The Jupiter Factory (, Yupiter; or , zavod Yupiter) is an abandoned factory located on the outskirts of

Pripyat Pripyat, also known as Prypiat, is an abandoned industrial city in Kyiv Oblast, Ukraine, located near the border with Belarus. Named after the nearby river, Pripyat (river), Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February 1970 as the ninth ''atomgrad'' ...

, in the

Chernobyl Exclusion Zone The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation, also called the 30-Kilometre Zone or simply The Zone, was established shortly after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union. Initially, Soviet authorities declar ...

in northern

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. Officially a manufacturer of cassette recorders and components for home appliances, the factory secretly produced semiconductor components for the military, and had test workshops for robotic systems.

History

As many university-educated people lived in Pripyat, the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

decided to build a factory in the outskirts to employ some of those people. This factory became the second employer in the area after the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The factory opened in 1980 and employed around 3,500 people. Officially, Jupiter was built as a branch of the Kyiv factory, ''

Mayak The Mayak Production Association (, , from 'lighthouse') is one of the largest nuclear facilities in the Russian Federation, housing Production reactor, production reactors (''non'' electricity) and a reprocessing plant. The closest settlement ...

'' (Lighthouse), where they made cassette recorders and electronic components for home appliances. But the reality was somewhat different. Production of tape and components for appliances was a smokescreen for Jupiter's secret production of semiconductor components for the military industry. New materials were tested in laboratories and workshops and the robotics department developed various robotic systems. Some time after the

Chernobyl disaster On 26 April 1986, the no. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, located near Pripyat, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union (now Ukraine), exploded. With dozens of direct casualties, it is one of only ...

in 1986 caused the abandonment of Pripyat, some employees returned to Jupiter and the factory became a radiological laboratory for testing of various decontamination techniques and developing dosimetric instruments. The factory continued operations until 1996; today it is abandoned. The level of

radioactive contamination Radioactive contamination, also called radiological pollution, is the deposition of, or presence of Radioactive decay, radioactive substances on surfaces or within solids, liquids, or gases (including the human body), where their presence is uni ...

in some places remains several times higher than the safe level, especially in the basement.

Cultural references

* The Jupiter Factory appears prominently in '' S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat'' as the location of one of the

Mi-24 The Mil Mi-24 (; NATO reporting name: Hind) is a large helicopter gunship, attack helicopter and low-capacity transport helicopter, troop transport with room for eight passengers. It is produced by Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant and was introduced ...

crash sites the protagonist, SBU Major Alexander Degtyarev, is sent in to locate and investigate in the aftermath of a failed military operation. * The Jupiter Factory appears in the music video of the song " Marooned" by

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Gallery

File:Jupiterfactory.jpg, August 2016 File:Pripjat 2019 61.jpg, June 2019 File:Pripjat 2019 62.jpg, June 2019 File:Pripjat 2019 63.jpg, June 2019 File:Pripjat 2019 64.jpg, June 2019 File:Pripjat 2019 66.jpg, June 2019

References

External links

The Jupiter Factory on chernobylgallery.com
{{coord, 51.402822, 30.043381, display=title Buildings and structures in Pripyat Defunct manufacturing companies of Ukraine Arms industry Chernobyl Exclusion Zone 1980 establishments in Ukraine Industrial buildings completed in 1980 Manufacturing companies of the Soviet Union Defence companies of the Soviet Union Defence companies of Ukraine