Nuclear business: from tourism to nuclear moonshine
American Atomic Business
Despite the fact that Hiroshima and Nagasaki had already plunged into a fiery radiation hell, none of those who wanted to enjoy the specific beauty of nuclear mushrooms rising above the earth did not raise moral issues. Moreover, the military command after the first series of explosions began to actively cover the tests in the press. New explosions were announced on the pages of the media, the press was invited to the training ground, and after the explosions, those invited could visit the craters. But even this seemed restless Yankees little. Thus, so that guests of Nevada did not miss the most important moments of the tests, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry began to issue calendars with a test schedule and a guide to the best viewing platforms of the city.
By this time, local businessmen began to spontaneously erect observation platforms for spectators. Hotel owners lured tourists with the opportunity to witness a nuclear explosion without even leaving the pool and releasing a cocktail tube from their lips. In fact, many nuclear mushrooms of the Nevada polygon soared to monstrous heights and were visible from the capital of Nevada - Las Vegas. In 60's, explosions were observed at 160 km in any direction.
There was a "nuclear" fashion - the beauties in swimsuits posed against the backdrop of the next cloud, in order to scrape up at least momentary fame. Beauty contests Miss Atomic Bomb and Miss Atomic Explosion took place. For local businessmen it was truly a golden time. So, the famous businessman and casino owner Benny Binion in the USA even stated that "the best thing that could happen to Vegas is the atomic bomb." Vegas bars sold atomic cocktails - a mixture of champagne, vodka, sherry and brandy.
Picnics, parties and entire shows were confined to nuclear tests, during which beauty contests were often held. In 1955, the focus was on the strip show at The Sands. The regulars of the institution were the military on dismissal, and one of the local "stars" was a certain songwriter Margherit Piazze. She was “crowned” by the drunken Yankees with the title “Miss Radiation” and a crown in the form of an atomic explosion made of cotton wool in the shape of a nuclear mushroom. The last atomic “miss” was Lee Merlin, a dancer from the same The Sands hotel. Cotton wool was glued to her swimsuit, photographed, carried once or twice in her arms and sent to rest.
Naturally, no one thought about radiation at that time. The authorities recognized only a slight excess of radiation. Only after many years, the United States recognized that the territories adjacent to the area of the landfill were significantly affected, however, while no one sprinkled ashes on his head and did not demand "pay and repent" - this is exclusively the prerogative of our homegrown figures.
Lithuania and Ukraine: fierce competition in the "nuclear" field
Since then a lot of water has flowed. But the "atomic" business only built respectable muscles. Now organized groups of tourists drive to the Nevada training ground. The necessary infrastructure was built for them - roads, viewing platforms, stylized cafes and souvenir shops.
The collapse of the Union was, among other things, characterized by an explosion of entrepreneurial activity in the post-Soviet space. This also affected the “nuclear” business. The leading positions in this field were immediately taken by Ukrainians. The “heavy scoop legacy” for hundreds of former “brothers” turned out to be a real gold mine. Vying with each other, Ukrainian companies, both legitimate and dubious, offered to plunge into the atmosphere of the USSR and post-apocalypse. And with the advent of the Stalker series of games, specific tour operators have matured and expanded the range of services offered. Now the tourist could feel like a real stalker, only without a small weapons, vodka and game evil spirits.
Chernobyl travel agencies offered canoe excursions, aviation excursions, excursions to Slavutich (a city built for families of power engineers evacuated after the Chernobyl accident), tours to the DUGA radar and to the inside of the NPP itself. In general, business flourished, even the outbreak of civil war did not undermine it and did not reduce the desire of a bored layman to tickle his nerves.
The next impulse to the "nuclear" business received after the premiere of the odious series "Chernobyl". This propaganda cinematic poster turned “atomic” businessmen into figures of near-political, very useful citizens for regimes in post-Soviet limitrophies. Ukrainians vying to begin to offer a tour based on the above series.
Soon they were competed by the “brothers in mind” from Lithuania. As you know, the Americans shot part of the series at the Ignalina nuclear power plant, which is sawn for metal, not far from the Lithuanian town of Visaginas. Enterprising Lithuanians instantly organized a very extensive tour for the western man in the street. So, first a tourist is brought to the outskirts of Vilnius to the kingdom of gray people who have not seen the repair of panel buildings for a long time, where the authors of the series shot scenes of Pripyat.
After that, a tourist is being taken ... no, not at a nuclear power plant. In order to set as ideally as possible all ideological accents in the skull of a western guest, he is taken to the KGB museum. And after all the horrors of the "bloody Mordor", gently reproduced by the new authorities of a rapidly dying country, a tourist is taken to the Ignalina NPP. The latter also appears before the viewer in far from the best form, because sawn for 9 years.
Ukraine just will not give up the Chernobyl piece
Of course, Ukrainian leaders are by no means ready to give their rightful piece of the “victim of the bloody Mordor” to some Balts there. The aforementioned series did not have time to collect the necessary informational “hype”, as it is customary to say on the Internet, when a comrade in OZK costume appeared on the streets of Kiev offering a photo for memory. And rest assured, such a comrade is far from alone.
But in order to finally bury the competitors of the "nuclear" business, the Ukrainians launched the "heavy artillery". By cooperating with American friends, Ukrainian citizens created the Chernobyl Spirit Company. This counter is not going to sell tours to the exclusion zone, she has already started selling ... moonshine made from rye grown in the infected zone and water from the same places. Distillation, according to the creators of the company, makes the final product completely clean and safe to use.
The recently elected President Zelensky did not stand aside, who could not help but take advantage of the moment of the series so successfully released and such a revival among its citizens. Vladimir Alexandrovich instantly signed a decree on the lifting of a number of prohibitions in the exclusion zone, saying that Chernobyl "will become a symbol of freedom of the new Ukraine." Of course, one can imagine what ideally correct home-cleaning guides will go at the forefront of a new wave of excursions. It remains to wait for the new "Miss Pripyat."
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