There’s a reason why you wouldn’t want to go near it
In the depths of Chernobyl’s Reactor 4 lies a huge blob called ‘corium’, which is what forms in a nuclear reactor during a meltdown.
Corium is actually a mix of different materials that have melted together, like concrete, sand, steel, uranium, and zirconium.
After the nuclear disaster in 1986, these materials combined to create a lumpy mass known as the ‘Elephant’s Foot’.
This is one of the most dangerous things on Earth, and if you stand close to it, you can start to feel its effects in just a few seconds.
Being near it for only a few minutes can give you a deadly dose of radiation, and dying from radiation exposure is usually a slow and very painful process.
That’s part of what used to be the core of a nuclear reactor (Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Even though the Elephant’s Foot is really dangerous, some people have still gotten close to it while working in the ruins of Reactor 4 at Chernobyl.
The disaster made the area a total mess, and among all the wreckage is the huge lump known as the Elephant’s Foot, which can be seen in videos taken deep inside the ruined nuclear power plant.
A well-known photo of the Elephant’s Foot was captured in 1996 by Artur Korneyev, but he can’t go back to Chernobyl anymore because he was exposed to a lot of radiation from that corium mass.
This is partly because the radiation has harmed his health, leading him to develop cataracts and other serious problems from being near the Elephant’s Foot.
There are definitely more reasons than just the obvious ones for not wanting to visit Chernobyl right now, especially if you’re thinking about checking out the Elephant’s Foot.
It’s been almost three years since Russian leader Vladimir Putin sent his troops into Ukraine, which has led to the biggest and deadliest conflict in Europe since World War II.
Along with invading Ukraine and harming innocent people, Russian forces also attacked the remaining sites at Chernobyl before Ukrainian soldiers pushed them back.
The workers at the power plant had to take fuel from the invaders to keep the generators running, warning that it could have been a disaster if they hadn’t.
Chernobyl is still a risky place today, and some Russian soldiers who were stationed nearby might have been exposed to high levels of radiation.
Featured Image Credit: Reddit