That is Chernobyl nuclear reactor number four. It melted down on April 26, 1986. So what happened was so much heat was generated
inside that reactor that it basically blew the top off spreading radioactive isotopes
throughout this whole surrounding area and over into Europe. And that is why we can still detect the contamination
here today. And they covered it in that sarcophagus which
is kind of crumbling as it ages. And so they are actually building a brand
new containment facility over here which, when it is finished, will be slid over on
top of the old containment, on top of the old sarcophagus. The town of Pripyat was built just a few kilometers
away from the reactor, mostly to house the families of the people who worked there. And now it is completely abandoned. So now you can find all of these high rise
Soviet apartments completely empty and crumbling and the forest is basically reclaiming this
whole town. When the residents of Pripyat were told to
evacuate they were told that they would only be away for two weeks. So they left most of their belongings exactly
where they were and they never came back. So their lives are on display here. I am inside an old kindergarten and it is
incredibly peaceful. You know, you look around and it looks like
a disaster has hit here. But, mainly, what this shows is 30 years of
weathering and no maintenance. So things just fall apart. The most insidious thing about radiation is
how invisible it is. You can’t feel it. You can’t smell it or see it. This could be pristine wilderness, but it
is not. It is a contaminated, deserted waste land. This is what a real post-apocalyptic world
looks like: abandoned buildings, over grown streets, everything crumbling, rusting, breaking. Near the reactor there is an area called the
red forest, because after the accident, so much radioactive material was dumped in that
area that all the trees died. And their leaves turned red, just like they
do in autumn. I am standing on the stage of the old Pripyat
theater. There is something about this place that just
... I can picture the scene. I can picture it here: a packed house, all
the great Russian productions that were staged here. And you look around at all the old lights
and the layers upon layers of walkways they would have used. This is a pretty amazing location. This is my favorite place so far, nothing
radioactive. It is just an amazing look at the past of
this place. Everything is so recognizable and so familiar
and yet it is being destroyed. It is crumbling and nature is reclaiming this
whole area. This is what the world would look like if
man disappeared one day all of a sudden. This is what it would look like 30 years later. I filmed this video while shooting a documentary
for TV all about how uranium has shaped the modern world. For details about when and where that will
be broadcast, check out the description. And thank you to everyone for writing in to
request that this be broadcast in your area. We are working as hard as we can to make that
happen and/or to make it available online, because I know most of you watch most of your
content online just like I do. So we will try to make that happen. You know, I really want to thank you for supporting
me, because I think without your support and the support of my long time sponsor, Audible.com,
I don't think I would have been selected as the host for this documentary. And this is the part where I tell you about
Audible, the leading provider of audio books in all areas of literature. It has got hundreds of thousands of titles
in fiction, non-fiction and periodicals. This week I wanted to recommend to you a fiction
book, which is The Martian by Andy Weir. If you thought that that was an alien landscape—what
you just saw—imagine what would really happen if there was a disaster on another world. It is an awesome book and will be made into
a movie later this year. So you probably want to read it or listen
to it before that happens. And you can download this book for free by
going to Audible.com/Veritasium or you can pick any other book of your choosing for a
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me. And I want to thank you so much for watching.
What does that even mean? Matter is never destroyed, doesn't everything outlast the Earth?
3.6 Roentgen Not Great, Not Terrible
tell me, how does an RBMK reactor explode?
...did you skip over the day in science class where they went over how conservation of mass?
hint ALMOST ANY ELEMENT, even ones that naturally decay due to half lifes...will outlast the earth as a planet....
This is stupid. There's 4 billion tons of uranium that's naturally dissolved in the oceans that will also "outlast the Earth."
So what?
This guy is pretty good, but has gone somewhat sensationalist in the last while. Take it all with a grain of salt.
Isn't it already safe enough for tourism?
...Just don't go into the reactor hole.
But how can he walk around there? Low radiation?
But it wont outlast my loneliness!