Hidden in a shadowy forest near Chernobyl, a piece of crane machinery, ominously dubbed “The Claw of Death,” lurks with a lethal threat. This relic of the catastrophic nuclear disaster of April 26, 1986, is so dangerous that physical contact could prove fatal. This disaster, the worst of its kind in history, not only caused immediate deaths due to blast trauma and acute radiation syndrome but has also been linked to thousands of subsequent deaths from long-term radiation effects.
In the chaotic aftermath of the reactor explosion and meltdown at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which obliterated parts of the facility, cleanup efforts were frantic and uncertain. Sydney archaeologist Robert Maxwell notes that the Soviet response included the use of a borrowed West German robot and a lunar rover. One particularly large piece of crane machinery was tasked with removing radioactive debris, such as graphite that had blown onto rooftops near the reactor.
Once its job was done, the claw of this machinery was unceremoniously disposed of in a remote area of the nearby forest, becoming an inadvertent deadly artifact. In 2019, Maxwell stumbled upon “The Claw of Death” during a private tour and conducted radioactive measurements. He expressed to news.au, “There are many things in the zone today for which contact for any prolonged period will definitely kill you, and the Claw is definitely the most dangerous of all because it’s not roped off or inaccessible like other hazards.”
Maxwell, who is uniquely experienced as the only archaeologist to have conducted fieldwork in Chernobyl on two separate occasions, daringly inserted his hand into the claw to get a reading with his Geiger counter. “The encounter with the Claw was frighteningly radioactive. I put my hand inside it to obtain a reading,” he recalled, acknowledging the high risk involved. “It wasn’t easy because the Geiger counter readings were escalating so rapidly. I had to yell ‘Now!’ to capture a reading before hastily withdrawing my hand.”
From his measurements, Maxwell estimated the claw emits around 950 microsieverts (uSV) of radiation daily, with a specific measurement showing 39.80 microsieverts per hour (uSv/h) at one point.
Despite its historical significance, Maxwell warns against visiting this perilous site. “The Claw of Death sits in a secluded part of the forest for a very good reason,” he explained, advising tourists that the Chernobyl exclusion zone offers safer, yet still compelling, sites to explore. The Claw remains outside the official 30km exclusion zone, making it inaccessible for public visits and shrouded in both mystery and mortal danger.