HBO miniseries. The amount of foreign capital
spent on filming reached 45.5 million euros
($50.6 million) last year.
After locations in Vilnius, atomic tourists may opt
to travel 160 kilometers (100 miles) north and
join a three-hour tour of the nuclear plant. They
are given dosimeters, plastic helmets, white
clothes and shoes before venturing through a
maze of long, poorly lit corridors, reactor halls,
turbine hangars and the control center with the
red button which was pushed just before the
explosion. Cellphones, cameras, eating, drinking
and smoking are strictly off limits.
The plant tour costs 67 euros (75 dollars) per
person and tickets are sold until Christmas,
said Natalija Survila, spokeswoman for Ignalina
power plant.
Lynn Adams, a 49-year-old psychotherapist,
came from the United Kingdom to see the
whole thing with her own eyes.
“It feels like you are stepping back into one of
the scenes actually. It’s very, very authentic.
And I remember seeing about Chernobyl on
the news, but I’m so much more interested in
what happened and the events having seen
the drama series. So I think it has kind of ignited
an interest that I wasn’t aware of at the time,”
Adams said after the visit to a Soviet-era district,
used by HBO as a filming location for Pripyat.
Antanas Turcinas was among those sent to
Chernobyl weeks after the disaster. He hopes
the buzz from the miniseries leads to better
care for survivors.
“This movie has brought back old memories.
Emotions are very strong, because in 1986 we
did not understand what we faced. I am happy
to be still alive,” he said.
c. jardin
(C. Jardin)
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