How to obtain pass for Chernobyl zone of alienation?

Question

I'm an American Photojournalist looking to visit Chernobyl and the neighboring town of Prypiat. The only way I have found so far is to go with a large tour group and visit very limited areas for very short amounts of time. I am looking to hire a local driver and access specific areas for longer durations. I have found a few accounts of other people doing this online, but they are very rare.

What I am looking for is information on how to obtain a pass for 3 people for a single day into the zone of alienation. The only lead I have so far is that the "Ministry of Emergencies and Affairs of Population Protection from Consequences of Chernobyl Catastrophe" is in charge of controlling access. I have their website, but am unable to read or find a way to translate Ukrainian.

If anyone could help me out I would greatly appreciate it!

(The website mentioned above:)

http://mns.gov.ua/

(Wikipedia entry on Zone of Exclusion)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_of_alienation

Answer 1

try from another side... try Gomel region of Belarus... for your information Belarus is the country that suffered the most from this catasrophe - 70% of polluted land is belarussian land thoth that the nuclear station is on Ukranian territory...

read this : http://www.gomel-region.by/en/bottom_men...

I know for sure that trip for pollutted areas can be organised and if you'll pay well for 3 people you will recieve all what you need - personal guide and personal route with visiting dead villages with high level of pollution where some people still live their lifes as they did before (mostly old and very old people).

but such trips are rare so I can't give you contacts of someone  who can organize it.

my advice: serach the web and write letters to officials in Belarus Minsk - capital and Gomel, describe you aims and be persistent

Good luck!

Answer 2

Alex may have good advice for the exclusion zone in Belarus, but if you subsequently get caught in Ukrainian territory without a Ukrainian government permit (not to mention violating the border crossing laws), you will be subjected to "cleansing and prosecution".

You have to travel to Kyiv and visit the Ministry itself. It is extremely difficult to obtain a pass, and they have requirements for what you must carry with you (geiger counters, etc).

You can always contact Paul Brian at Washington State University, as he has done what you want to do: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/chernobyl_poe...