Chernobyl 18 Years Later: A Photo Essay

On April 26, 1986, there was a meltdown at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl in the Soviet Union, which is now in the Ukraine. A Ukranian named Elena often rides her motorcycle through the Chernobyl “dead zone,” because “one can take long rides there on empty roads.” She has assembled a haunting and vivid photoessay, mainly of her own photos, at her website, Ghost Town. Note the photos in which her Gieger counter is visible; in her introduction she has also written a good account of radiation levels in the various parts of the area.