--- description: Surreal views of the area around the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history title: Inside the Chernobyl Zone, 25 Years Later image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) * [LightBox](/tag/time-section-lightbox/) # Inside the Chernobyl Zone, 25 Years Later by [TIME](/author/time/) Apr 25, 2011 4:00 AM CUT by [TIME](/author/time/) Apr 25, 2011 4:00 AM CUT Surreal views of the area around the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history ### The Chernobyl Reactor, March 29, 2011  On April 26, 1986, an explosion in Reactor 4 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine released large quantities of radioactive contamination into the air over Ukraine, Belarus and huge portions of Europe. After the accident, the area around the plant was evacuated, and a 19-mile (31 km) exclusion zone was created around it. Maxppp / Landov ### Mural  The remains of an abandoned cultural center in Pripyat, photographed on March 31, 2011. Sergei Supinsky / AFP / Getty Images ### Inside the Plant  The control center of the damaged fourth reactor, photographed on Feb. 24, 2011. Gleb Garanich / Reuters ### Looking Outward  A view of Pripyat, a town built to house employees at the plant, as seen on March 22, 2011. Helmut Fohringer / EPA ### Classroom  Beds in a Pripyat kindergarten, photographed on April 4, 2011. Sergei Supinsky / AFP / Getty Images ### What Remains  The interior of a former school, as seen on April 20, 2011. Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA ### All Quiet  A Ferris wheel in Pripyat. This picture was taken on March 31, 2011. Gleb Garanich / Reuters ### Rusted  Damaged amusement-park rides in Pripyat, photographed on March 29, 2011. Maxppp / Zuma Press ### Sport Center  An abandoned swimming pool, as seen on April 20, 2011. Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA ### Empty  Cell doors of a former police station in Pripyat stand open on April 20, 2011. Sergey Dolzhenko / EPA Photos of Chernobyl, 25 Years After Nuclear Disaster - TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7074889/inside-the-chernobyl-zone-25-years-later/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7074889/inside-the-chernobyl-zone-25-years-later/"},"headline":"Inside the Chernobyl Zone, 25 Years Later","datePublished":"2011-04-25T04:00:00.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T10:45:58.920Z","description":"Surreal views of the area around the site of the worst nuclear disaster in history","url":"https://time.com/archive/7074889/inside-the-chernobyl-zone-25-years-later/","keywords":["LightBox"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME","url":"https://time.com/author/time/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-lightbox/","name":"LightBox"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7074889/inside-the-chernobyl-zone-25-years-later/","name":"Inside the Chernobyl Zone, 25 Years Later"}}]}] ```