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Chernobyl. 1986. Mankind’ sneak preview of tomorrow’s horrors of nuclear energy.

Trey Ratcliff , an enigma of amazing HDR photos from his worldly travels, discarded the good advice of his female peers to venture into the bowels of Nuclear Twilight Zone. Few of us will ever dare to venture into that area, so Trey’s HD photos might just be the closest we get. On his hand is the Geiger counter for tracking radiation levels.

… kids left schools with their books still on the desks, families rushed out without getting everything, just complete and instant desertion. While I was there, it was completely quiet, and it was extra surreal with the early 80’s styling of the Soviet buildings, windows ajar, stuff still sitting in all the windows.

All photos belong to Trey who will be uploading more over the next few days. Click any photo to go direct to his page. The above is him at the main reactor. Next up, pics from Pripyat, purportedly the residential area for power plant workers to “work, live and play” (gosh, how many times have we heard this overused stereotype of utopian bliss for wage slaves?).

I went to the creepiest part of Pripyat, the playground and amusement park. This was recently completed just before the disaster. Bumper cars, swings, a ferris wheel, and other bits of abandoned toys now lay quiet and creaking in the snow… (Is) another part of the playground, where the kids emerged from school for playtime.

Thanks to Digg for this.