Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: Red Forest
Red Forest is just outside the Chernobyl reactor that blew up and the radioactive fallout here was very severe and the forest turned red and died and had to be bulldozed and buried under soil in “waste graveyards”, which are still very radioactive and signs are posted everywhere. Located at the outskirts of the town of Pripyat, there is a kindergarten here near the WWII monument. Inside the kindergarten, are abandoned toys and kids possessions, beds, blankets, and more children toys and clothing. Outside and inside the kindergarten and also near the edge of the Red Forest – there were some pretty dirty hot spots: with normal radiation at or below 0.3 msv/hr, my dosimeter clocked in levels at nearly 12 msv/hr in certain spots. Red Forest remains one of the most polluted areas in Chernobyl.
