Radioactive hotspot in Pripyat Hospital No. 126

The boot we looked at in the last video was hot (~90 mR / hr), but this video shows us finding an even hotter spot among some decomposing firefighters' clothing on the floor. This time, the Geiger counter (a CDV-700 probe with the beta shield closed, operated by a Ludlum 12 ratemeter) starts out showing about 30 mR / hr or 20,000 CPM, but we notice a hot spot nearby where the reading surges to about 180,000 CPM (~300 mR / hr). Ungodly! Although the video is not particularly good, this is the hottest location we found in Pripyat and I really wish we'd spent more time there.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Radioactive
• radiation
• pripyat
• chernobyl
• geiger counter
• hospital

[2142jjj]

i have heard there are ghosts in the schools and other various places in chernobyl, some guys on tv got some pretty wierd stuff you guys ever see anything?

[Thallium208]

@2142jjj Ghosts don't literally haunt Pripyat, but the past is thrust upon you. It's a tangible world of beguiling habitability that many of us would recall from childhood: film photos, cursive handwriting, no cell phones or computers, the zeitgeist of the '80s projected through the lingering ephemera of that time. A. D. Hope's famous poem warns us to "beware of ruins, they have a treacherous charm." He was referring to nostalgia, and in Pripyat it'll grab you by the throat.

[Thallium208]

@antiprotons I don't share your overbearing concern about the GM probe or the "increadibly" horrible vacations I choose to take. Since we're giving each other advice, here's mine: Don't go anywhere or do anything--no trips to Disney World, the zoo, miniature golf, anything at all. You'll live longer and have good stories to tell the grandkids about sitting on your ass watching YouTube.

[bionerd23]

lol, this made me chuckle, once again.

you just love touching the contaminated things, and the rest of your group gives you the "oh gosh he's insane!" laugh for it.

i'm totally with ya, though, i get a craving to roll around with pleasure in those contaminated things like a dog rolls in a carcass to hide his scent from prey. radiation camouflage, or something... :)

well ok, i'm just kidding about that. but it'd be fun to touch some stuff and stick my hands into a contamination monitor! :P

[Thallium208]

@bionerd23 We came out of this basement very radioactive, particularly my shoes (but also my Geiger counter strap, my hands of course, and my clothes). I checked all our shoes with the scintillator when we got out, and we went through about three liters of carbonated water trying to clean ourselves up. It did a lot of good, but not enough to prevent some lasting contamination. Next day though, we went to ChNPP. Portal monitor had no problem there...!

[doglessliberal]

What sort of protection did you use when exploring these places (e.g. dust mask)? Looks dangerous!

You might want to check out the exclusion zone in Belarus, where a lot of the radiation drifted over the border from Ukraine. Many parts of the country are contaminated, including major metropolitan areas. Not sure if they do tours, but it sounds like something that's right up your alley.

[antiprotons]

I do not mean to flame, but...

You placed the probe onto the object. That is a good way to contaminate it. A contaminated prob gives you false readings...

additionally, going to Chy. is an increadibly horrible idea. I wish you best and I hope you really found it worth the risk.

[EditYourself2]

woot! you just pick up something extremely radioactive....

[ALARAiswise]

HOLY SMOKE !!!

The air in those buildings must be awash with Cs137 and Sr90 atoms when you disturb the dust. Did you use a full face filter?

Anyway, looks like you had a great time there with all that gamma radiation.

I would love to visit there and discretely collect some samples for my collection. That hospital is hot as hell !