Originally Posted by quantum-x

Like I say, her story was incredibly captivating - I was just disappointed to have the images I'd conjured in my head evaporated when the truth came out.

Radiation is a funny thing - it's not consistent at all. It has a tendency to linger in organic compounds, but will also render large steel items (cars, trucks, helicopters etc) incredibly dangerous as well.

Wandering around with a Geiger counter makes for interesting times. There are areas of Pripyat where the radiation levels are hardly above background, and quite a few where it's in safe tolerances.

Walk down the road, for example, to the red forest, radiation jumps from 2x background to 1 roetgen per hour, or 1000mrem. Acute radiation poisoning sets in w. a dose of 'just' 500.

The most eerie thing is the fact it's undetectable without tools.
Most dangers that present themselves to humans are tangible: heat, fire, gas, poison, etc. There's a physical stimulus that prompts you that something is wrong.

With radiation, there's nothing. Literally walking 2 steps forward in some places can place you in an area that's harmful. All the while, the breeze is blowing, the sky is blue, and there are animals running around.

That was probably the most 'impressive' thing about heading to Chernobyl. That, and the fact that Reactor 4 just looks like a normal building.

I've got a bunch more photos if anyone is interested...