Chernobyl A radiating experience Daniel Panka 15/12/2012
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Table of contents I. History ............................................................................................2 II. The Trips ......................................................................................2 III. Dark tourism ...............................................................................5 IV. Tourists ........................................................................................6 V. Marketing .....................................................................................7 VI. Conclusion ...................................................................................8 Appendix...........................................................................................10
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Introduction In this report, I am going to describe a significant and prominent instance of niche tourism, the place where the nuclear crisis of 1986 took place, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation. This zone, which is approximately 30 kilometres in diameter, is one of the most peculiar attractions of human history. Its popularity has steadily grown over the past few years, mainly due to increased visitor safety and popular culture. I. History During the Cold War, a lot of countries turned to a freshly discovered source of energy that was considered to be safe and secure. However, in the Soviet Union (and in the countries that were its subordinates) the stress was rather on efficiency and results, not sustainability and social responsibility. The explosion happened in 1986, 26 April. At half past one into the night, a risky experiment went wrong and the unbelievable, unprecedented catastrophe took place. Block Four of the reactor disappeared in a devastating accident, and for ten days, the authorities were not able to stop the fire that broke out. The pollution travelled with the wind as far to cover 142.000 square kilometres of Ukrainian territory. The citizens around the power plant were evacuated, more than 350.000 people left their homes. Cities were emptied in a few hours and a sarcophagus was built from reinforced concrete to cover the reactor itself. Although the reaction was fast in the neighbouring areas, the soviet government handled the issue arguably, denying the real threat for a long time. The effects of the radioactive pollution cannot be realistically assessed, but an estimated 4000 people have had, are having, and will have potentially fatal health problems since the event. Interestingly, a few hundred elderly have moved back into The Zone, saying that they did not like the place they had been evacuated to, and that they just wanted to live their last couple of years in their hometown. There are three major cities in The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, also known as simply The Zone: Chernobyl, Pripyat, and Poliske. Some parts of The Zone are open to everyday visitors, but other places are not accessible to common tourists. Special licences and permissions are needed from Ukrainian authorities to breach the most protected and secluded borders. II. The Trips As I have already mentioned, three major cities can be viewed for tourists, and a few Kiev-based travel agencies offer visitations to The Zone. These tours cost several hundred
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dollars, and are usually one-day long, quick adventures. In the following, I am going to refer to the two most important agencies in this sector, Solo East Travel, and Tour2Chernobyl.com; all the information is taken from their websites.1 II.1 Safety, Rules To go into the Zone itself, one needs to obey a certain set of strict rules, all created for the sake of visitors' safety. Both of the agencies draw attention to clothing, Solo East Travel says: "use clothes & shoes, which maximally protect body, head, hands and feet"2. The style is distanced and solemn, potential tourists can feel the severity of the regulations. The other agency has an F.A.Q. (Frequently Asked Questions) section, which is more relaxed in style, however, they also raise awareness about important things, such as using a Geiger Counter or a special protective suit (which are interestingly not emphasized on the other, seemingly more serious website). Also, the same text can be found there after a few clicks, which indicates that it is an officially released code of conduct. On top of that, as it is emphasized in the Rules sections, it is also absolutely forbidden to:
eat, drink, and smoke,
touch any structure or vegetation,
sit down, place private technical equipment on the ground,
and bring out flora or fauna of The Zone.3
Moreover, you will be subjected to a radiation control when exiting the zone, and if any of your personal belongings exceed the dose limit of radiation, they will be confiscated and decontaminated. All this sounds paranoid and over-cautious, however, one should not forget about the worldwide hysteria that surrounded (and still surrounds) the disaster. Although the radiation level in The Zone is proven not to be higher than in Kiev, one can never be too careful. II. 2 The 1-day trip The trip of Tour2Chernobyl starts in Kiev, and after paperwork the bus sets off to The Zone with the tourists. The trip there takes two and a half hours, and after arrival, they take the visitor to Reactor no. 4, the Red Forest (spooky mutated forest due to radiation), and finally, Pripyat. After lunch in Chernobyl (ingredients are strictly from outside, as it is pointed 1
http://www.tourkiev.com/chernobyltour/ and http://tour2chernobyl.com/, respectively http://www.tourkiev.com/chernobyltour/rules.php 3 ibid. 2
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out), the tourists are able to meet the inhabitants of a small village, Opachychi. Then the visitors are checked for radiation, and taken back to Kiev. The website also says that Rossokha village, with the military machines graveyard (the various machines the workers used to dispose of radioactive waste) can no longer be visited due to government regulations. Solo East Travel also launches its trip in Kiev, but surprisingly, their travelling time is said to be two hours instead of two and a half. The tour basically includes the same sights, described probably in a bit more detail. Tourists can visit another village, Paryshiv with them. The procedures are quite the same. There are two issues to point out in connection with the trips. First, the catfish feeding. Both agencies mention huge catfish, swimming around in the old cooling channel. They are abnormally big, apparently because of the dose of radiation they received after the catastrophe. Second, the tours are astoundingly similar. There could be several reasons: government regulations, safety issues. But one has to ask the question: if it is so safe and the radiation is so normal, why are the trips so limited to a few routes? II.3 The 2-day trip One agency at CHERNOBYLwel.come4 offers a special 2-day tour, hinting to the fact that they show you more than the average trips to The Zone (their website says, "Do you think you have seen it all? Not yet"5). This package, however, is more expensive than the other ones: the tour costs €270 compared to the prices of €135 (tour2chernobyl.com) and $149 (tourkiev.com, interestingly, they do not indicate the price in Euros). This agency clearly aims for making the customers feel exceptional and special, as it is doing something extraordinary inside the extraordinary. Their message is tempting: 'if you choose us, no matter how many of your friends may have also visited Chernobyl, you will be even more unique than them'. II.4 Journalists It is natural that a lot of journalists visit Chernobyl, whether out of sheer curiosity or just intentions to write an article about it. The prevailing popularity of dark tourism to Chernobyl owes a lot to travelling and science magazines (National Geographic and the Hungarian Világjáró, for instance). The reports on Pripyat-trips have several advantages. First, they inform, and this comes extremely handy for agencies of this sort, because usually these are specified, small bureaus that do not have the sufficient amount of money, the stable financial background to 4 5
http://chernobylwel.com/index.php?language=en http://chernobylwel.com/index.php?language=en&content=trip
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start an international marketing campaign. Second, and perhaps even more importantly, these adventurers are the living example that The Zone is not life-threateningly dangerous anymore (at least not the areas that are open for visitors). Usually the 'pioneers' of Chernobyl trips take Geiger-Muller counters with them and measure the radiation their bodies 'inhale' during their stay, and in all their writings they always reassure the soon-to-be-visitors that there is nothing to be afraid of. Consumers are prone to believe rather these kind of everyday people than 'evil and greedy' agencies. Journalists have privileges as well: they may see more than the average tourists. For instance, the control room of Reactor No. 4 is barred from the outside world (mostly due to safety reasons, but there are always speculations that there were human mistakes in the maintenance, but that is a different story), but the writer of Világjáró had the opportunity to scrutinise the infamous chamber of catastrophe. So to sum up, it is clear from all the articles written about Pripyat and all the excursion-reports that it is a sight definitely worth visiting, and it is an experience of a lifetime. As tour2chernobyl.com says: "Freaky and strange feeling that you won't ever forget... Please, believe that it will not be just another ordinary tour day where you make some pictures, see some sights and forget about it in a week. After this trip you will feel that something has changed deep inside you. Inexplicable new thoughts will appear in your mind. You won't ever feel the same again. This trip will raise bizarre thoughts and questions that you won't be able to answer."6 What kind of tourists visit this place then? Who is this good for? And what is dark tourism, anyway? Well, these are the questions now I will make an attempt to answer. III. Dark tourism Dark tourism is a kind of niche tourism, niche meaning a special interest. Dark tourism is defined by The Dictionary of Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality as the following: "thanatourism: Also known as ‘dark tourism’, trips and visits to destinations associated with death, e.g., sites of murder and atrocities, battlefields."7 The term itself was coined by Profs John Lennon and Malcolm Foley of Glasgow Caledonian University in 19968, and since then it has been a field of examination and study. 6
http://tour2chernobyl.com/ Medlik, S., Dictionary of Travel, Tourism and Hospitality (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003), 162 8 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_tourism 7
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The phenomenon cause controversy all among scholars and experts, who are constantly struggling to understand tourist motivation. As Darryl Coote pointed it out in his article, Exploitation or healthy interest?9, the human mind is intrinsically curious and it is a totally understandable desire to have a glimpse of pain and terror. The question is, Coote asks, whether it is ethical to fabricate a touristic attraction out of a scene of misery and suffering. His answer that he suggests is striving for equality between the operators of dark tourism agencies and visitors, however, in my opinion there should be more emphasis on regulation from the official side. IV. Tourists It can also be interesting to look at the targeted audience of this dark tourism, because clearly, the approach is very different than in the case of an ordinary tourist destination. IV.1 Types who visit It is obvious from the above that the overwhelming majority of tourists are excursionists, they do not stay for longer than 24 hours. If they do, they can only stay in Chernobyl Hotel10, as in the hospitality sector it is the only option the visitors have. Although there are several other hotels in Kiev, the transportation is extremely slow and problematic (due to the numerous regulations), so the average tourists is usually left with this lone opportunity. It is laudable though, that in spite of being in monopoly, they do not take unfair advantage of it, their prices range from an affordable $105 to $160, which takes us directly back to the type of tourists who go to The Zone: the venturers (the so-called allocentric types) who have a small bit of discretionary income and a huge portion of 'craziness'. Demographically and psychographically the market is difficult to segment, but that is not a surprise in light of the fact that we have established the tourism of Chernobyl as a type of niche tourism. We have seen that all the advertisements emphasise adventure, exclusiveness, and 'unforgettable experience'. The focus group is clearly an adventurous, energetic person who is always hungry for new thrills and who is also willing to spend some time in 'danger'. The general visitor can be either male or female, single or in a relationship, but definitely over the age of 18. They are looking for something different, staggering, and shocking. They are probably experienced travellers: Chernobyl is not for the faint-hearted
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Coote, Darryl, Exploitation or healthy interest? An analysis of dark tourism (2010), found on the link at http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=776 10 http://chernobylhotel.com/
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first-timers. They value the experience higher than comfort and safety, and are probably willing to endure some inconveniences. IV.2 The impact of tourism It can be quite safely said that the tourism to Chernobyl is exclusively leisure tourism, and that it is fairly international, the nationality of visitors is extremely diverse. Consumers there do not have too much money to spend, but are willing to pay for some services. Although these tourists are not the protagonists of a tourist-receiving area's dreams (and due to their diversity and extreme curiosity may even be considered harmful elsewhere), they are perfect for an attraction like Chernobyl. A nosy, presumptuous, and over-eager person with a camera is not the ideal visitor to the Vatican, but the Ukrainian agencies of Zone-tourism need exactly these people. Consequently, bearing in mind the nature of the attraction and the personality of the customers, tourism does not have (cannot have) a huge impact on the area; not environmentally and culturally, at least. Also, following that the tourism of Pripyat is niche tourism, it also lacks the power to affect the economy of Ukraine. Roads will not be built in the middle of a nuclear catastrophe's devastated territory just for the sake of 8000 visitors a year11. The people who come here are willing to put up with inconveniences anyway, as I have already mentioned, so it would even be strange from the government to strive for improvement. Tourists pay for tragedy, horror, and fear in Chernobyl, so let them have it. The only slight difference visitors could make in The Zone is apparently social. The few hundred residents (see I. History) are described by everyone as extremely friendly, hospitable and kind, not mentioning that they are probably really glad to have some company from time to time. One problem should be mentioned, however, which is a bit strange at first: this tourism is really unstable, it all depends on natural processes underneath the reinforced concrete sarcophagus of the reactor. Without going into too much scientific detail, the main point is that the chain reaction is ongoing deep down, and the huge structure is weakened every year by frost, snow, and rain. If it fulminates somehow and another catastrophe happens, the tourism that I am writing about will be eradicated and out of question for another few decades (but probably tourism would not be among the primary concerns should something of this nature happened).
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http://chernobylwel.com/index.php?language=en&content=trip
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V. Marketing Having established a kind of focus group for the Chernobyl-tourism, we may now turn to an aspect already mentioned, marketing, in more detail. V.1 Popular culture When discussing The Zone, one cannot ignore the most influential type of media that the 21st century has, popular culture. Until about 2000, the issue had been a taboo, and was infrequently reflected upon; at the dawn of the new decade, however, it has become one of the most renowned catastrophes of the past hundred years. The accident appears everywhere, from movies to video games. Usually the spooky, mysterious side of the story is grasped (e.g. the new horror film, Chernobyl Diaries12) mixed with science fiction (e.g. the video game called S.T.A.L.K.E.R.13, which takes place in The Zone). The story is also used for raising awareness and pointing to the fact that we humans tend to play irresponsibly with the fragile and instable power of nature (e.g. the documentary, Inside Chernobyl14). Naturally, a lot of youngsters' interest has been raised by these instances of the 'ghost town' of Pripyat, and the demand for a tangible, first-hand experience emerged. V.2 Marketing strategy As it has been already mentioned, the tourism to Chernobyl is a perfect example of target marketing. The targeted segment is relatively clear, and the variety of media in which it is advertised cannot be called broad. On TV and in everyday newspapers, commercials of The Zone are seldom or nearly never used. Only information and travelling channels and magazines have some promotional images or text about Chernobyl, elsewhere it is often referred to as 'the site of a horrifying accident'. Of course, this last viewpoint is extremely harmful and dangerous for Chernobyl tourism, so the main mission of advertisers is to change the image of Pripyat. Its key identity should be 'intriguing experience', not 'imminent nuclear annihilation'. My surmise is that copy-writers and small campaigns have been effective, as a lot of young adults rather value Chernobyl as a queer monument of the past; the historic aspect of the legend is appreciated instead of the dreadful.
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http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1991245/ http://www.stalker-game.com/ 14 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfulqRdDbsg 13
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VI. Conclusion Chernobyl is definitely not a site for everyone, but it is an astounding life-experience. The tourism to The Zone is small-scale but stable, as long as the territory is safe, there would be visitors from all over the world. I sincerely hope I could give a small glimpse of Pripyat, and probably induce eager interest in some of my readers. Permit me now to bring my report to a closure with a quote that is credited to Albert Einstein himself: "The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking... The solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker."15 Sources: György, Zsiga. „Csernobil - Nukleáris kirándulás.” Világjáró, May (2007), 68-74. Medlik, S. Dictionary of Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2003), 162 Stone, Richard. “Inside Chernobyl, The Long Shadow of Chernobyl.” National Geographic, April (2006), 32-53. Coote, Darryl, Exploitation or healthy interest? An analysis of dark tourism (2010), found on the link at http://www.jejuweekly.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=776
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http://thinkexist.com/quotation/the_release_of_atom_power_has_changed_everything/15603.html
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Appendix
The famous Ferris wheel of Chernobyl, found at http://chernobylwel.com/index.php?language=en&content=photohttp://chernob ylwel.com/index.php?language=en&content=photo
The suggestive logo of http://chernobylwel.com/
The 'Pripyat' sign (photo by Timm Suess) found at http://www.environmentalgraffiti.com/featured/chernobyl-thennow/14634?image=1