resources - Find Information For Describing A Nuclear Power Plant

I want to start my story connecting the government flaws to the main characters life before he was even born. I thought since the settings a somewhat Communist United Soviet United government, A nuclear facility like Chernobyl would be a good scene. I want to describe the insides of the nuclear facility. But how can I find photogrpahy or video of inside of a place that could be your deathbed if you went in to record what is in there? I want to have a "trap" or multipl occur in the plant so I need to know what "host of vicious implements, I can use to exact my pound of flesh" I used HowStuffworks to see how Nuclear Reactions work, and yes I could use the hot water or steam as part of the suffering trap involved, but thats not unique - A lot of places have hot stuff. So how exactly should I learn about what is inside a nuclear facility?

Answer

If you want the outside layout and a small glimpse of the inside of Chernobyl NPP, follow John Smithers' advice: grab a copy of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow of Chernobyl, read a game guide on how to get the "Good Ending" and play it through. The authors took only minimal amounts of artistic liberties while re-creating the outside layout of the NPP, and while the inside is technically nothing like the real thing, it correctly captures the looks and atmosphere.

Still, it's just a small glimpse and heavily influenced by the game mechanics, plus tells very little about the inner workings. If you want some great footage of the insides of Chernobyl NPP, plus quite a bit of backstory and feel of the still active area, try to to somehow obtain a copy of "Alone in the Zone" by Arkadiusz Podniesinski. There are shots all thorough the NPP, outsides, insides, eviscerated 4th block, active control center, a long interview with the staff, and of course a bunch of other objects. Obtaining a copy of the movie might be hard though.

Still, details on inner workings? Actual dangers of active, functioning NPP? I'm afraid this is a wrong place to ask that. I believe while it will be just as off-topic on Electrical Engineering, but at least I hope that's where you should be able to obtain actual pointers to where to ask to get your answers.