evacuated 24 hours after the accident, resulting in deaths and serious side effects for people.

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Cleaning up - Almost 2,000 people got together for the first phase of cleaning (around 70%) of Pripyat, from May to June 1986.

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Location - Pripyat is located in northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus, and it was the closest city to the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant.

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Residents - Pripyat still has a few inhabitants, including elderly people, a small number of scientists, and members of the army. They alone have access to the city, in theory.

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Entrance - Non-authorized entrance to the area is punishable with imprisonment. Tourists and photographers visiting Pripyat need to get special licenses to enter the region.

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Old times - The city is a reflection of the old Soviet Union, as many of the buildings from back then still remain intact.

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What's still there? - The city still has schools, hospitals, clothing stores, toy stores, apartment complexes, and many references to the Soviet regime.

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Abandonment - At the time of the disaster, many people refused to abandon their homes and families, preferring to risk getting seriously ill. There were consequences. Besides death, the effects of radiation can be passed on from generation to generation in the form of birth defects or other abnormalities and diseases.

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Deaths - It is estimated that 20% of the deaths in Pripyat and around Chernobyl were suicides.

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Livable - According to scientists, the city will only be livable again in 900 years time, when the radiation levels drop to normal.

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New residents - The Przewalski's horse species showed up in the area in 1992, 12 years after the disaster. Unfortunately, their numbers are falling as illegal hunting increases.

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Animal life - Although Pripyat is a ghost town, nature seems to be thriving there.

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Changes - However, there have been several cases of gigantism, which means that species suffered mutations and ended up growing bigger than usual due to the radiation.

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Wolves - There have been reported cases of wild wolves attacking humans for no apparent reason, which is an unusual behavior. Some scientists believe it is also one of the effects of radiation exposure.

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Forest - The forest near Pripyat and the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant started developing reddish tones after the disaster, that's why it was nicknamed the "Red Forest."

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Trees - In the Red Forest, some trees fell decades ago but haven't yet decomposed. This is caused by the lack of insects, since many were killed by the radiation.

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Shadows - Some of the people who were brave enough to venture into the city reported seeing black figures and shadows in videos recorded there.

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Bizarre - The TV show 'Destination Truth' filmed there, and the crew were shocked to find one of their heat cameras detected a human body inside one of the abandoned buildings.

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Tourism - It is possible to visit a small area of the city on a guided tour. Around 10,000 tourists head there every year. And even though it is extremely inadvisable for people to touch the objects there, some have stolen jewelry and other valuables to sell on the black market.

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Documentary - A 30-minute documentary called 'Pripyat Another Life' shows the effects of the passage of time there, but also shows a hopeful side to the disaster, showcasing how nature has brought a new life to the ghost city.

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New life -

People may not be going back to Pripyat any time soon, but new species of plants and animals have already found their way there.

See also: Chernobyl: see what remains

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