A room in Ukraine is often dubbed the ‘most dangerous place in the world’. Do you know why? If you are already linking it with the 1986 disaster, its location will come as no surprise to you.
The Chornobyl nuclear disaster occurred in the north of the Ukrainian SSR in the Soviet Union. One of the most affected regions by the fallout was Pripyat.
The room in Ukraine is also called ‘Elephant’s Foot of Chornobyl’
The room referred to is called ‘Elephant’s Foot of Chernobyl’. It lies inside of a basement in Pripyat, which now falls in Ukraine. The closed area has come to be known as the home of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster that took place on 26 April 1986. (Clonazepam)
Pripyat was named after the river with the same name. It is now an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. The room is dubbed the ‘most dangerous place in the world’ because of the radioactive mass that gathered in its basement during the disaster.
In the years that followed, the place in Ukraine came to be known as ‘Elephant’s Foot of Chernobyl’ because the radioactive mass gave off the façade of a wrinkled foot of an elephant. It was toxic enough to kill anyone then. It is toxic enough to kill anyone now.
The fallout stood two meters in length and was toxic enough to kill anyone who stood near it
The Elephant’s Foot is located in Room 217/2, 15 m to the southeast of the ruined reactor and 6 m above ground level. The radioactive sludge inside the basement of Unit 4 comprised of melted nuclear fuel, concrete and sand. The fallout stood two meters in length and was toxic enough to kill anyone who stood near it.
For almost ten years, no one could take any pictures of the molten mass because it was too potent. It was only after the radiation levels came down that the experts were able to take some photos. One of the photos of the molten mass was taken in 1996 by Artur Korneyev. He proved that taking a quick snap of the radioactive waste from a distance didn’t cause any acute health problems.
The radiation level of the sludge measured a whopping 10,000 roentgen per hour in 1986. Almost thirty years later, it is still dangerously radioactive. Moreover, is expected to remain the same for thousands of years.