Top 10 Interesting Facts About The Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum

The Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum by Jorgen Laacar – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Interesting Facts About The Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum

The Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum in Kyiv, Ukraine, is a modern museum and archive, documenting, preserving, and conveying the history of the most serious radio-ecological catastrophe caused as a result of a conflict between science, technology, and human imperfections.

The after-effects of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster spread to a lot of states nearby causing devastating loss of property and lives. On April 26, 1992, the museum opened to the public, in Kyiv, a 100 kilometers from the disaster’s epicenter in Ukraine.

The following are the 10 most interesting facts about the Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum in Kyiv:

1.The Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum Tells The Story Of the world’s worst nuclear accident of 1986

Nuclear explosion by Burnt pineapple productions –Wikimedia commons

This museum in Kyiv documents the catastrophic nuclear incident that occurred at Chernobyl. On April 26, 1986, at 01:23 am, Moscow time, the reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, around 65 miles north of Kyiv, exploded due to a combination of a flawed reactor design and poorly trained personnel and a flawed reactor design.

Deputy chief engineer Anatoly Dyatlov disregarded safety protocols and went ahead to perform a procedural test.Part of the responsibility for the Chernobyl accident also lay with the nuclear plant’s RBMK reactors which were so large that they did not have room for containment buildings.

The resulting explosion and fire sent huge quantities of radioactive material into the atmosphere, which spread over much of Europe, severely contaminating large areas in Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Russia, Sweden, and Finland.

2.Exhibition rooms At The Museum Are Filled With Disturbing Displays And Pictures

Visual artefacts inside the Ukrainian National C by Jorge Lascar- Wikimedia Commons

The Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum houses an extensive collection of visual media, artifacts, scale models, and other symbolic items designed to educate the public about many aspects of the disaster.The displays in the museum provide a visually engaging experience regardless of its dark history.

Several exhibits are dedicated to the masses of people who lost their lives and the cultural impacts of the incidents, while others show the engineering history faults of the accident.

3.Street Signs Naming Every Village Affected By The Disaster Are Lined At The Museum’s Entrance Staircase

Chernobyl Museum Kiev by Dave Proffer – Wikimedia Commons

The entrance staircase to the museum is lined with a symbolic display of road signs for the villages abandoned as a result of the disaster. Instead of standard blue or white, the signs are colored in black to stress the tragedy of devastation.

The black street signs are also slashed with a pink stripe to denote the end of settlement in these villages.

4.The Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum Supports The Liquidator Remembrance Book

The Soviet Union had employed 600,000 people in the extensive liquidation effort. These brave first responders battling the resulting fire sought to secure and clean up the reactor and surrounding area after the disaster. Many were exposed to high doses of radiation and, as a result, died, while others ran the risk of dying prematurely due to the disaster.

The Remembrance Book at the museum is a unique online database of the liquidators, some of whom sacrificed their lives. The book features personal pages with photos and brief structured information on the input by each disaster management personnel.

Other data fields which explore the role of the liquidators include “Radiation damage suffered,” “Field of liquidation activity,” and “Subsequent fate.” The project started in 1997, containing over 5000 entries as of February 2013. The database is currently available in the Ukrainian language only.

While it is neither the only complete nor official liquidators’ database, the Remembrance Book is probably the only one open to the public on the web.

5.The Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum Occupies An Early 20th-century Building That Was Formerly A Fire Station

The museum is located in a former fire station on Khoryva Lane in the Podil area of the city, just a short distance from Kontraktova Ploshcha Metro Station, commonly known as the Blue Line.

The fire brigade building was donated by the State Fire Protection Guard in 1992 in attempts to preserve the history of the Chernobyl disaster.

6.Admission To The Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum Costs Just 10 UAH

The Ukrainian National Chornobyl Museum is open Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 6 pm at only 10 UAH per person. The last allowed admission to the museum is at 5 pm. However, an additional 30 UAH is topped onto the admission price if you want to take pictures in the museum.

However, instead of having a separate ticket, badge, or lanyard for photographers, you are given more tickets; one paper slip for regular visitors and four slips to denote a photographer charged at four times the regular price. The audio guides are also charged separately at 50 UAH.

7.Most Of The Written Information In The Ukrainian Language Has Been Translated Into English

Over the years, many exhibit signs and recorded audios from the museum have been translated to English to accommodate tourists who do not understand Ukrainian or Russian. Guided tours in English and other Western languages can also be organized upon request.

8.The Museum Facade And Outdoor Exhibits Liquidator Vehicles Used For Cleanup Operations After The Chernobyl Accident

Kiev by Vincent de Groot- Wikimedia Commons

There stands a tank, an ambulance, a fire jeep, and a military jeep outside the Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum. The disaster liquidators used the tank and vehicles at the museum entrance in the Chernobyl disaster cleanup.

9.The Museum Is Filled With Exhibits Of The 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Following the Fukushima nuclear accident, the Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum has twinned itself with Fukushima, the most radioactive place on Earth. Japanese folk art fills the entry hall of the museum featuring photographs and displays of the Fukushima plant. On March 11, 2011, following a major earthquake, a 15-meter tsunami disabled the power supply and cooling of three Fukushima Daiichi reactors, causing a meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear power plant. The nuclear accident’s effects of radiation in the atmosphere killed people, plants, and animals while destroying neighboring people’s homes.

10.The Ukrainian National Chernobyl Museum Is Founded And Supported By The Government Of Ukraine And The Local Government Of Kyiv

The Ukraine government and the Kyiv local authorities support the museum’s management. Private and foreign donations, particularly from the Japanese government, are also common.