I remember watching a Nova documentary several years ago titled “Suicide Mission to Chernobyl” in which a Nova film crew revisits Chernobyl and the result is the most bizarre and chilling of all
nuclear documentaries. Since robots could not work inside the damaged plant, ordinary Russian soldiers, nicknamed “Bio-Robots”, were sent inside. Current estimates put the death toll at 300,000 people.
Here is a short journal of a Russian girl named Elena who got permission to ride her bike through the Chernobyl “dead zone”, snapping photographs, taking notes, and being careful to use her Dosimeter to ensure that she doesn’t start to glow at certain points along her journey.
Her photos and commentary are quite sobering.
