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Chernobyl nuclear power plant exclusion zone. Damage radius of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

Where the power plant itself is located, the cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat, the north of the Polessky district of the Kyiv region (including the village of Polesskoye and the village of Vilcha), as well as part of the Zhitomir region up to the border with Belarus. The Narodichsky district in the Zhytomyr region has been outside the Chernobyl exclusion zone since June 2010.

Story

The exclusion zone was established shortly after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Three controlled territories were identified within the Zone:

Special zone (directly the Chernobyl NPP industrial site),
10 km zone.
30 km zone.

The population from the contaminated areas was evacuated. For the workers who remained to service the power plant and the Exclusion Zone, strict radiation control of transport was organized, and decontamination points were deployed. At the borders of the zones, a transfer of working people from one vehicle to another was organized to reduce the transfer of radioactive substances.

However, large areas of contaminated territories remained outside the 30-kilometer zone, and starting from the 1990s, a gradual resettlement of settlements in the Polesie region was carried out, in which the pre-accident level of radionuclide contamination exceeded the legal norms. So, by 1996 the towns were finally resettled. Polesskoye, town. Vilcha, s. Dibrova, s. New World and many others. Since 1997, this territory became part of the Chernobyl zone, was transferred under the management of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and included in the security perimeter.

By 2011, more than a third of the lands that were previously part of the exclusion zone were put into economic use in Belarus. The total area of such territories was 16.35 thousand km² out of 46.45 thousand km² withdrawn from economic circulation in 1986.

Description

The exclusion zone today is a surface open radioactive source. Within the radioactively contaminated territories, a number of works are being carried out to prevent the spread of radioactive contamination beyond the exclusion zone and the entry of radionuclides into the main reservoirs of Ukraine (Kiev Reservoir, Dnieper River, etc.).

The Ukrainian part of the exclusion zone and the zone of unconditional (mandatory) resettlement has an area of about 2598 km 2. Administrative center exclusion zone - the city of Chernobyl. Chernobyl is home to the Exclusion Zone Administration (AZO), which is a department of the Ministry of emergency situations. In the exclusion zone itself there are personnel of AZO enterprises, personnel of the Chernobyl NPP and a small number of civilians (self-settlers). The civilian population lives in 11 abandoned settlements X. The total civilian population does not exceed 300 people. The number of personnel working in the exclusion zone and at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is approximately 5,000 people, of which about 3,000 live in Slavutych.

On the territory of the zone there are 11 objects of the natural reserve fund of Ukraine. The modern exclusion zone is gradually turning into a reserve for rare animals. The presence of such rare species as bear, otter, badger, muskrat, lynx, deer, and Przewalski's horse has been established. Also found in huge numbers are moose, roe deer, wolves, foxes, hares, wild boars and bats. According to Sergei Gashchak from the Chernobyl Center for Nuclear Safety Problems, the organisms of wild animals themselves cope with both increased background and chemical pollution territory, and other negative factors. Thus, the removal of anthropogenic impact had a positive effect that was hundreds of times greater than the negative impact man-made disaster.

The modern territory of the exclusion zone is a place of illegal tourism - stalking. The problem of illegal entry into the exclusion zone has led to tougher administrative penalties, and the removal of objects from the zone entails criminal liability (Article 267-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

Radionuclides

In December 2010, the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, Viktor Baloga, organized an excursion to the exclusion zone for the administrator of the UN Development Program, Helen Clark.

On April 20, 2011, as part of events dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych, together with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and IAEA Director General Yukia Amano, visited the industrial site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

On April 26, 2011, on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev laid flowers at the foot of the memorial sign to the liquidators of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster and honored the liquidators with a minute of silence. On the same day, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Rus' served a funeral liturgy near the monument, and later performed a short Easter prayer service in the St. Elias Chernobyl Church.

On September 6, 2011, as part of an official visit to Ukraine, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was visited by a Japanese parliamentary delegation led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Japanese Parliament, Mr. Takahiro Yokomichi.

Current Status

According to Yuri Andreev, one of the operators of the second unit shield of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant during its activity and the liquidator of the consequences of the accident, in an interview with the BBC, the zone continues to settle in with self-settlers, some of whom are landless farmers who came there, took abandoned houses, They started their own farm there, live and work. According to the liquidator, “re-evacuation is already underway on its own.” In addition, the zone is still haunted by “looters who are still robbing abandoned houses, taking metal and slate from there, and drug addicts who are growing drugs in this zone.”

Notes

USSR Law of May 12, 1991 N2146-1 “On the social protection of citizens affected by the Chernobyl disaster.” economics.kiev.ua (May 12, 1991). Archived from the original on June 4, 2012. Retrieved March 30, 2012.
First Report to the IAEA. 1986 Chapter 5.8. Decontamination of the 30-kilometer zone.
http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/cgi-bin/laws/main.cgi?nreg=791%E0-12 Law of Ukraine “On the legal regime of the territory...”
An inventory of Chernobyl lands will be carried out in Belarus. Rosbalt (03/08/2011). Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2011.
Kotlyar, Pavel. Nature has taken Chernobyl into its hands (Russian), Infox.ru(April 26, 2010). Retrieved December 9, 2010.
Stalkers and a visit to Chernobyl and the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
Journalistic investigation of the problem of Chernobyl stalking in the exclusion zone
Criminal Code of Ukraine. (Ukrainian)
Lesya Golovata Chornobyl stalkers (Ukrainian). zaxid.net (26-04-10). Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved November 21, 2011. Translation of the article into Russian. inoforum.ru
Tatiana Ivzhenko Ukraine invites stalkers. Nezavisimaya Gazeta (December 17, 2010).

What is the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant?

The "Chernobyl nuclear power plant exclusion zone" is the officially designated exclusion area around the site of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Scientists believe that the release of radioactive substances accelerated the growth of some individuals, and since catfish are long-lived, their size reaches unprecedented levels with age.

More than thirty years have passed since the accident and the animals are already descendants of their irradiated ancestors, but eating such fish is still dangerous.

In Chernobyl you can visit the St. Elias Church and the castle from the times of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania.

In Pripyat, the main square is also of particular interest.

The interest in it is due to the fact that the amusement park in which the wheel is located never opened.

Its opening coincided with Labor Day on May 1, 1986, and the accident occurred five days before the scheduled opening date. All the park's attractions remained untouched.

It is not possible to dismantle and install them in other parks. They still emit background radiation tens of times higher than normal.

Pollution of the exclusion zone

The level of radiation (cesium-137, strontium-90, americium-241 and plutonium-239) at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and Pripyat is 2-2.5 times higher than the established standards.

Chernobyl nuclear power plant contamination zone map

The Chernobyl exclusion zone is managed by Civil service Ukraine for emergency situations, while the power plant itself and its sarcophagus (and replacement) are carried out separately.

Due to the fact that the bulk of the contaminated areas were still outside the 30-km zone, in the 1990s they gradually began to resettle settlements (94 in total), since the permissible standards were still exceeded there.

Over the course of 6 years, most of the villages were finally resettled. In 1997, this territory was included in the Chernobyl exclusion zone and transferred under the management of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and, accordingly, began to be protected.

Exclusion zone today

In the city there are working shops, a “dorm” and a “canteen”. Also living in the exclusion zone are local residents from among the returnees (up to 500 people).

They are located in several villages of the territory and lead a secluded lifestyle, although there is no other way of life here.

There is no electricity in the territory, and there is also no food supply. People who have decided to return to their homes are engaged in agriculture, hunting and fishing.

If animals have a lower radiation background and eating them is at least somehow possible, then the soil is very polluted.

The soil is so polluted that it takes several thousand years to clean it up. For this reason, growing food in the exclusion zone is a bad idea.

The exclusion zone is a fairly visited site by tourists; people come here from all over the world.

Tourist exclusion zone

There are agencies through which you can get to Chernobyl or Pripyat, the “Rusty Forest” and a number of other objects of the exclusion zone.

Rusty or red forest

This is an area of 10 square kilometers adjacent to the territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Released into the atmosphere radioactive substances were partially absorbed by the trees, which led to their death, as well as their coloring in a brown-red color.

Coloring occurred within 30 minutes of the explosion. Some claim that dead trees glow at night.

As part of the work to clean up the area from radiation contamination, the forest was cut down and buried.

Now the forest is being restored naturally. Radiation loads on pine as a result of the Chernobyl accident occurred during the period of tree growth.

During this period, the radiosensitivity of plants increases by 1.5-3 times compared to other periods.

The crown of pine trees is quite dense and is an effective filter, which contributed to the retention of a significant amount of radioactive dust and aerosols in the crowns of these trees.

Pine does not shed its needles for 2-3 years, which causes a slow natural cleaning of the crowns compared to deciduous trees.

This factor increased radiation damage to conifers compared to other tree species.

As a result of the release of radioactive substances and the degree of their impact on the trees, the forest was divided into several zones:

An area of complete death of coniferous trees with partial damage to deciduous trees (the so-called “Red Forest”). The levels of absorbed doses (according to scientists' calculations) for external gamma irradiation in 1986-1987 were 8000-10000 rad with a maximum exposure dose rate of 500 mR/hour and more. The area of this zone is about 4.5 thousand hectares. In this zone, the above-ground organs of the pine tree died completely, and the needles became brick-colored. The entire forest practically “burnt down”, accumulating significant volumes of radioactive emissions.
A zone of sublethal forest lesions in which from 25 to 40% of the trees died, and most of the forest undergrowth (1-2.5 m in height) also died. In 90-95% of trees, young shoots and buds are severely damaged and have died. The absorbed dose is 1000-8000 rad, the exposure dose rate is 200-250 mR/hour. The area of the zone was 12.5 thousand hectares, including pine forests - 3.8 thousand hectares.
Zone of moderate damage to the pine forest. This zone was characterized by damage mainly to young shoots, and the needles turned yellow only in certain areas of the branches. Slight morphological deviations in pine growth were also noted, but these plants retained their viability. The absorbed dose is 400-500 rad, the exposure dose rate is 50-200 mR/hour. The area of the third zone was 43.3 thousand hectares, including pine forests - 11.9 thousand hectares.
An area of mild damage, where individual anomalies in growth processes were noted. No visible damage was found on the pine trees. All trees retained normal growth and needle color. The absorbed dose was 50-120 rad, the exposure dose rate was 20 mR/hour.

Quite recently it was built for visitors, so there is already somewhere for hundreds of tourists to relax.

Which was the central object of the city of Pripyat. It had several sections, a hall where concerts were held and film shows were held. Not long ago a sign was lit on it.

A complex of buildings located over a large area. The complex had three buildings, the tallest being the administrative building, its height was eight floors.

The plant is a secret facility; what its employees were doing is still unknown.

for a day it costs from $79, but it is better to take a group tour, it will cost a couple of times cheaper, and you can also rent a personal dosimeter for $10.

By paying for the excursion, you will be able to visit the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the “city that does not exist” and some villages, and if the tour is multi-day, then other attractions.

While staying in the exclusion zone, a tourist will receive a dose of radiation comparable to an hour-long plane flight.

However, a longer stay is contraindicated; the longer a person is in contact with background radiation, the greater the impact on the body.

How many years have passed since the tragedy? The course of the accident itself, its causes and consequences have already been completely determined and are known to everyone. As far as I know, there is not even any double interpretation here, except in small things. Yes, you know everything yourself. Let me tell you some seemingly ordinary moments, but perhaps you haven’t thought about them.

Myth one: Chernobyl is remote from big cities.

In fact, in the case of the Chernobyl disaster, only an accident did not lead to the evacuation of Kyiv, for example. Chernobyl is located 14 km from the nuclear power plant, and Kyiv is located only 151 km from Chernobyl (according to other sources 131 km) by road. And in a straight line, which is preferable for a radiation cloud and 100 km will not be - 93.912 km. And Wikipedia generally gives the following data - the physical distance to Kyiv is 83 km, along roads - 115 km.

By the way, here's a complete map to complete the picture

Clickable 2000 px

IN During the first days of the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the battle against radiation was also waged on the outskirts of Kyiv. The threat of infection came not only from the Chernobyl wind, but also from the wheels of vehicles traveling from Pripyat to the capital. The problem of purifying radioactive water formed after the decontamination of cars was solved by scientists from the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute.

IN In April-May 1986, eight radioactive control points for vehicles were organized around the capital. Cars heading to Kyiv were simply sprayed with hoses. And all the water went into the soil. Reservoirs were built in a fire emergency to collect used radioactive water. In just a matter of days they were filled to the brim. The capital's radioactive shield could turn into its nuclear sword.

AND only then the leadership of Kyiv and the headquarters civil defense agreed to consider the proposal of polytechnic chemists to purify contaminated water. Moreover, there have already been developments in this regard. Long before the accident, a laboratory was created at KPI to develop reagents for cleaning waste water, which was led by Professor Alexander Petrovich Shutko.

P The technology proposed by Shutko’s group for disinfecting water from radionuclides did not require the construction of complex treatment facilities. Decontamination was carried out directly in the storage tanks. Within two hours after treating the water with special coagulants, radioactive substances settled at the bottom, and the purified water met the maximum permissible standards. After that, only radioactive fallout was buried in a 30-kilometer zone. Can you imagine if the problem of water purification had not been solved? Then many eternal burial grounds with radioactive water would be built around Kyiv!

TO Unfortunately, Professor A.P. Shutko. He left us at just 57 years old, just 20 days short of the tenth anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. And the chemist scientists who worked with him side by side in the Chernobyl zone, for their dedicated work, managed to receive the “title of liquidators”, free travel in transport and a bunch of diseases associated with radiation exposure. Among them is Associate Professor of the Department of Industrial Ecology of the National Polytechnic University Anatoly Krysenko. It was to him that Professor Shutko was the first to suggest testing reagents for purifying radioactive waters. Working with him in Shutko’s group were KPI Associate Professor Vitaly Basov and Lev Malakhov, Associate Professor at the Civil Air Fleet Institute.

Why is the Chernobyl accident, and the dead city is PRIPYAT?

There are several evacuated settlements located on the territory of the exclusion zone:
Pripyat
Chernobyl
Novoshepelichi
Polesskoe
Vilcha
Severovka
Yanov
Kopachi
Chernobyl-2

Visual distance between Pripyat and Chernobyl nuclear power plant

Why is only Pripyat so famous? This is simply the largest city in the exclusion zone and the closest to it - according to the last census conducted before the evacuation (in November 1985), the population was 47 thousand 500 people, more than 25 nationalities. For example, only 12 thousand people lived in Chernobyl itself before the accident.

By the way, after the accident Chernobyl was not abandoned and completely evacuated like Pripyat.

People live in the city. These are EMERCOM officers, police officers, cooks, janitors, and plumbers. There are about 1500 of them. It's mostly men on the streets. In camouflage. This is the local fashion. Some apartment buildings are inhabited, but people do not live there permanently: the curtains are faded, the paint on the windows is peeling, the windows are closed.

People stay here temporarily, work on shifts, and live in dormitories. Another couple of thousand people work at the nuclear power plant; they mostly live in Slavutich and go to work by train.

Most work in the zone on a rotational basis, 15 days here, 15 days outside. Locals say average salary in Chernobyl it is only 1,700 UAH, but this is very average, some have more. True, there is nothing special to spend money on here: you don’t need to pay for utilities, housing, food (everyone is fed three times a day for free, and not bad). There is one store, but the choice there is small. There are no beer stalls or any entertainment at the sensitive facility. By the way, Chernobyl is also a return to the past. In the center of the city stands Lenin in full height, a monument to the Komsomol, all the street names are from that era. In the city, the background is about 30-50 microroentgen - the maximum permissible for humans.

Now let’s turn to the blogger’s materials vit_au_lit :

Myth two: lack of attendance.

Many people probably think that the only people who go to the accident zone are radiation seekers, stalkers, etc., but normal people They will not approach this zone closer than 30 km. How fitting they are!

The first checkpoint on the road to the plant is Zone III: a 30-kilometer perimeter around the nuclear power plant. At the entrance to the checkpoint, such a line of cars lined up that I couldn’t even imagine: despite the fact that the cars were allowed through the control in 3 rows, we stood for about an hour, waiting for our turn.

The reason for this is the active visits by former residents of Chernobyl and Pripyat in the period from April 26 to the May holidays. They all go either to their previous places of residence, or to cemeteries, or “to the graves,” as they also say here.

Myth three: closedness.

Were you sure that all entrances to the nuclear power plant are carefully guarded, and no one except maintenance personnel is allowed in, and you can only get inside the zone by stepping on the guards’ paw? Nothing of the kind. Of course, you can’t just drive through the checkpoint, but the police just issue a pass for each car, indicating the number of passengers, and go ahead and get exposed.

They say that before they also asked for passports. By the way, children under 18 years old are not allowed into the zone.

The road to Chernobyl is surrounded on both sides by a wall of trees, but if you look closely, you can see the abandoned dilapidated ruins of private houses among the lush vegetation. No one will return to them.

Myth four: uninhabitable.

Chernobyl, located between the 30- and 10-kilometer perimeters around the nuclear power plant, is quite inhabitable. The service personnel of the station and surrounding areas, the Ministry of Emergency Situations and those who returned to their former places live in it. The city has shops, bars, and some other amenities of civilization, but no children.

To enter the 10-kilometer perimeter, it is enough to show the pass issued at the first checkpoint. Another 15 minutes by car and we arrive at the nuclear power plant.

It's time to get a dosimeter, which my madam carefully provided me with, having begged this device from her grandfather, who was obsessed with this kind of gadgets. Before leaving vit_au_lit I took readings in the courtyard of my house: 14 microR/hour - typical indicators for an uninfected environment.
We put the dosimeter on the grass, and while we take a couple of shots against the backdrop of the flowerbed, the device quietly calculates itself. What did he intend there?

Heh, 63 microR/hour - 4.5 times more than the average city norm... after that we get advice from our guides: walk only on the concrete road, because... The slabs are more or less cleared, but don’t get into the grass.

Myth five: the inaccessibility of nuclear power plants.

For some reason, it always seemed to me that the nuclear power plant itself was surrounded by some kilometer-long perimeter of barbed wire, so that God forbid some adventurer would come closer to the station than a few hundred meters and receive a dose of radiation.

The road leads us straight to the central entrance, where regular buses arrive from time to time, transporting plant workers - people continue to work at the nuclear power plant to this day. According to our guides, several thousand people, although this figure seemed too high to me, because all the reactors had long been shut down. Behind the workshop you can see the pipe of the destroyed reactor 4.

The area in front of the central administrative building has been converted into one large memorial to those killed during the liquidation of the accident.

The names of those who died in the first hours after the explosion are carved on the marble slabs.

Pripyat: that same dead city. Its construction began simultaneously with the construction of the nuclear power plant, and it was intended for plant workers and their families. It is located some 2 kilometers from the station, so it suffered the most.

There is a stele at the entrance to the city. In this part of the road the radiation background is the most dangerous:

257 microR/hour, which is almost 18 times higher than the city average. In other words, the dose of radiation that we receive in 18 hours in the city, here we will receive in an hour.

A few more minutes and we reach the Pripyat checkpoint. The road runs close to the railway line: in the old days, the most ordinary passenger trains ran along it, for example Moscow-Khmelnitsky. Passengers traveling this route on April 26, 1986 were then issued a Chernobyl certificate.

People are allowed into the city only on foot; we were never able to get permission to travel, although the guides had IDs.

Speaking of the myth of non-attendance. Here is a photo taken from the roof of one of the high-rise buildings on the outskirts of the city, near the checkpoint: among the trees you can see cars and buses parked along the road leading to Pripyat.

And this is what the road looked like before the accident, during the time of the “living” city.

The previous photo was taken from the roof of the rightmost of the 3 nine areas in the foreground.

Myth six: The Chernobyl nuclear power plant does not work after the accident.

On May 22, 1986, by resolution of the Central Committee of the CPSU and the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 583, the commissioning date for power units No. 1 and 2 of the Chernobyl NPP was set as October 1986. Decontamination was carried out in the premises of the power units of the first stage; on July 15, 1986, its first stage was completed.

In August, at the second stage of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, communications common to the 3rd and 4th units were cut, and a concrete dividing wall was erected in the turbine room.

After the work was completed to modernize the plant's systems, provided for by the measures approved by the USSR Ministry of Energy on June 27, 1986 and aimed at improving the safety of nuclear power plants with RBMK reactors, on September 18, permission was received to begin the physical start-up of the reactor of the first power unit. On October 1, 1986, the first power unit was launched and at 16:47 it was connected to the network. On November 5, power unit No. 2 was launched.

On November 24, 1987, the physical start-up of the reactor of the third power unit began; the power start-up took place on December 4. On December 31, 1987, by decision of the Government Commission No. 473, the act of acceptance into operation of the 3rd power unit of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant after repair and restoration work was approved.

The third stage of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, unfinished power units 5 and 6, 2008. Construction of the 5th and 6th blocks was stopped with a high degree of readiness of the facilities.

However, as you remember, there were many complaints from foreign countries regarding the operating Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

By the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated December 22, 1997, it was recognized as expedient to carry out early decommissioning power unit No. 1, shut down on November 30, 1996.

By the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine dated March 15, 1999, it was recognized as expedient to carry out early decommissioning power unit No. 2, shut down after an accident in 1991.

From December 5, 2000, the reactor's power was gradually reduced in preparation for shutdown. On December 14, the reactor was operated at 5% power for the shutdown ceremony and December 15, 2000 at 13:17 By order of the President of Ukraine, during the broadcast of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant - National Palace "Ukraine" teleconference, by turning the fifth level emergency protection key (AZ-5), the reactor of power unit No. 3 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was stopped forever, and the station stopped generating electricity.

Let's honor the memory of the heroic liquidators who, without sparing their lives, saved other people.

Since we're talking about tragedies, let's remember The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -

We are publishing material that Belarusian journalist Vasily SEMASHKO prepared for the site based on the results of his numerous trips to the Belarusian segment of the Chernobyl zone beyond recent years.

The photographs in the text were taken by Vasily Semashko (color) and Sergei Plytkevich (black and white). You can view photos in full size by left-clicking on them.

Polesie Nature Reserve

Belarusian eastern Polesie is part of the largest swamp in Europe, located along the banks of the Pripyat River.

Flat terrain, impassable swamps, partially destroyed by land reclamation in the 1960s-1970s, sandy islands with pine forests, deep Pripyat with countless labyrinths of channels on both banks, where in some places there are natural beaches with amazingly white quartz sand.

Pripyat River flood

The Chernobyl disaster divided life here into “before” and “after”. “Before” - a calm, measured life, when people from Belarusian villages went to Pripyat to go shopping, and some of the Belarusians even worked at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. “After” is what can be seen now.

Plans for the evacuation of the population from the 30-km zone in the event of an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant were developed long before the accident, which generally confirmed the correctness of these calculations. The population from this zone was evacuated in the first days of the disaster.

The zone was partially surrounded by a barbed wire fence, and in 1988 it was declared a nature reserve. Judging by the presence of plastic insulators on the wooden posts, an alarm system was provided. The remains of this fence, already fallen down, can still be seen in some places both in Belarus and Ukraine.

Later it became clear that the radioactive fallout was extremely uneven. There are practically clean places in the 30-kilometer zone, and in some places people had to be resettled as far as 150 kilometers away. Because of this, in Belarus the boundaries of the resettlement zone were adjusted until 1992.

Also, when resettling in Belarus, they tried not to touch regional centers and some important roads. As a result, the boundaries of the resettlement zone turned out to be very tortuous. Thus, the border of the restricted zone lay next to the busy Khoiniki-Bragin highway and further along the outskirts of Bragin.

The Polesie State Radiation-Ecological Reserve was organized in 1988 in the Belarusian part of the exclusion zone on the territory of the three regions of the Gomel region that were most affected by the disaster - Braginsky, Khoiniki and Narovlyansky.

On the territory of the reserve there are 96 abandoned settlements, where more than 22 thousand residents lived before the accident. The administration of PGREZ is located in the city of Khoiniki.

Initially, the area of the PGREZ was 1313 km 2 . After the annexation of part of the adjacent resettled territory to it in 1993, the area of the reserve is 2154 km 2, which turned it into the largest in Belarus.

About 30% of the cesium-137, 73% of strontium-90, 97% of plutonium isotopes 238, 239, 240 that fell on the territory of Belarus are concentrated on the territory of the PGREP. The density of soil contamination reaches 1350 Ci/km 2 for cesium-137, 70 Ci/ km 2 - for strontium-90, 5 Ci/km 2 - for isotopes of plutonium and americium-241.

Due to the presence in ecosystems of significant quantities of long-lived isotopes of plutonium and americium, the main territory of the reserve cannot be returned to economic use even in the long term.

In the Polesie State Radiation-Ecological Reserve, 1251 plant species are registered, this is more than two-thirds of the country’s flora, 18 of them are listed in the International Red Book and the Red Book of the Republic of Belarus. The fauna includes 54 species of mammals, 25 species of fish, 280 species of birds. More than 40 species of animals are classified as rare and endangered.

The staff of the reserve is about 700 people, of which 10 are from academic degree. Annual costs for the reserve are approximately US$4 million.

Belarusian zone

In the first years after the accident, the main task of the guards was to prevent the looting of the property left behind. At that time, people did not realize the full significance of the disaster and hoped to return to their homes by the fall.

Initially, the checkpoint in the restricted zone was manned by police officers sent here on a two-week business trip, for whom this business trip turned into a two-week binge. Later, they were replaced by reserve staff from local residents, and order became a little better. Local police are also involved in protecting the reserve - their cars have a radiation hazard sign.

It was the Chernobyl disaster that became the impetus for the founding of the Ministry of Emergency Situations in Belarus. Created in 1990-1991 State Committee BSSR on the problems of the consequences of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (Goskomchernobyl of the BSSR), which in 1995 was reorganized into the Ministry of Emergency Situations and Protection of the Population from the consequences of the disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.

In 1998, the words “and protection of the population from the consequences of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant” in the name “Ministry of Emergency Situations” were abolished, and the State Committee for Chernobyl became part of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.

In 2001, for some reason, the State Chernobyl Committee was separated from the Ministry of Emergency Situations into separate structure under the Council of Ministers of Belarus, in order to then return it to the Ministry of Emergency Situations in 2006.

Now the main task of the reserve is to ensure a state of peace in the zone so that the fallen radionuclides are not transferred to the clean territory.

That is why the reserve operates in closed mode - any types of production activities are prohibited in the zone, and in general the presence of outsiders there is reduced to a minimum.

The Belarusian Chernobyl zone is divided into the following parts. Closer to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant there is an exclusion zone with the highest level radiation pollution. All human activity is prohibited in the exclusion zone.

Further from the epicenter there is an evacuation zone. Limited human activity is permitted here. Basically, this is planting forests to prevent wind erosion of the soil and blocking old irrigation canals to swamp the area to reduce the risk of fires.

For the same purpose, geodetic signals, which have become unnecessary with the development of satellite navigation, are brought into the zone from different regions of Belarus, which are used here as observation towers to detect fires.

These towers can also be used as a telephone call point - there is no cellular communication near the ground, but at an altitude of more than 20 meters - it works perfectly in any part of the zone. Moreover, in many places Ukrainian mobile operators are also caught.

Sometimes poachers visit the zone. Every year there are fewer and fewer of them - fines have increased significantly, the practice of confiscation of vehicles has begun, and security has begun to work better.

Unlike Ukraine, where so-called “Chernobyl tourism” is developed - organized excursions to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and visits to Pripyat - there is no such thing in Belarus, and there are no plans yet.

Those who need it for work, including journalists (not all), and also for the purpose of burying the deceased in their native places, are allowed into the zone with special permission. However, once a year anyone can visit the zone, as described below.

Babchin

If in the Ukrainian part of the Chernobyl zone there are relatively major cities Chernobyl and Pripyat, railway, then in Belarus there are only villages in which there were not even churches.

If in Ukraine the central entrance to the Chernobyl zone is the Dityatki checkpoint, then in Belarus it is the Babchin checkpoint, 20 kilometers from Khoiniki.

The reserve's scientific laboratories, a hotel for scientific personnel, and a fleet of vehicles for working in the zone are located here.

A variety of animals and plants capable of surviving in this climatic zone were brought into the reserve under strict protection - a kind of “Noah’s Ark”, where scientists conduct research, studying life in conditions of increased background and minimal human intervention. The value of such research is unique; there is no other place like it on Earth.

Movement in the zone is carried out along several roads, which are maintained by the administration.

The remaining roads have fallen into disrepair over more than a quarter of a century, not without the help of the reserve’s workers in order to prevent outsiders from entering. So, on some liquidated roads there is a chance to run into specially hidden harrows with their teeth pointing up - a surprise for poachers.

But the existing roads in the zone are asphalted and in good condition. Their distinguishing feature- lack of markings.

Chernobyl bison

A few kilometers from Babchin to the center of the zone there is another checkpoint with the Ukrainian name “Maidan”. There is a bison sanctuary located nearby.

After the creation of the reserve, bison were brought here from Belovezhskaya Pushcha, and over the following years they multiplied several times. In the Chernobyl bison sanctuary there is a fenced-off forester’s house, around which forest dwellers gather in winter.

About the sad

All villages in the zone have long been plundered. They were mostly robbed former residents, some of which were resettled to nearby relatively clean places.

They robbed us gradually. When the population was evacuated in 1986, they explained that they would return home in a few months. Families often left with small bags, leaving houses with their acquired property under protection padlock and a paper sticker with the stamp of the local police.

Some settled nearby in Khoiniki or Bragin, others - 400 kilometers away in the north of Belarus, and some were carried to the Moscow region.

Later, those who settled near the Chernobyl zone had the opportunity, legally or not, to remove their property from there. Along the way, they also seized the neighbors' property.

Thus, a resident of Khoiniki, talking about Chernobyl displaced people and pointing to the houses, explained: “This woman took a dozen bicycles from there, that woman dragged chandeliers, from that house she dragged several refrigerators and televisions...”.

10-15 years after the disaster, home-cooked wines could be seen in the cellars of abandoned villages. Now they are gone too.

Some houses manage to remove the galvanized sheet from the roof. And what remains of the situation is something that is of no practical value to the local population.

Closer to the center of the zone, houses were looted a little less. The remains of the situation show when life ended here - newspapers from the first days of May 1986 with holiday congratulations from the CPSU Central Committee, vodka bottles with a price of 5 rubles were left in the houses. 30 kopecks, glass bottles of milk, Pepsi-Cola, etc.

It was very interesting to find abandoned photographs, and sometimes negative black and white films, which recorded the life of the village.

Ceramic jugs are often found among household items, and in the storeroom I once saw bast shoes and a skein of bast.

Museum

The resettled villages are marked with memorial stones indicating the name, the number of people living there and the time of resettlement.

On their own initiative, the staff of the reserve made an excellent museum in Babchyn from household items. It’s a pity that it is formally located in a restricted area, and you can’t visit it without a special pass.

Chernobyl cemeteries

If the villages in the zone are dead, then some cemeteries are active. They bury those who once lived in these places. Once a year, several days on Radunitsa - the day of remembrance of the dead - is a day off in Belarus; cemeteries in the zone are open to free visits from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.

When entering the checkpoint, the data of the driver, his car, the number of passengers are copied and, according to the driver, the name of the former settlement where the car is heading is written down.

The latter is done for the safety of visitors. If something happens to the car, the administration will know where to look. Cellular coverage in the area at heights human size practically no effect.

These days in cemeteries large villages Employees of the reserve, police and the Ministry of Emergency Situations are on duty, whose main task is to monitor fire safety.

Formally, during the days of Radunitsa, it is allowed to visit only cemeteries without the right to walk around the abandoned village. But in reality, the days of Radunitsa are the only opportunity for most people to see the Belarusian Chernobyl zone.

The reserve's staff constantly maintains military graves in order. Moreover, in this matter they go a little overboard - they decorated the sculptural compositions with colored paints, which is why the monuments began to resemble giant children's toys.

When leaving the zone - radiation monitoring of the vehicle. If the background level is exceeded, the car is sent to the reserve's car wash. Another inspection of the trunk - it is prohibited to take anything out of the area. However, everything valuable was removed long ago.

On Radunitsa, in the cemeteries of abandoned villages, those who once lived here gather, and who are now scattered across different parts of Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Others have not seen each other for a quarter of a century. Someone brings children, or even grandchildren, showing them the huts where they once lived, and where only distant generations will be able to live safely.

I remember how a man took his granddaughter around the khmyznyak, telling him that here was the main street of the village of Borshchevka. Showing the looted house, he said that her grandmother lived here. Entering another looted house, wiping away a tear, I remembered how, as a child, I loved to lie on this stove.

And when from some house I brought a man a marriage certificate with a photograph of a girl, he beamed: “I once looked after her!”

Krasnoselye

For more than a quarter of a century in the forbidden zone, nature returned to its original state without human intervention.

Rural courtyards are so overgrown with weeds that in summer the houses are practically invisible. On the road you can often see wild boars, roe deer, foxes, wolves, and moose. There are a lot of snakes and vipers.

Noticed here interesting feature- storks do not settle in uninhabited villages. From the territory of Ukraine, where poachers had more freedom due to weak security, several Przewalski horses, which were once brought to Ukraine, moved to Belarus across the Pripyat River.

But no one has seen the famous Chernobyl mutants with which “couch travelers” like to scare people.

When I talked about this topic with biologists of the reserve, they said that under conditions of increased radiation, some organs in animals begin to work differently. When asked whether it was good or bad, they answered that it was neither good nor bad, but simply different.

The closer to the epicenter of the zone, the higher the radiation level. If at the border of the zone in Babchin the radiometer shows about 50 μR/h, then in the area of the village of Krasnoselye it is about 200 μR/h, and in some places up to 1000 μR/h.

Krasnoselye is located on a small sandy hill near Pripyat. On the hill there is a geodetic signal, from where in the distance you can see the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and several high-rise buildings in the city of Pripyat, which are 23 kilometers away.

There is a warning sign at this location indicating high levels of plutonium contamination. Plutonium-241 gradually decays into americium-241, which is highly soluble in water.

standing on observation deck 30-meter tower and surveying the huge plain, unsuitable for human life in the coming centuries, which was made by such a barely visible power unit on the horizon, you begin to realize that the peaceful atom is not a toy.

Masanas

Masany was the name of a small village on the very border with Ukraine, which runs along the edge of the village. Before the disaster, 21 families lived here. The Nazis tried to destroy Masan during the war, killing almost all the inhabitants. The village survived the war.

Once upon a time, some residents rode bicycles to work at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant or to Pripyat. From Masanov to the fourth power unit there are no more than 14 kilometers. If decontamination took place near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant with the removal of the top layer of soil, then in the Masanov area the hot particles remained untouched. It has one of the highest levels of radiation pollution on planet Earth.

And it was here in 1994 that it was decided to create a scientific station to monitor the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. A preserved house was chosen, the top layer of soil was removed from the surrounding area, and clean soil was brought in its place. A water well was drilled and conditions were created for a relatively safe life. A meteorological site was also built.

With the closure of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the priority of the Masany station became animal monitoring and flora. The area surrounding Masany very successfully combines all the existing features of Belarusian Polesie: nearby the Pripyat River with small channels and coastal lakes, swamps, low sand dunes, pine and deciduous forests, and a field.

Two scientists live in Masany on a permanent rotation basis, 10-12 days a month. Despite having their own well, they prefer to use imported water.

Previously, the village of Masany received electricity from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Now the station is powered by solar panels and a gas generator. Electricity is mainly needed for lighting, running a small TV, radio station and laptops. Due to the low power supply, all equipment and lighting at the station are switched to 12 V.

In addition to scientists, a dog and a cat permanently live at the station. They are periodically visited by wild boars and other wild animals.

Employee Andrey Razdorskikh

From the observation tower, especially in the afternoon, the buildings of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, the houses of Pripyat, and the huge receiving antenna of the abandoned Chernobyl-2 over-the-horizon station are clearly visible. At night, among the dark, uninhabited area, the glow of lighting above the Chernobyl nuclear power plant looks especially bright.

And among other things, the observation tower in Masany serves as a place to access the Internet - a kind of “high-level” Internet cafe, where you have to climb with a laptop.

The conditions at the Masana research station are peculiar, and so is the humor.

The paths along which employees often move are paved with wooden flooring. On the porch in front of the entrance to the house there is a depression with water for washing off dust from shoes.

The background here is one of the highest in the Chernobyl zone, higher than next to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The fact is that the territory immediately adjacent to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was thoroughly decontaminated. The contaminated soil is buried and clean soil is brought in its place. The same is done with asphalt. The high background near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant produces gamma radiation that penetrates the walls of the “shelter object” - the sarcophagus.

And at a distance of several kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, hot particles of the reactor contents remained untouched in the upper layer of soil. In other places in Masany, my radiometer showed 5000 microR/h.

The record background, according to scientists - I did not go to measure it myself - is 15,000 microR/h a few hundred meters from the research station near a dried out small oak tree, where a microscopic hot particle lies. This oak tree is well known to Belarusian radiologists who visit the zone. And in the first days after the disaster in the nearest villages, the background was much higher.

One of the scientists once said that when he really wanted fresh fish, despite its high radioactivity, he caught it in a small lake. Due to the fact that strontium-90 is not excreted from the body, it was necessary to carefully clean it from the bones where strontium accumulates.

The fish exceeds the norm for cesium-137 by tens or even hundreds of times. But cesium is well removed from the body, especially by consuming pectin. The lover of fresh fish had to rely on marshmallows and marmalade for two weeks.

If you bring elk antlers from these places, scientists advise covering them with varnish. When asked, they are surprised: “Is it really not clear? The horns are full of strontium, which produces beta radiation, and it is reduced in this way.” How did you not guess this yourself? However, for greater safety, experts advise keeping such horns at a distance of one and a half meters from you.

Tulgovichi

The village of Tulgovichi, Khoiniki district, has long become a landmark and place of pilgrimage for filming journalists.

The village is located more than 50 kilometers from the nuclear power plant and was resettled in 1991. But eight, mostly elderly residents, refused to leave their homes. The authorities did not insist.

The village has a working power line, a wired telephone connection, a car shop comes here once a week, a postal car bringing pensions, and their doctor regularly visits them.

Legally, that part of a large village where people live is not a Chernobyl zone forbidden for free access. Also, formally, residents of Tulgovich do not have the right to leave their “island” without the appropriate pass.

To visit Tulgovich, relatives of the “aboriginals” living there also have to obtain passes. And the villagers themselves don’t go out much - their age shows, leading an ordinary village life - they work in vegetable gardens, tend to livestock, fish on a small river flowing through the village, or go fishing in Pripyat.

Grandfather Ivan Shemenok became famous for making excellent moonshine, which the reserve’s employees regularly bought from him, and in such quantities that the management of the reserve had to fine his grandfather.

In Tulgovichi, I had a chance to see domestic pigs grazing among abandoned houses; judging by their thick fur and large fangs, one of the parents was a wild animal.

About 10 years ago, an Orthodox priest from Khoiniki tried to make a church out of an empty house in Tulgovichi. The candlestick replaced a basin of sand, the icons were from the printing house, and the towels were local.

Due to the small number of parishioners, the temple did not provide income; it was inconvenient for the priest from Khoiniki to travel here. As a result, the church was empty.

The background radiation in Tulgovichi is about 100 microR/h, with the norm being 20-25. This is not much for the Chernobyl zone. The food products grown here and the meat of local animals are higher than normal, but this does not prevent visiting relatives from taking away local delicacies “from their grandfather.”

During the post-Chernobyl years, the population of Tulgovich decreased by two people. In 10-15 years this village will become non-residential.

In 2013, the population of Tulgovichi decreased to three people. - Approx. website.

Borschevka and Dronki

And these are photographs from the village of Borshchevka. In the photo with snakes there is a common and rare black viper.

And now - the village of Dronki. This woman saw her home for the first time in more than 20 years. The house has no roof, it was stolen.

Radunitsa in Dronki. The graves in this area are decorated with towels. Firefighters make sure that there are no fires on this day.

About the present and the future

Several more people formally live on the territory of the Chernobyl zone, but these are in villages bordering the zone. In the late 1980s - early 1990s, during the turbulent times of the collapse of the USSR and interethnic conflicts, many empty houses on the outskirts of the Chernobyl zone were inhabited by refugees from many regions of the former USSR.

Then the authorities did not pay attention to the legality of residence - the village needed workers. Among these refugees there were many good specialists, including doctors.

The mysterious self-settlers secretly living in abandoned villages deep in the Belarusian part of the Chernobyl zone do not exist. It’s enough to look at the condition of those houses to understand that you won’t live there for long.

Only a professionally trained person can live secretly for a long time in the depths of a zone without power supply, without roads, taking serious measures to conceal himself, but older people cannot do this.

Otherwise, Robinson will be deported very quickly by the reserve's guards. And it’s easier to hide from the state in other places than in a protected area, where the smoke of a fire immediately attracts the attention of the guards.

The probable future of the Belarusian part of the Chernobyl zone seems like this. In some places the area will be reduced due to a decrease in the background. After a quarter of a century of desolation, fields are being plowed up near the very border of the zone; in adjacent villages, abandoned houses are completely demolished using the “green lawn” option according to the improvement program.

More polluted places will remain uninhabited for many generations.

Masao Yoshida died of esophageal cancer at age 58.

This phrase terrifies and at the same time arouses interest among millions of people around the world. Exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Movies, games and books on this topic are becoming hits. But not everyone knows where the boundaries of the zone lie. Let's try to figure it out and find out how things are now in the infected areas.

History of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

For a whole year, the designers were looking for a place for construction. Finally, near and not far from the Yanov station, unproductive lands were discovered. In 1970, V.P. was appointed director of the nuclear power plant. Bryukhanov and preparations for construction begin. A total of 4 power units are planned to be put into operation. While the construction of the station is underway, all the people involved in the project live in the nearby villages. At this time, the construction of a new city three kilometers from the station is in full swing.

Pripyat

The beautiful picturesque place promised to become a new home for 50 thousand people. The architects tried to turn a simple working-class town into a real resort. Many trees and green bushes surrounded multi-story buildings and recreation areas. A large park in the city center promised to become the most popular place and attract young children with fun attractions. To provide work for all residents, a huge Jupiter plant was built. People could always find a place in various enterprises.

The young city quickly became overgrown with shops and entertainment venues. The Prometheus cinema was open every day, and residents could go to a screening of a new film at any time. The Energetik cultural center was built for versatile and talented individuals. Amateur activities were encouraged and the club constantly ran clubs for children and adults. Its own palace of arts invited all art connoisseurs to visit the exhibition halls. Construction of the Palace of Pioneers and a new large cinema were in full swing. These buildings were not put into operation before the beautiful city became an exclusion zone for the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Sports city

The population of Pripyat consisted mainly of young people. Middle age- 26 years old. A lot of attention was paid to sports at that time. In connection with this, a huge stadium was built where football matches were held. Days off The stands were filled with residents and guests. There were several football teams in the city - youth and adult teams competed in the art of ball control. Later another stadium was built. There were three swimming pools for water sports enthusiasts. It is worth noting that in such a relatively small city there were as many as 10 gyms. Young people had a large choice and many opportunities to spend their free time usefully.

All the best for children

Much attention was paid to the little residents of Pripyat. 15 kindergartens, designed taking into account all possible requirements, opened their doors to 4980 children every day. Preschools were provided with everything necessary and were kept in top level. There were only five high schools, but this was enough for the young city. Each school had its own swimming pool and gym. 35 playgrounds were built for entertainment. Each district had a colorful town where children came to play and socialize with their peers.

The end of a fairy tale

On a warm April night in 1986, an explosion occurred. The residents did not pay attention to the slight vibrations in the ground and continued to sleep peacefully. At this time, a real apocalypse occurred at the station, which led to the formation of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The fourth reactor exploded after unsuccessful tests and was now actively releasing radioactive substances into the atmosphere. One worker died on the spot. The rest did not understand the danger and looked for comrades in the uranium hell. Fire brigade arrived in a matter of minutes, but, having assessed the scale of the disaster, she was forced to admit that they were not able to cope with such a mission. They were able to prevent the fire from reaching the third block and prevented an even greater scale of the disaster. Reports of the tragedy flew to Moscow. All that remained was to wait for the decision of senior management.

Big deception

In the morning, rumors about a fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant spread throughout the city. The townspeople did not attach any importance to this event of great importance. No one knew that the fourth reactor exploded at night. People walked calmly around the city and enjoyed the warm April rays of the sun. Children fussed in sandboxes and roadside dust. And at this time, radioactive substances penetrated their bodies in order to later remind themselves of various diseases. The appearance of soldiers and equipment in the city also did not cause a violent reaction. An announcement came up in passing that you should close all the windows and take iodine. There was no fear. People did not know about the treachery and the invisible enemy, they were not afraid. On the first day after the accident, there was still no talk about the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Evacuation

After 36 hours, residents heard a message from the announcer. The entire city was subject to temporary evacuation. The population should have taken documents and the most necessary things. There was no panic, and people calmly boarded the buses, fully confident that they would soon return home. Having turned off the gas and water, they took a minimum of luggage and set off on a long journey. At this time, they were already driving around the city and washing off radioactive dust from the roads. No one was allowed to leave in personal transport or take pets with them. The area of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant covered not only Pripyat, but also several dozen villages. Residents were preparing to plant crops when the order came to evacuate.

Stripping

As soon as the last bus disappeared from sight, a massive cleanup began in the city. The police and military began to shoot the animals, going around all the houses along the way. They quickly found people who refused to leave their apartment and forcibly took them out of the city. There was a lot of work ahead. While robots and people in overalls cleared the roof of the reactor, responsible workers cleared the apartments. Refrigerators, sofas, televisions and washing machines were flying from the windows. What people bought for a lot of money now had to be buried. Huge pits were filled with household appliances and furniture. Cars and motorcycles were buried in a special place. If you now look at the photo of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, you can see colossal parks of abandoned military equipment. IN at the moment All this stuff was stolen and taken away, but once it was an impressive picture.

Borders of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

In the first days, clear boundaries were established - 30 km around the station. The nearby forest turned red in a matter of days, and the military had to bury not only human property, but also trees. It looked pretty wild, but it was a necessary measure. The villagers had to endure the worst. Their houses were demolished and also buried in the ground. Never before has humanity seen such terrible pictures. Many photographs of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant have forever preserved these incredible events. After some time, the people realized that they had been cruelly deceived and would never be allowed to return to their homes. Some tried to break through the checkpoints, but law enforcement officers kept a watchful eye on the situation. Now it is no longer a secret that the most valuable things and equipment were taken out of Pripyat and sold by valiant policemen and their assistants. Somewhere in apartments there are still objects standing and contaminating their new owners with radiation.

Video footage and photographs of the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant at that time confirm the fact of looting on an unprecedented scale. While some heroes, at the cost of their health, threw graphite from the roof of the reactor, others threw other people's goods into cars and took them to sell. Both received certificates, gratitude and honors.

Animals in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant felt like real wild animals. They quickly became unaccustomed to people and went into the forest. Wild and free, they no longer allowed humans to approach them. Now wild cats roam the forests of Pripyat, and their population is increasing every year. Boars, hares, foxes and other animals underwent mutations, but survived the most terrible first years. Of course, their meat cannot be eaten, since they receive doses of radiation every day.

Secret objects in the exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant

There is only one object in the contaminated area, which is still carefully guarded. It no longer represents any secrecy and is guarded for only one reason - there are too many people who want to dismantle the structure and sell the metal. ZGRLS at one time cost Soviet Union 7 billion rubles and promised to serve faithfully for many decades. Thanks to this huge structure, the military could monitor the launch of missiles not only over Europe, but also over America. Its construction near nuclear power plant due to high energy consumption. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant itself cost the country twice as much as its neighbor, the reconnaissance plant. At the moment the building is rusting and standing idle.

Affected parties

Belarus took over most of the radioactive elements. The closest neighbor, which was located only 11 km from the nuclear power plant. Wind and precipitation in the first days after the accident created the Belarusian exclusion zone of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Photos from those years show how global the disaster was. 6.7 thousand sq. km. was recognized as a contaminated area and was subject to evacuation and resettlement. At the moment, 92 settlements belong to this group. Every year this figure is decreasing, but it is too early to talk about big changes.

Among the affected countries is Russia. In the Bryansk region, 4 villages were evacuated and 186 residents found refuge in other villages and cities. There are no other exclusion zones in Russia from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Several areas have been declared contaminated, but significant excesses of radiation standards are not currently observed.

Native land

In recent years everything more people began to return to their native places. Despite the fact that the level of radiation is still high and living in the Chernobyl zone is life-threatening, people move into houses and live ordinary life. Self-settlers, as they are called, start a farm and are not afraid to grow crops. Journalists with dosimeters regularly visit local residents. But the harsh Ukrainian villagers are not afraid of the crackling sound of the meter. They feel good and believe that native land will never kill them. For guests, they are always ready to open a jar of pickled mushrooms or cucumbers from their own garden. But they are not offended if visitors refuse treats. They understand someone else's fear.

Most of those who returned are old people who once lived here and could not survive parting with their home. From the younger generation you can only meet people without a fixed place of residence and criminals released from prison. The villages in which they settle are included in the list of exclusion zones of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. But no one has been trying to evict them for a long time. They will still return and stubbornly stand for their houses and plots.

Games with death

After the release of the computer game S.T.A.L.K.E.R, many people wanted to visit the exclusion zone. Basically, these are young people and those who like to tickle their nerves. They make their way through the borders in a roundabout way and go for a walk through the houses and businesses of Pripyat. Often, they do not have any means of protection against radiation. There are still a lot of “dirty” spots in the city and its surroundings, and getting into them can seriously deteriorate your health. There are daredevils who climb the ZGRLS and observe the local beauty from there. Any awkward movement and it will be impossible to save such extreme sports enthusiasts. But this does not stop researchers. Even a fine does not deter desperate stalkers. It will be many more years before the exclusion zone becomes safe for people. But, most likely, no one will ever live there...