This bridge is a part of rail network at the powerplant area. This network was used to deliver construction materials to Units 5 and 6, and nuclear fuel to Units 1, 2, 3, 4.

With units 5 and 6 nearing completion, and cooling pond already being warmer than engineers wanted it to be, these towers must be built to cool the core. Work stopped after the accident and this is what remains, the incomplete tower. If you take a closer look to the right of the tower, the flat line is the top of the 2nd tower which was under construction as well.

In the distance, the Chernobyl NPP. There will be better picture, but at the time, seeing it there in a distance gave me a weird eerie feeling.

Spent fuel facility. There was some issues with a construction, and while I don’t know details, the facility is not ready to accept fuel and few things have to be rebuilt.

Units 5 and 6 under construction. Total number of reactors planned at Chernobyl was 12 making it world’s largest nuclear power station.

I was told by tourguide that it’s sometimes possible to go to these buildings, even enter them, if group was smaller and we had a smaller car. He said that army patrols can kick us out and confiscate cameras if we were caught.

According to Ukrainian laws, this shot is illegal. For unknown to me reason, authorities are really uptight about it. No pictures are allowed of this side of the powerplant. You can clearly see the turbine hall, tops of units 1 and 2, plus sarcophagus covering Unit 4 and it’s neighboring Unit 3. Checking the web, I never found a photo of NPP from this angle.

This bridge is a a part of the same railroad network. This time it’s crossing the cooling pond. On the side I am on are units 1, 2, 3, 4. Other side of the bridge has incomplete units 5 and 6. The heating plant is to the left.

Good thing someone in the tour brought some chips with them. Catfish here are really massive. Not because of radiation (even though you certainly wouldn’t want to eat your catch), but because nobody’s fishing here. Catfish can reach 180lbs, and while I was skeptical in the beginning, but I lost all my doubts when I saw one. This photo is the best I have, water was really muddy, but a fight over the chip sounded like someone fell off the bridge.

Approaching Unit 4 on foot, this is the last reading that I took a photo. About 33 times the norm.

This is what you’ve been waiting for. A monument, about 100 meters from the sarcophagus. There is also new support structure, and new railway tracks built nearby. Looks like there’s heavy security at the gate, cameras, heavy duty gates. We stuck around only for few shots. There was a fairly audible hum coming from powerplant.