Going Inside the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant | Super Users
Aug 10, 2023
Going Inside the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant | Super Users
35 years after the worst nuclear disaster in history, parts of Chernobyl are still too radioactive for people to go to. http://bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE http://bit.ly/VICE-Videos http://vice.com https://www.fb.com/vicevideo http://bit.ly/1SquZ6v http://fb.com/vice http://twitter.com/vice http://instagram.com/vice
Content
0 -> Here we’re going to fly in the area
2.676 -> where you should have
the cooling pumps of the facility,
5.876 -> so what is supposed to
cool down the reactor.
8.876 -> It was 1:23 am on April 26th, 1986.
13.716 -> The worst nuclear accident
in history.
16.316 -> A routine test at the Chernobyl
nuclear plant went horribly wrong.
20.436 -> The first question that
we ask ourselves is,
23.116 -> is the area radioactive
24.756 -> and is it dangerous for the pilot
and for the team?
27.516 -> The disaster threw
radioactive fallout
29.556 -> across a huge area.
31.036 -> They needed an image to prove that
33.196 -> those areas were clean
of any radioactive material.
37.636 -> The area around Chernobyl
is still an exclusion zone.
41.156 -> It’s really amazing to be
able to walk in a city
44.196 -> that has been completely
abandoned in a matter of days.
48.156 -> The atmosphere was really weird.
50.236 -> It really feels like a haunted town.
53.516 -> [Exploring A Disaster Zone]
58.516 -> I’m Charles Rey, and I was a pilot
that flew the drone in Chernobyl.
62.276 -> The melting of Reactor Four
happened in 1986,
65.916 -> so 35 years ago.
67.756 -> We were supposed to do
a demonstration
69.716 -> in just one of the buildings
outside of Chernobyl
73.276 -> to be able to show the technology
76.516 -> And actually, it's when we got
on site that people ask us,
80.396 -> “Can you help us out and do
actually a real inspection for us
83.636 -> in the reactor number five
to be able to prove and capture data
88.076 -> that would show that
there is no nuclear waste
90.516 -> stored in those areas?”
92.316 -> One of the engineers on site said,
“They are OK to fly inside Chernobyl,
97.196 -> so as long as it's safe for
them and for the drone,
100.436 -> let’s give it a try.”
102.716 -> I was the only pilot
for this mission in Chernobyl.
105.596 -> I had a co-pilot to help
me for the direction,
108.876 -> and we have the engineers
and the security guys
111.636 -> that were following us
during the full day.
113.716 -> The first question that
we ask ourselves is,
116.076 -> is the area radioactive
and is it dangerous for the pilot
119.636 -> and for the team that went there?
121.236 -> But the first thing that people
from the sites gave us
124.956 -> was a sensor on each of us,
126.876 -> and we had to make sure that
128.716 -> we were not flying in highly
radioactive places inside the sites.
133.036 -> We usually start with
a reconnaissance flight,
134.996 -> in which we just want to have
a general feeling of the environment
138.596 -> to see the stability would work well,
140.436 -> to see how far can we go
without losing the signal,
144.556 -> how much time it takes to get to
the inspection point and back.
148.796 -> So here we are flying through
one of the cranes
152.196 -> that should have been dismantled
153.716 -> after they finished
to build the facility,
156.436 -> but they never finished to build it.
158.356 -> They never removed it.
159.596 -> In here you can see that
it was really not finished,
162.556 -> and they really stopped
working on that overnight.
165.316 -> So the three holes here on the ground
167.076 -> is where you should have
the pulling water pump.
169.476 -> So here, we are in another flight.
171.556 -> You can see the lead sheet
here on the floor
174.876 -> is where would have been
the entry of the reactor.
178.116 -> Here you would have had some liquid
where we are right now.
181.396 -> Here you can see the ceiling.
183.436 -> And that should be
the ground zero of the facility.
187.356 -> And the square here,
188.996 -> you can see what was
supposed to be the cooling pool
191.916 -> in which they would put
the radioactive material.
195.356 -> After they have been used,
196.516 -> they are stored here
for a couple of weeks or months
199.556 -> to be able to cool down
201.676 -> before you can store them safely
outside of the facility.
205.996 -> When we are looking straight down,
208.076 -> you will see the cage of the drone
209.956 -> is what you can see
at the bottom of the screen.
212.476 -> And here I’m trying to collect data
214.476 -> without having the cage
in the field of vision.
217.036 -> Then I move the camera straight down,
219.116 -> and this is the cooling pool
in which I will fly down
223.716 -> so we could prove that those
pools were completely empty
226.716 -> and that there was
no radioactive material
229.116 -> that had been stored
in those cooling pools.
232.556 -> The main difficulty in this flight
234.156 -> was that we were flying
relatively far away
237.316 -> and that there was
a lot of concrete between us
240.316 -> and the pool that
we wanted to inspect.
242.716 -> So we had to see if the signal
would go through,
245.836 -> and luckily, the roof of Chernobyl,
of the facility, wasn’t steel,
250.156 -> so actually the signal
of the remote control
252.596 -> would bounce on the ceiling,
254.636 -> and this allows us to fly from
the bottom part of a reactor
258.276 -> all the way up to a pool
that was even under us.
261.556 -> On the tablet, you have a sensor
that we tell you the signal strength
266.396 -> between the drone
and the remote control.
268.276 -> Every time you have to do
an inspection or flight
270.956 -> in an area in which you knew that
if you lose the signal with the drone
274.756 -> or if you run out of battery,
you cannot recover the drone,
277.516 -> it’s always a bit more stressful.
279.396 -> And you have to do that
280.556 -> with a couple of inspectors
looking over your shoulder,
283.196 -> so it really doesn’t
help for the stress.
285.156 -> I collect the data with the
instruction of the inspector
288.676 -> on where to fly and what kind of data
we need to capture.
291.596 -> There were no alternatives
than using the drone
293.636 -> to be able to capture those data.
295.796 -> The piloting team of Flyability
297.956 -> have the opportunity to
travel all around the world
301.196 -> to be able to do this demonstration
and this inspection.
304.676 -> In the past few years,
305.876 -> we had the opportunity to participate
in an adventure mission in Greenland
311.116 -> in which we were exploring glaciers
313.676 -> and trying to get data
about global warming.
317.996 -> The Greenland ice sheet
319.116 -> is the second biggest ice sheet
in the world after Antarctica,
323.476 -> and that mission took us in some of
the deepest ice caves in the world.
327.916 -> The purpose was to be able to
go fly inside a glacier
331.836 -> and see how the area had melted
334.716 -> and what was the impact
of the global warming.
337.356 -> So they wanted to see
if there was any life,
339.636 -> so any bacteria
or anything like that.
341.876 -> Due to the global warming,
343.116 -> it wasn’t really safe to send people
at this time of the year,
346.036 -> so we actually sent the drone
and flew it about 140 meters down
350.996 -> in those chutes
to be able to collect data,
354.996 -> and we actually found
a frozen lake at the bottom.
358.996 -> Indoor drones can really allow you
to go and fly the drone
362.916 -> in confined spaces
more or less everywhere.
364.916 -> It is already used to fly in mines.
366.956 -> We can fly in caves.
368.316 -> There is actually no real limit.
371.036 -> It is an adventure
to be able to explore those places
373.836 -> that haven’t been seen in years.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYHLMWmk46c
