Read the text and see if atomic tourism could be your thing.

Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń Nuclear Interests

Atomic tourismatomic tourismAtomic tourism, also called nuclear tourismnuclear tourismnuclear tourism, is quite a new phenomenon, gaining more and more popularity. People interested in this form of leisure want to learn something more about the Atomic AgeAtomic AgeAtomic Age, so they travel to sites where atomic weaponsatomic weapons [atomic weapon]atomic weapons were detonated or where you can see missiles silosmissiles silos [missiles silo]missiles silos, and visit museums dedicated to nuclear warfarenuclear warfarenuclear warfare. While you can go to the beach or other places any time you want, the places connected to nuclear zonesnuclear zones [nuclear zone]nuclear zones, especially those in the USA, usually allow tours only once a year, adding to the secrecy and mystery of the Atomic Age. Still, thousands of tourists travel long distances to see these remote nuclear wastelands.

One of the most popular destinations is Chernobyl – the site of the worst nuclear disasternuclear disasternuclear disaster in human history, which happened on 26th April, 1986, when one of the reactors of the Soviet nuclear power plant exploded. In 2011, the Ukrainian government deemeddeemed [deem]deemed the location safe and opened it to tourists, allowing them to tour the ghost town of Pripyat, feed catfish in the nuclear plant’s cooling pond, and view the sarcophagussarcophagussarcophagus built over the plant.

The United States has a lot of places interesting for an atomic tourist. Oak Ridge in Tennessee, which was home to uranium enrichment power plantsuranium enrichment power plants [uranium enrichment power plant]uranium enrichment power plants producing atomic bombs, is one of the three secret cities chosen for the Manhattan ProjectManhattan ProjectManhattan Project during World War II. Hanford nuclear reservation, the United States’ most contaminatedcontaminated [contaminate]contaminated nuclear site, allows visitors to tour the B reactor, which featuresfeatures [feature] (verb)features exhibits on the lives of people who helped build the bomb. The Trinity Site in New Mexico is another unique site, as it is where the first atomic bomb was tested. Bikini Atoll, where the first tests of nuclear weapons were carried out, was at some point a very popular diving spot.

Then there is Hiroshima in Japan, the first city to be destroyed by a nuclear weapon during World War II, killing 30% of its population. Today the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, with its characteristic domedomedome, is a United Nations World Heritage Site and serves as a reminderreminderreminder of the devastation that the bomb caused. Finally, Fukushima, also in Japan, is the most recent location of a nuclear accident caused by a 15‑metre tsunami which followed a massive earthquake, disabling the cooling system of the nuclear plant’s reactors. Currently, only small scale tours, mostly private, are organised around the accessible areas.

There are some concerns as to whether sites like Chernobyl or Fukushima are safe enough for tourists. According to experts, radiationradiationradiation levels inside the exclusion zoneexclusion zoneexclusion zone vary widely from location to location and even though they are said to be low (similar to those on a trans‑Atlantic flight), visitors are advised to be educated about the risk and cautiouscautiouscautious, and not to touch or disturb anything without wearing a mask and gloves, as there is still radioactive dustradioactive dustradioactive dust coating many objects there. Generally, these places can be safe, but it depends on how people behave.

While it is true that atomic tourism offers a truly unique vacation experience, it is also controversial, especially when tourists visit the sites of nuclear catastrophes, such as Fukushima, where thousands of people died. On the one hand, it is good that such places regain some functionality, but on the other, should we turn them into tourist trapstourist traps [tourist trap]tourist traps just for the sake of revitalising the economy there?

1 Źródło: Agnieszka Sękiewicz‑Magoń, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.