Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone

Coordinates: 51°18′0″N 30°0′18″E / 51.3°N 30.005°E / 51.3; 30.005

1996 Chernobyl radiation map from CIA - 600 kilometres wide;
Red = Confiscated/Closed Zone
Pink = Permanent Control Zone
Light Pink = Periodic Control Zone
Orange = Unnamed zone

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone, which is sometimes referred to as The Chernobyl Zone, The 30 Kilometer Zone, The Zone of Alienation, or simply The Zone (Ukrainian official designation: Зона відчуження Чорнобильської АЕС, zona vidchuzhennya Chornobyl's'koyi AES, colloquially: Чорнобильська зона, Chornobyl's'ka zona оr Четверта зона, Chetverta zona) is the 30 km/19 mi exclusion zone around the site of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor disaster and is administered by a special administration under the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergencies. Geographically, it includes the northernmost raions (districts) of the Kiev and Zhytomyr Oblasts (provinces)^{[dubious – discuss]} of Ukraine, and adjoins the country's border with Belarus. A separately administered Belarusian zone continues across the border.

Purpose and status

Entrance in to the Zone of Alienation

Abandoned living blocks in the Zone.

The Exclusion Zone was established soon after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, in order to evacuate the local population and to prevent people from entering the heavily contaminated territory. The area adjoining the site of the disaster was originally divided into 4 concentric zones. The most contaminated zone had a radius of 30 km (19 mi) from the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The border of the zone was later adjusted to better parallel the locations of highest 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 recollections of the liquidators.

The zone is controlled by the Administration of the Alienation Zone within Ukraine's Ministry of Emergencies and Affairs of Population Protection from Consequences of Chernobyl Catastrophe. The territory of the zone is policed by special units of the MVS and (along the border line) the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. It is partly excluded from the regular civil rule.

Any residential, civil or business activities in the zone are legally prohibited and punishable. The only officially recognized exceptions are the functioning of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and scientific installations related to the studies of nuclear safety.

Approximately 3,000 workers are employed within the Zone of Alienation. Employees technically do not live inside the zone, but work shifts. 75% of the workers work 4-3 shifts (four days on, three off) and 25% work 15 days on, 15 off, as of 2009. The duration of shifts is strictly counted regarding the person's pension and healthcare issues. Everyone employed within the zone is monitored for internal bioaccumulation of radioactive elements.

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, 45 km (28 mi) east of the accident site.

Access to the zone for brief visits is possible, through guided day-tours available to the public from Kiev or by applying directly to ChernobylInterInform, a department of zone administration. Some evacuated residents of Pripyat, Chernobyl and smaller villages have established a remembrance tradition, which includes annual visiting of the former homes or schools, and Internet sites describing the past and present life of their childhood homes.^[1]

History

Historically and geographically, the zone is a heartland of the Polesia region—the birthplace of East Slavs. This predominantly rural woodland area was once home to 120,000 people, living in 90 communities (including the cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat), but is now mostly uninhabited. All settlements remain designated on geographic maps but marked as nezhyl. (нежил.) - "uninhabited".

Nature and infrastructure

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. No scientifically documented cases of mutant deformity in animals of the zone were reported other than partial albinism in swallows^[2][3] and insect mutations.^[4] There have been individual eyewitness reports of other animal mutations but no comprehensive statistical analysis has been completed to date. The cloud of heavily polluted dust left the Red Forest (Рудий ліс)—a strand of highly-irradiated pine wood near the plant which was subsequently bulldozed.

There have been reports that wildlife has flourished due to significant reduction of human impact.^[5] For this reason, the zone is considered by some as a classic example of an involuntary park. Populations of traditional Polesian animals (like 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. The area also houses herds of European wisent (native to the area) and Przewalski's Horses (foreign to the area, as tarpan was the native wild horse) released there after the accident. Even extremely rare native lynx have reappeared, 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.

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

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 largest "vehicle graveyard" and the port of Chernobyl can both easily be seen in satellite images of the area.^[6]

The railway line to the zone of alienation at Slavutych station.

However, the infrastructure immediately utilized 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”, a.k.a. “Duga-3”, is a former Soviet military installation relatively close to the power plant, consisting of a gigantic transmitter and receiver belonging to the Steel Yard Over-the-horizon radar system.^[7] The secrecy around this unit once provoked a rumour that it was the real cause of the disaster. According to Ukrainian TV, the base is now defunct and handed over to the Ministry of Emergencies. The rusting iron superstructures of the station are being considered for dismantling over the fears of their accidental collapse which would cause a microearthquake damaging the radioactive storages in the area.

The facility also includes a large underground bunker with several levels below ground designed to withstand a nuclear strike. It is capable of providing autonomous energy and food supply for at least 10 years.^{[citation needed]}

Current population

Thousands of residents refused to be evacuated from the zone or illegally returned there later. Over the decades this primarily elderly population has dwindled, falling below 400 in 2009. Approximately half of these resettlers live in the town of Chernobyl; others are spread in villages across the zone. After recurrent attempts at expulsion, the authorities became reconciled to their presence and even allowed limited supporting services for them. The population also includes some vagabonds and other marginalized persons from the outside world. These squatters (Uk. samosely, literally “self-settlers”) declare their strong commitment to the surrounding nature and rural lifestyle.

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.^[8]

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^[when?] 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.^[9]

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.^[10] 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. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that radioactivity in the area was tolerable to humans for a limited period.

Intruders

Looting and poaching

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 Prypiat, 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,^[11] as well as reinforced units assigned to these tasks. The introduced Przewalski's horse population has apparently fallen since 2005, due to poaching. ^[12]

Chernobyl stalking

Chernobyl stalking (Russian: Чернобыльское сталкерство), also known as Chernobyl tourism, is a new type of adventure tourism associated with entry into the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone to visit the abandoned enterprises, military installations, buried radioactive equipment, and villages and towns evacuated due to radiation in 1986. The main purpose of penetrating the exclusion zone is visiting the deserted city of Prypiat.^{[13][14][15][16]}

An early attention to what has become known as "Chernobyl stalking" was brought by Elena Filatova's online account about her alleged solo bike ride through the "zone". This gained her internet fame, but later was alleged to be fictional, as a guide claimed Elena was part of an official tour group. Regardless, her story had drawn attention of millions to the past nuclear tragedy. ^[17]

The term "stalking" here is derived from the Russian literary neologism "сталкер", based on the English word "stalker", introduced in the 1972 novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky entitled Roadside Picnic; see also section "Cultural references".

Tourism to the area became more common after Pripyat was featured in two popular video games: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. A significant increase in trespassing in the Exclusion Zone was a reason for prosecution of trespassers to become more severe. An article in the Penal Code of Ukraine was specially introduced,^[18][19] and horse patrols were added to protect the perimeter of the Chernobyl Zone.

Law enforcement agencies record about 300 infiltrations to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone annually.^{[citation needed]}

Cultural references

• The Movie Transformers: Dark of the Moon was partially located at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. The enemy machines had found this as a place to hide as nobody had ever been there in a long period of time. Soldiers were sent in to recover state secrets about what had actually happened on the moon landing.

• The plot of Martin Cruz Smith's Arkady Renko novel, Wolves Eat Dogs is centered on the detective's investigations in Zone, is driven by events connected with the disaster - and much of the book takes place within the Zone itself.

• The Photobook Chernobyl 1986 by Tom Bossi shows images of the exclusion zone and of the abandoned city of Pripyat.

• A science fiction video game series named S.T.A.L.K.E.R. by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World is set in the Zone of Alienation around Chernobyl (known as merely 'The Zone' within the games). It consists of the games Shadow of Chernobyl (2007), Clear Sky (2008), and Call of Pripyat (2010). Authentic photos and video footage from the zone were rendered into the graphics used in the games.^[20] The game was partially inspired by Stalker, a 1979 film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky, based on a 1972 novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky entitled Roadside Picnic. Both film and novel describe a mysterious and forbidden "zone", depopulated of human life by a disaster ascribed to pollution caused by an occasional "road stop" of aliens. Contrary to popular belief, the power plant depicted in one of the last shots of Tarkovsky's film is not Chernobyl; most of the movie was in fact shot in Estonia.^[21][22]

• Parts of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare take place in the Exclusion Zone, and the "Wasteland" map of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as well as the Special Op "Hidden", are based on the Exclusion Zone.

• In 2009 UK director Dave Ma filmed a documentary-style music video in and around the Zone of Exclusion. The video, for UK band Delphic's single 'This Momentary', depicted residents living inside the zone and images of the new settlements around the zone.

• In the fictional Atlantis series by Greg Donegan, the Chernobyl disaster was caused by a gate opening up nearby.

See also

• Chernobyl after the disaster
• List of Chernobyl-related articles
• Ministry of Emergencies (Ukraine)

References

1. ^ pripyat.com Community website for the ghost city of Pripyat
2. ^ Møller, A P; T A Mousseau (2001). "Albinism and phenotype of barn swallows (Hirundo rustica) from Chernobyl". Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution 55 (10): 2097–2104. ISSN 0014-3820. PMID 11761068. 
3. ^ Chernobyl 'not a wildlife haven' , by Mark Kinver, BBC News
4. ^ Field studies in the nuclear fallout areas from Chernobyl by Cornelia Hesse-Honegger
5. ^ Wildlife defies Chernobyl radiation, by Stefen Mulvey, BBC News
6. ^ Exploring The Chernobyl Dead Zone With Google Maps
7. ^ Photogallery of the Chernobyl-2 radar installation at pripyat.com
8. ^ Baker, Robert J. and Chesser, Roland K. "The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster And Subsequent Creation of a Wildlife Preserve". Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Vol.19, No.5, pp.1231-1232, 2000. http://www.nsrl.ttu.edu/chornobyl/wildlifepreserve.htm. Retrieved 2010-08-14. 
9. ^ UN plots Chernobyl zone recovery BBC news, Nov 21, 2007
10. ^ http://wikitravel.org/en/Chernobyl
11. ^ Chernobyl Souvenir Hunters May Become Convicts
12. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14277058
13. ^ Problem of Chernobyl stalking in Exclusion zone
14. ^ Yourself stalker in Russian (The investigation of a journalist on the problem of Chernobyl stalking in the exclusion zone)
15. ^ Postcard from hell - UK Guardian
16. ^ New Sight in Chernobyl's Dead Zone: Tourists, New York Times]
17. ^ "Account of Chernobyl Trip Takes Web Surfers for a Ride", by Mary Mycio Los Angeles Times, July 6, 2004
18. ^ http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/cgi-bin/laws/main.cgi?page=7&nreg=2341-14 introduced criminal article 267-1 of the Penal Code
19. ^ http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/cgi-bin/laws/main.cgi?page=2&nreg=80731-10 Penal Code
20. ^ S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
21. ^ Geopeitus.ee :: Tarkovski
22. ^ [ Nostalghia.com | The Topics :: Sharun - In Stalker Tarkovsky foretold Chernobyl ]

External links

• Vegetative life in Chernobyl zone of alienation
• 25 years of satellite imagery over Chernobyl

News and publications

• [Radioactive Wolves] - by PBS Documentary aired in the U.S. on Oct, 19 2011
• Wildlife defies Chernobyl radiation - by BBC News, 20 April 2006
• Picnic in the Death Zone - TV Documentary following Chernobyl scientists as they hunt for radioactive animals deep in the alienation zone
• Inside the Forbidden Forests 1993 The Guardian article about the zone
• The zone as a wildlife reserve

Images from inside the Zone

• Touring Chernobyl 25 Years Later
• Images of the exclusion zone and the abandoned city of Pripyat
• Panoramio.com - photos from Panoramio users
• Images from inside the Zone
• More images from inside the Zone
• Tour of the Zone in 2005
• 2008/09 Images and experiences from the zone
• The Lost City of Chernobyl Photos
• Wildlife photos of Chernobyl Exclusion zone - Exploration of polluted territory.
• Slide show of a visit to the Zone in April 2006 by a German TV team joint by Research Center Juelich
• A story of a motorcyclist riding through the zone by Elena Filatova with pictures taken during guided bus tour through the zone. - November 2004