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History–Tours
198626 April 1986 · Chornobyl Exclusion Zone

Chernobyl nuclear disaster

The huge arched New Safe Confinement covering Chernobyl's destroyed reactor 4
Photo: Tim Porter. CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

During a safety test, reactor No. 4 at the Chernobyl power plant exploded and burned for days, spreading radioactive fallout across Ukraine, Belarus and much of Europe. Soviet authorities evacuated the town of Pripyat only after 36 hours. The disaster contaminated wide areas, damaged trust in the Soviet system and reshaped nuclear safety worldwide. A 30-kilometre exclusion zone remains.

Travel advisory. The Exclusion Zone has been closed to visitors since Russian forces occupied it in 2022, and a drone hit the reactor shelter in February 2025; Ukraine is under advisories against all travel. We list this event for reference, and don't list guides here until travel is possible again.

Sites

  1. Site 1: Reactor 4 and the New Safe ConfinementThe arched steel shelter over the ruined reactor.Map ↗
  2. Site 2: PripyatAbandoned Soviet town with its funfair and apartment blocks.Map ↗
  3. Site 3: National Chornobyl Museum, KyivMuseum of the disaster and the clean-up workers.Map ↗

More from the Cold War

Read more: reference. Summary written by History-Tours.com.