Power Plant Сooling Towers
Чернобыльская АЭС градирни
The Chernobyl cooling towers are two massive concrete giants that stand unfinished near the site of the fifth and sixth reactors. These industrial ruins are a haunting sight that shows how much the 1986 disaster changed the future of nuclear power. You might be surprised by how large these structures feel when you stand inside their hollow centers.
Workers began building these towers to support two new power units at the Chernobyl plant. Unlike the first four reactors, these new ones needed a different way to stay cool. The older units used water from the Pripyat River in a simple open cycle. However, the new design required these huge towers to evaporate cooling water more efficiently. If they had finished the project, the landscape of the zone would look very different today.
Huge Concrete Shells
Even though they are not finished, the size of the towers is incredible. The largest one is about 120 meters wide at its base. It reaches 150 meters into the sky, making it one of the tallest objects in the area. When the accident happened in April 1986, all work on the site stopped instantly. Cranes and tools were left behind as the workers fled the radiation. Because the towers are so large, they have become a famous landmark for people exploring the Exclusion Zone.
A High Radiation Zone
Years after the explosion, the government decided to shut down the entire power plant for good. This meant the cooling towers would never fulfill their original purpose. Today, these concrete shells are still quite radioactive. In some spots, the radiation levels are ten times higher than what you would find in a normal city. Moss and grass grow inside the towers now, but the high levels of radiation serve as a quiet warning to visitors.
The Art Inside the Ruins
In recent years, the towers have gained a second life as a canvas for artists. One famous mural inside shows a doctor who helped victims after the disaster. The unfinished towers remain as empty monuments to a future that never arrived for the Chernobyl plant.
