In 1996, on the 10 year anniversary of the disaster, the Monument to Those Who Saved the World was unveiled. The Monument was funded and created by Chernobyl firefighters. With sculptures made of concrete, which is rumored to be the same concrete fed to the Sarcophagus when the structure was built, it stands in front of the fire station that sent the team of first responders to the site.

The forest surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) was an area the citizens of Pripyat cherished. After the explosion at reactor four, the environment was changed forever and the 10 square kilometer (3.86 square mile) area surrounding the CNPP became known as the Red Forest. With the people in Pripyat and other affected villages evacuated, the forest became a living lab to study the long-term effects of high radiation levels on ecosystems. The area has caught fire often in the years since the disaster and when it burns, radiation trapped in the trees is released into the air.

Located in Ukraine 2.5 km from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (CNPP) and founded in 1970, Pripyat was the ninth Soviet atomograd (atom city). It was designed for workers at the CNPP and their families. In 1986 Pripyat was home to 47,500 people and was expected to hold 75-85 thousand someday. Known as the City of Roses, 30,000 Baltic rose bushes were planted there to enhance the already beautiful setting where nature and science lived together in peace. That peace was tenuous and following the explosion of reactor four at the CNPP, the city was evacuated and remains a ghost town. In recent years, tourism has taken hold and Pripyat has become a model for Japanese officials hoping to revive the area around the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Pripyat Amusement Park was set to open on May 1st, 1986, just in time for the May Day parades. It was to be a celebration for the population to enjoy leisurely filled with excitement and thrill. Five days before the set grand opening, the Chernobyl disaster ignited, forcing the park to abandon its opening. As radiation exposure rose, the population was forcibly evacuated leaving behind the brand new park. Over the years the radiation has continued to rampage through the park and the park never reopened leaving behind a ghost of happiness and decay.

Three hospitals cared for the Chernobyl victims and attended to their excruciating radiation pain. The hospital located in Pripyat was one of them that tried to save as many as they could in hopes of saving those that were delivered to the hospital. Doctors were informed to remove any current patients as the radioactive victims were delivered and to treat them as best as they could. Due to a lack of information, many were not aware of how radioactive everyone was and anything they possessed would be.

The explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on April 26, 1986, is considered the worst nuclear accident in world history. On the International Atomic Energy Agency's International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale, it shares the highest rating with only Japan's 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster. In the early hours of Saturday, a botched safety test caused a series of explosions and fires in Reactor 4.