The Chernobyl Nuclear
Power Plant Zone of Alienation
is an officially designated exclusion
zone around the site of
the Chernobyl nuclear reactor
disaster.
The Exclusion Zone covers
an area of approximately 2,600
km2 in Ukraine immediately
surrounding the Chernobyl
Nuclear Power Plant where
radioactive contamination is
highest and public access and
habitation are restricted.
The Exclusion Zone’s purpose
is to restrict access to hazardous
areas, reduce the spread
of radiological contamination,
and conduct radiological and
ecological monitoring activities.Today,
the Exclusion Zone
is one of the most radioactively
contaminated areas in the world
and draws significant scientific
interest for the high levels of
radiation exposure in the environment,
as well as increasing
interest from tourists.The zone
has become a thriving sanctuary
with natural flora and fauna
with some of the highest biodiversity
and thickest forests
in all of Ukraine.This is due to
the lack of human activity in the
Exclusion Zone and is despite
the radiation.
The Chernobyl Exclusion
Zone was the site of fighting
between Russian and Ukrainian
forces during the Battle
of Chernobyl on 24 February
2022, as part of the Russian invasion
of Ukraine.
Geographically, it includes
the northernmost raions (districts)
of the Kyiv and Zhytomyr
oblasts (regions) of Ukraine.
EXCLUSION ZONE
UKRAINE
<10
<0,1
5 –10
1 – 5
0,1 – 1
microsieverts
per hour
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Duga-1 is one of the threeSoviet “over the horizon” ra-dar stations. A system made forearly detection of attacks by
ballistic rockets. The array sta-tion was hidden in forest tog-ether with the secret militarytown Chernobyl-2.
DUGA-1 RADAR STATION
Chernobyl is situated to the
north of Ukraine close to the border
with Belarus. Prior to the nuclear
disaster, the city had a population
of 14,000. It was largely
abandoned in 1986 as the exclusion
zone was established (the city
of Slavutych was built specifically
for the evacuated population) and
in 2010 it had a registered population
of only 500.
CHERNOBYLThe Vector radioactive waste storage complex is located
17 kilometers from the Chernobyl nuclear power
plant. Its capacities are sufficient to ensure the
decontamination process and subsequent storage of
radioactive fuel waste concentrated in the territory of
the exclusion zone itself.
Experts note that today there are about three million
cubic meters of such radioactive materials in the
exclusion zone. The complex includes a storage facility
for the disposal of radioactive waste in reinforced
concrete boxes, as well as facilities for the disposal of
waste in bulk.
THE VEKTOR COMLEX
Welcome to
Chernobyl
Explorer series
Extraordinary guides
To unusual places
For curious tourists
TRAVEL BACK TO THE 1980’S AND SEE WITHYOUR OWN EYES
HOW THE CITY OF PRIPYAT SURVIVED THE ATOMIC DISASTER
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The Chernobyl Amusement Park was never used
by residents of the city as it was due to open on 1st
May 1986 (five days after the accident).
The park contains a large Ferris wheel, now synonymous
with the deserted city, bumper cars, a
parachute ride, a shooting range, and more.
AMUSEMENT PARK
Before the accidents, there were
five schools: one for each of the
five districts of the city. Usual�ly,
they were built in the middle
of the district so that it would be
comfortable for all the people to
reach the school.
The school No
3, right next to the
Azure swimming pool, is one of
the most photographed buildings
in Pripyat with the hundreds of gas
masks covering its canteen’s floor.
SCHOOLS
Pripyat hospital was used for staff and
families of plant workers. It included an
accident and emergency department,
operating theatres and maternity ward.
The hospital was used to treat firefighters
with radiation burns in the aftermath
of the Chernobyl accident. However, it
was not set up to deal with such a situation,
and eventually, patients were moved
to hospitals in Moscow and elsewhere
in the Soviet Union for treatment.
HOSPITAL
Pripyat Swimming Pool had
a flourishing swimming team
until the disaster at the nuclear
power plant in 1986.
Until 1998 this pool was beautiful
and in full use. Clean and
inviting for the liquidators who
were tasked with clearing the
radioactive material from the
city of Pripyat in Ukraine. But 12
years after the disaster, when
the final liquidators left, it was
abandoned along with the rest
of the city.Today the pool is one
of the cleanest places in the city
in terms of radioactivity.
SWIMMING POOL
The hotel was built in the
mid-1970s to house delegations
and guests visiting Pripyat
and the Chernobyl Power
Plant. In the process of eliminating
the consequences of
the disaster,the hotel building
was used by the liquidators.
From the hotel roof, the Power
Plant was clearly visible.
HOTEL POLISSYA
The stadium was, along with
the pool, the most important
object of the city’s sports infrastructure.
In the aftermath of
the accident, the stadium was
used as a landing pad for helicopters.
Later, a meteorological
station was placed on the
football field for monitoring
the radiation.
AVANHARD STADIUM
The city hall housed a
number of local and reginal
government organizations.
It was the main administrative
institution of
Pripyat. After the disaster
the offices were home to
several enterprises that
dealt with the aftermath of
the disaster.
PRIPYAT CITY HALL
It was built during the 1970s and
designed as a focal point for people
to enjoy a range of recreational
and artistic activities all under the
banner, quite literally in many cases,
of political propaganda.
The name “Energetik” is a play
on words, as it means both “lively”
and is the term for power plant
workers as well. It used to house a
cinema,theatre,library,basketball
court, swimming pool, boxing/
wrestling ring, dancing and meeting
halls – and even had a shooting
range in the basement.
PALACE OF CULTURE
It was officially a manufacturer
of cassette recorders and
components for home appliances,
but the factory secretly
produced semiconductor components
for the military, and
had test workshops for robotic
systems.
The factory opened in 1980
and employed around 3,500
people and became the second
employer in the area after the
power plant.
JUPYTER FACTORY
Even though Pripyat was a modelcity, it did have some crime, but therate was pretty low.
The local fire brigade had a mainrole in fighting the accident. Theywere the first to arrive. The followingweeks the police officers didn’t leavetheir posts. They were reporting thesituation and helping with the evacua-tion. Until 1997 the police protectedthe city against looters.
POLICE AND FIRE STATION
Standing proudly on thebeautiful shoreline of a vastlake, Cafe Pripyat, or “the Dish”as it was affectionately knownby locals, was naturally a popu-lar destination.
The average age in Pripyatwas 26, so the inhabitants werelikely to enjoy the round sun-drenched terrace that over-looked the water – the perfectplace for chating and drinking.There is an observation plat-form located on the roof of thecafe as well,which provided thevisitors with a 360-degree view.
CAFÉ PRIPYAT
MAP OF PRIPYAT
WE recommend
...to take the dashed route
entering from the southeast of
the city.This way you will have
the chance to see the most
prominent sights of Pripyat in
the shortest possible time.
Named after the nearby river,
Pripyat, it was founded on 4 February
1970 as the ninth atomgrad
to serve the nearby Chernobyl
Nuclear Power Plant, which is located
in the adjacent ghost city of
Chernobyl.
Pripyat was officially proclaimed
a city in 1979 and had grown to a
population of 49,360 by the time
it was evacuated on the afternoon
of 27 April 1986, one day after the
Chernobyl disaster.
Pripyat is also supervised by the
State Emergency Service of Ukraine,
which manages activities for
the entire Chernobyl Exclusion
Zone, and is administered directly
from the capital of Kyiv.
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Viewing
point
water surface
roads
pipes
buildings
Sarcophagus
reactors I.- IV.
1. Fire station
2. Liquid radioactive waste processing
3. Underground Tanks for liquid waste of the cooling water
4. Administration building
5. Canteen
6. Heating plant
7. Oil warehouse
Map of the power plant
The towers were built to evaporate
the cooling water from
the two newly built reactors (no.
5,no.6).They are set outside the
plant. The existing reactors of
the power plant had no cooling
towers because they cooled the
condenser with water from the
Pripyat River in open-cycle. In
the end the towers were never
completed.
COOLING TOWERS
To search for a suitable site for a nuclear power plant started in 1965
by the ‚TeploElektroProekt Institute’.The site was built 4 km from the
village of Kopachi in the Chernobyl region, 15 km from the city of Chernobyl
near theYaniv station.
The completion of the first reactor in 1977 was followed by Reactor
2 in 1978. Reactor 3 was inaugurated in 1981, and 4 in 1983. Reactor
No. 4 was the site of the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.Two more blocks,
numbered five and six, were planned at a site roughly a kilometer from
the contiguous buildings of the four older blocks.
On April 26, 1986, the Chernobyl disaster occurred at reactor No. 4.
As a result, Reactor No. 4 was completely destroyed, and therefore
enclosed in a concrete and lead sarcophagus, followed more recently
by a large steel confinement shelter, to prevent further escape of radioactivity.
Large areas of Europe were affected by the accident.The
radioactive cloud spread as far away as Norway.
After the explosion at Reactor No. 4, the remaining three reactors at
the power plant continued to operate, as the Soviet Union could not
afford to shut the plant down. In October 1991, reactor No. 2 caught
fire, and was subsequently shut down. In November 1996, following
pressure from foreign governments, reactor No. 1 was shut down. In
December 2000, reactor No. 3 was shut down after operating briefly
since March 1999. In April 2015, units 1 through 3 entered the decommissioning
phase.
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Two more reactors,capable of producing
1,000 MW each, were under
construction at the time of the accident.
They were scheduled to start
operating on November 7,1986.Furthermore
a 6th reactor was planned in
a new block of buildings scheduled
to be completed in 1994.
REACTORS 5 AND 6
The first construction and
installation work on reactor
5 began in 1981. Construction
continued throughout
the night of the explosion.
Construction work was
soon stopped but resumed
again on the 10th October
1986. Six months later on
the 24 April 1987 work was
once again halted and the
decision was made not to
complete the reactors.
After 23 years and one
day of operation, on December
15, 2000, the nuclear
power plant permanently
stopped generating electricity.
Currently, they are decommissioning
the nuclear
power plant and transform
the destroyed fourth power
unit into an environmental�ly
friendly system.
J.M.
The ‚Chernobyl Nuclear PowerPlant’ was officially named the‚Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Nuclear Po-wer Plant’. It had four active plants.Reactor 4 exploded in 1986.The re-maining three plants were eventu-ally shut down by 2000.
LENINNUCLEARPOWERPLANT
1. Fire station
2. Liquid radioactive waste processing
3. Underground Tanks for liquid waste of the cooling water
4. Administration building
5. Canteen
6. Heating plant
7. Oil warehouse
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Thermal energy is produced by nuclear
fission in the primary circuit.
Uranium oxide is compressed into
fuel pellets and packed into sealed
fuel rods. The fission of the uranium
is achieved by bombarding it with
neutrons.This leads to a chain reaction
which needs to be controlled
by control rods – when lowered
they absob the oversupply of neutrons.
The heat released during the
fission heats up the water in the reactor
vessel to a temperature of
320°C.
Steam drives one or more steam
turbines. These turbines consist of
blades installed on a shaft. The high
pressure of the steam causes the
shaft to rotate very fast.
The energy from the turbines drive
a generator, which ultimately produces
electricity.
Transformers increase the voltage of
the electricity produced by the generator,
allowing transportation of
the electricity to the end-users with
as little loss as possible.
The steam coming from the turbines
passes through a condenser
in order for it to cool down and then
the cooled water goes back to the
primary circuit beginning a new
cycle.
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ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
ABOUT NUCLEAR ENERGY
Steam drives one or more
steam turbines.These turbines
consist of blades installed
on a shaft.The high pressure
of the steam causes the shaft
to rotate very fast.
Transformers increase the
voltage of the electricity produced
by the generator, allowing
transportation of the
electricity to the end-users
with as little loss as possible.
The steam coming from the
turbines passes through a condenser
in order for it to cool
down and then the cooled water
goes back to the primary
circuit beginning a new cycle.
The energy from
the turbines drive
a generator, which
ultimately produces
electricity.
Thermal energy is produced by nuclear fission in the primary circuit. Uranium
oxide is compressed into fuel pellets and packed into sealed fuel rods.The fission of
the uranium is achieved by bombarding it with neutrons.This leads to a chain reaction
which needs to be controlled by control rods – when lowered they absob the
oversupply of neutrons.The heat released during the fission heats up the water in
the reactor vessel to a temperature of 320°C.
april 25, 1986
april 26, 1986
april 27 - 29, 1986
May 1986
August 1986
after 1986
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