Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

Before 1986

Historically and geographically, the zone is the heartland of the Polesia region. This predominantly rural woodland and marshland area was once home to 120,000 people living in the cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat as well as 187 smaller communities, but is now mostly uninhabited. All settlements remain designated on geographic maps but marked as нежил. (nezhyl.) - "uninhabited". The woodland in the area around Pripyat was a focal point of partisan resistance during the Second World War, experience of which allowed evacuated residents to evade guards and return. In the woodland near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant stood the 'Partisan's Tree' or 'Cross Tree', which was used to hang captured partisans. The tree fell down due to age in 1996 and a memorial now stands at its location.

10-kilometre and 30-kilometre Zones

The Exclusion Zone was established soon after the Chernobyl disaster on May 2, 1986 (1986-05-02), when a USSR government commission headed by Nikolai Ryzhkov decided on a "rather arbitrary" area of a 30-kilometre radius from Reactor 4 as the designated evacuation area. The 30 km Zone was initially divided into three subzones: the area immediately adjacent to Reactor 4, an area of approximately 10 km radius from the reactor and the remaining 30 km zone. Protective clothing and available facilities varied between these subzones.

Later in 1986, after updated maps of the contaminated areas were produced, the zone was split into three areas to designate further evacuation areas based on the revised dose limit of 100 mSv.

Special permission for access and full military control was put in place in later 1986. Although evacuations were not immediate, 91,200 people were eventually evacuated from these zones.

In November 1986, control over activities in the zone was given to the new production association Kombinat. Based in the evacuated city of Chernobyl, the association's responsibility was to operate the power plant, decontaminate the 30 km zone, supply materials and goods to the zone, and construct housing outside the new town of Slavutych for the power plant personnel and their families.

In March 1989, a "Safe Living Concept" was created for people living in contaminated zones beyond the exclusion zone in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. In October 1989, the Soviet government requested assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to assess the "Soviet Safe Living Concept" for inhabitants of contaminated areas. "Throughout the Soviet period, an image of containment was partially achieved through selective resettlements and territorial delineations of contaminated zones."

After Independence

In February 1991, the law On The Legal Status of the Territory Exposed to the Radioactive Contamination resulting from the ChNPP Accident was passed, updating the borders of the exclusion zone and defining obligatory and voluntary resettlement areas, and areas for enhanced monitoring. The borders were based on soil deposits of strontium-90, caesium-137 and plutonium as well as the calculated dose rate (sieverts/h) as identified by the National Commission for Radiation Protection of Ukraine. Responsibility for monitoring and coordination of activities in the exclusion zone was given to the Ministry of Chernobyl Affairs.

In depth studies were conducted from 1992–93, culminating the updating of the 1991 law followed by further evacuations from the Polesia area. A number of evacuation zones were determined; the "Exclusion Zone", the "Zone of Absolute (Mandatory) Resettlement" and the "Zone of Guaranteed Voluntary Resettlement", as well as many areas throughout Ukraine designated as areas for radiation monitoring. The evacuation of contaminated areas outside of the exclusion zone continued in both the compulsory and voluntary resettlement areas, with 53,000 people evacuated from areas in Ukraine from 1990 to 1995.

After Ukrainian Independence, funding for the policing and protection of the zone was initially limited, resulting in even further settling by samosely (returnees) and other illegal intrusion.

In 1997 the areas of Poliske and Narodychi, which had been evacuated, were added to the existing area of the exclusion zone and the zone now encompasses the exclusion zone and parts of the zone of Absolute (Mandatory) Resettlement of an area of approximately 2,600 km². This Zone was placed under management of the 'Administration of the exclusion zone and the zone of absolute (mandatory) resettlement' within the Ministry of Emergencies.

On 15 December 2000 all nuclear power production at the power plant was ceased after an official ceremony with then President Leonid Kuchma when the last remaining operational reactor, number 3, was shut down. Power for the ongoing decommissioning work and the zone is now provided by a newly built oil-fueled power station.

The exclusion zone is now evacuated save for a small number of samosely (returnees or self settlers). Areas outside the exclusion zone designated for voluntary resettlement continue to be evacuated.

Population

The zone is estimated to be home to 197 samosely living in 11 villages as well as the town of Pripyat. This number is in decline, down from previous estimates of 314 in 2007 and 1,200 in 1986. These residents are senior citizens, with an average age of 63. After recurrent attempts at expulsion, the authorities became reconciled to their presence and have allowed them limited supporting services. Residents are now informally permitted to stay by the Ukrainian government.

Approximately 3,000 people work in the Zone of Alienation on various tasks, such as the construction of the New Safe Confinement, the ongoing decommissioning of the reactors, and assessment and monitoring of the conditions in the zone. Employees do not live inside the zone, but work shifts there. Some of the workers work "4-3" shifts (four days on, three off), while others work 15 days on, 15 off. Other workers commute into the zone daily from Slavutych. The duration of shifts is counted strictly for reasons involving pension and healthcare. Everyone employed in the Zone is monitored for internal bio-accumulation of radioactive elements.

Access and tourism

Brief visits to the zone are possible through guided tours available to the public from Kiev or by applying directly to the zone administration department. Some evacuated residents of Pripyat have established a remembrance tradition, which includes annual visits to former homes and schools. In the Chernobyl zone, there is one operating Eastern Orthodox Christian church, St. Elijah Church, notable for its very low radiation levels, which, according to Chernobyl disaster liquidators, are "well below the level across the zone", a fact that president of the Ukrainian Chernobyl Union, Yury Andreyev, considers miraculous.

The Chernobyl exclusion zone has been accessible to interested parties such as scientists and journalists since the zone was created. An early example was Elena Filatova's online account of her alleged solo bike ride through the zone. This gained her internet fame, but was later alleged to be fictional, as a guide claimed Filatova was part of an official tour group. Regardless, her story drew the attention of millions to the nuclear catastrophe. After Filatova's visit in 2004, a number of papers such as The Guardian and The New York Times began to produce reports on tours to the zone. Since then there have been growing numbers of visitors each year and there are now daily trips from Kiev; multiple day excursions can be easily arranged with Ukrainian tour operators. Most overnight tourists stay in the town's hotel and can use one of the town's general stores to buy snacks, gifts and alcohol.

Tourism to the area became more common after Pripyat was featured in popular video games: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and Call Of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. Fans of the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. franchise, who refer to themselves as "stalkers", often gain access to the Zone. Prosecution of trespassers became more severe after a significant increase in trespassing in the exclusion zone. An article in the penal code of Ukraine was specially introduced, and horse patrols were added to protect the zone's perimeter.

In 2012, journalist Andrew Blackwell published Visit Sunny Chernobyl: And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places. Blackwell recounts his visit to the exclusion zone, when a guide and driver took him through the zone and to the reactor site.

On 14 April 2013, the 32nd episode of the wildlife documentary TV program River Monsters (Atomic Assassin, Season 5, Episode 2) was broadcast featuring the host Jeremy Wade catching a wels catfish in the cooling pools of the Chernobyl power plant, at the heart of the exclusion zone.

On 16 February 2014, an episode of the British motoring TV programme Top Gear was broadcast featuring two of the presenters, Jeremy Clarkson and James May, driving into the exclusion zone.

Illegal activities

The poaching of game, illegal logging, and metal salvage have been problems within the zone. Despite police control, intruders started infiltrating the perimeter to remove potentially contaminated materials, from televisions to toilet seats, especially in Pripyat, where the residents of about 30 high rise apartment buildings had to leave all of their belongings behind. In 2007, the Ukrainian government adopted more severe criminal and administrative penalties for illegal activities in the alienation zone, as well as reinforced units assigned to these tasks. The introduced Przewalski's horse population has reportedly fallen since 2005, due to poaching.

Administration

In April 2011 the State Agency of Ukraine on the Exclusion Zone Management (SAEZ) became the successor to the State Department - Administration of the exclusion zone and the zone of absolute (mandatory) resettlement according to presidential decree. The SAEZ is, as its predecessor, an agency within the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. Policing of the Zone is conducted by special units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine and, along the border with Belarus, by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. It is partly excluded from regular civil rule. Any residential, civil or business activities in the zone are legally prohibited. The only officially recognized exceptions are the functioning of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and scientific installations related to the studies of nuclear safety.

The SAEZ is tasked with the following:

The decree also includes the task to "prevent corruption" (see corruption in Ukraine)

The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located inside the Zone of Alienation but is administered separately. Plant personnel, 3,800 workers as of 2009, reside primarily in Slavutych, a specially-built remote city in the Kiev Oblast outside of the Exclusion Zone, 45 km (28 mi) east of the accident site.

Dead Zones

There are 11 checkpoints

Development and recovery projects

As of 2010 the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is exclusively an environmental recovery area, with efforts devoted to remediation and re-enclosure of the reactor site. Environmental advocates have recommended making less contaminated portions of the site permanently off limits to allow for wildlife recovery and a habitat reserve.

The oldest and most recognized vision of the zone’s future is a research and industrial ground for developing nuclear technologies, including technology of nuclear wastes disposal. Permanent waste facilities are already being constructed in the zone, although these projects suffer from environmental and business concerns.

There are growing calls for wider economic and social revival of the territories around the disaster zone. For instance, special technologies are suggested for agriculture and energy projects that would avoid the danger of proliferating polluted material. The most vocal advocate of such revival was the then President Viktor Yuschenko who has expressed his deep concerns with the exclusion of polluted territories from the society and economy of Ukraine.

In November 2007 the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for "recovery and sustainable development" of the areas affected by the Chernobyl accident. Commenting on the issue, UN Development Programme officials mentioned the plans to achieve “self-reliance” of the local population, “agriculture revival” and development of eco-tourism.

However, it is not clear whether such plans of UN and Yuschenko deal with the zone of alienation proper, or only with the other three zones around the disaster site where contamination is less intense and restrictions on the population looser (such as the district of Narodychi in Zhytomyrska Oblast).

For several years, tour operators have been bringing tourists inside the 30 km exclusion zone. Tourists are accompanied by tour guides at all times and are not able to wander too far on their own due to the presence of several radioactive "hot spots". Tourists can visit the abandoned town of Pripyat and view its overgrown streets.

Radioactive contamination

The territory of the zone is polluted unevenly. Spots of hyperintensive pollution were created first by wind and rain spreading radioactive dust at the time of the accident, and subsequently by numerous burial sites for various material and equipment used in decontamination. Zone authorities pay attention to protecting such spots from tourists, scrap hunters and wildfires, but admit that some dangerous burial sites remain unmapped and known only by memories of the liquidators.

Flora and fauna

There has been an ongoing scientific debate about the extent to which flora and fauna of the zone were affected by the radioactive contamination that followed the accident.

Near the facility, a dense cloud of radioactive dust killed off a large area of pine trees; the rusty orange color of the dead trees led to the nickname "The Red Forest" (Рудий ліс). The Red Forest was among the world's most radioactive places. To reduce the hazard, the Red Forest was bulldozed and the highly irradiated wood was buried—though the soil continues to emit significant radiation.

Cases of mutant deformity in animals of the zone include partial albinism and other external malformations in swallows and insect mutations. A study of several hundred birds belonging to 48 different species also demonstrated that birds inhabiting highly radioactively contaminated areas had smaller brains compared to birds from clean areas. There have been claims of other animal mutations from individual eyewitness reports, although none have been verified.

A reduction in the density and the abundance of animals in highly radioactively contaminated areas has been demonstrated for several taxa, including birds, insects and spiders, and mammals. In birds, which are an efficient bioindicator, species diversity decreases 50 percent in radioactively contaminated areas compared to clean areas, while abundance decreases by two thirds.

There have been reports that wildlife has since flourished due to significant reduction of human impact. For this reason, the zone is considered by some as a classic example of an involuntary park. Some claim that the populations of traditional Polesian animals (such as wolves, badger, wild boar, roe deer, white-tailed eagle, black stork, western marsh harrier, short-eared owl, red deer, moose, great egret, whooper swan, least weasel, common kestrel and beaver) have multiplied enormously and begun expanding outside the zone. These claims, however, are not substantiated by any systematic census of any animal taxon.

The area also houses herds of wisent (European bison, native to the area) and Przewalski's horses (foreign to the area, as tarpan was the native wild horse) released there after the accident. Some accounts refer to the reappearance of extremely rare native lynx, and there are videos of brown bears and their cubs, an animal not seen in the area for more than a century. Special game warden units are organized to protect and control them. No scientific study has been conducted on the population dynamics of these species.

The rivers and lakes of the zone pose a significant threat of spreading polluted silt during spring floods. They are systematically secured by dikes.

Grass and forest fires

It is known that fires can make radioactivity mobile again. In particular V.I. Yoschenko et al. reported on the possibility of increased mobility of caesium, strontium, and plutonium due to grass and forest fires. As an experiment, fires were set and the levels of the radioactivity in the air downwind of these fires was measured.

Grass and forest fires have happened inside the contaminated zone, releasing radioactive fallout into the atmosphere. In 1986 a series of fires destroyed 2,336 ha (5,772 acres) of forest, and several other fires have since burned within the 30 km (19 mi) zone. A serious fire in early May 1992 affected 500 ha (1,240 acres) of land, including 270 ha (670 acres) of forest. This resulted in a great increase in the levels of caesium-137 in airborne dust.

In 2010, a series of wildfires affected contaminated areas, specifically the surroundings of Bryansk and border regions with Belarus and Ukraine. The Russian government claims that there has been no discernible increase in radiation levels, while Greenpeace accuses the government of denial.

Infrastructure

The industrial, transport, and residential infrastructure has been largely crumbling since the 1986 evacuation. There are at least 800 known "burial grounds" (Ukrainian singular: mohyl'nyk) for the contaminated vehicles with hundreds of abandoned military vehicles and helicopters. River ships and barges lie in the abandoned port of Chernobyl. The port can easily be seen in satellite images of the area. The Jupiter Factory, one of the largest buildings in The Zone, was in use until 1996 but has since been abandoned and its condition is deteriorating.

However, the infrastructure immediately used by the existing nuclear-related installations is maintained and developed, such as the railway link to the outside world from the Semykhody station used by the power plant.

"Chernobyl-2"

The Chernobyl-2 site (a.k.a. "The Russian Woodpecker") is a former Soviet military installation relatively close to the power plant, consisting of a gigantic transmitter and receiver belonging to the Duga-3 over-the-horizon radar system. Located 2 km from the surface area of Chernobyl-2 is a large underground complex that was used for anti-missile defense, space surveillance and communication, and research. Military units were stationed there.

Media depictions