Today Viktor Nemeth (flickr stream) will share his some photos from his trip Chernobyl and Pripyat (click for larger view):
Certainly – the gear were: Nikon D600, Nikkor 16-35/4, 50/1.8G, 70-200/2.8 VR2. Also took a Sigma fisheye which I didn’t end up using at all.
As for the story itself, I’ll make it a bit long and then you cut it if you’d like to…
So the only official way in to Chernobyl is via an organized tour that is done by one of the accredited agencies. Your details, such as passport number, name, etc needs to be provided weeks in advance and the Ministry of Interior or whoever does a whole lot of checks on you. The trip itself starts around 9am and the minibus is loaded w/ tourists. There are apparently 8-9k people brought into the zone each year. There are options for single or small-group tours as well but they cost a fair bit more.