Zone of alienation
Encyclopedia
Ukrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
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
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
and is administered by a special administration under the Ukrainian Ministry of Emergencies
Ministry of Emergencies (Ukraine)
The Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine is the main body in the system of central bodies of the executive power that provides realization of a state policy in a sphere of a civil defense, rescue, creation and functioning of the system of insurance fund documentation, utilization of radioactive...
. Geographically, it includes the northernmost raion
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
s (districts
Administrative divisions of Ukraine
Ukraine is subdivided into 24 oblasts , one autonomous republic, and two "cities with special status".- Overview :...
) of the Kiev
Kiev Oblast
Kyiv Oblast, sometimes written as Kiev Oblast is an oblast in central Ukraine.The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Kyiv , also being the capital of Ukraine...
and Zhytomyr
Zhytomyr Oblast
Zhytomyr Oblast is an oblast of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr.-History:The oblast was created as part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic on September 22, 1937....
Oblasts (provinces
Administrative divisions of Ukraine
Ukraine is subdivided into 24 oblasts , one autonomous republic, and two "cities with special status".- Overview :...
) of Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, and adjoins the country's border with Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. A separately administered Belarusian zone continues across the border.
Purpose and status
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
in 1986, in order to evacuate the local population and to prevent people from entering the heavily contaminated
Radioactive contamination
Radioactive contamination, also called radiological contamination, is radioactive substances on surfaces, or within solids, liquids or gases , where their presence is unintended or undesirable, or the process giving rise to their presence in such places...
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 liquidator
Liquidator (Chernobyl)
Liquidators , or "clean-up workers", is the name given in the former USSR to people who were called upon to work in efforts to deal with consequences of the April 26, 1986, Chernobyl disaster on the site of the event...
s.
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
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine
The Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine is the main body in the system of central bodies of exeecutive power that provides formation and realization of the state policy in the sphere of protection the rights and liberties of citizens, unlawful acts against the interest of society and state,...
and (along the border line) the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
State Border Guard Service of Ukraine is the border guard of Ukraine. It is an independent law enforcement agency of special assignment, the head of which is subordinated to the President of Ukraine...
. It is partly excluded from the regular civil
Civilian
A civilian under international humanitarian law is a person who is not a member of his or her country's armed forces or other militia. Civilians are distinct from combatants. They are afforded a degree of legal protection from the effects of war and military occupation...
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
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant or Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant is a decommissioned nuclear power station near the city of Pripyat, Ukraine, northwest of the city of Chernobyl, from the Ukraine–Belarus border, and about north of Kiev. Reactor 4 was the site of the Chernobyl disaster in...
and scientific installations related to the studies of nuclear safety
Nuclear safety
Nuclear safety covers the actions taken to prevent nuclear and radiation accidents or to limit their consequences. This covers nuclear power plants as well as all other nuclear facilities, the transportation of nuclear materials, and the use and storage of nuclear materials for medical, power,...
.
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
Slavutych
Slavutych is a new city in northern Ukraine, named after the Old Slavic name of the nearby Dnieper River. As of 2007, its population was 24,549.-Geography:...
, a specially-built remote city in the Kiev Oblast
Kiev Oblast
Kyiv Oblast, sometimes written as Kiev Oblast is an oblast in central Ukraine.The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Kyiv , also being the capital of Ukraine...
, 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
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
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.
History
Historically and geographically, the zone is a heartland of the PolesiaPolesia
Polesia is one of the largest European swampy areas, located in the south-western part of the Eastern-European Lowland, mainly within Belarus and Ukraine but also partly within Poland and Russia...
region—the birthplace of East Slavs
East Slavs
The East Slavs are Slavic peoples speaking East Slavic languages. Formerly the main population of the medieval state of Kievan Rus, by the seventeenth century they evolved into the Russian, Ukrainian, and Belarusian peoples.-Sources:...
. 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"
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
.
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 mutantMutant
In biology and especially genetics, a mutant is an individual, organism, or new genetic character, arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is a base-pair sequence change within the DNA of a gene or chromosome of an organism resulting in the creation of a new character or trait not...
deformity in animals of the zone were reported other than partial albinism
Albinism
Albinism is a congenital disorder characterized by the complete or partial absence of pigment in the skin, hair and eyes due to absence or defect of an enzyme involved in the production of melanin...
in swallow
Swallow
The swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...
s and insect mutations. 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
Red Forest
The Red Forest , formerly the Worm Wood Forest, refers to the trees in the 10 km² surrounding the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The name 'Red Forest' comes from the ginger-brown colour of the pine trees after they died following the absorption of high levels of radiation from the Chernobyl...
(Рудий ліс)—a strand of highly-irradiated pine
Pine
Pines are trees in the genus Pinus ,in the family Pinaceae. They make up the monotypic subfamily Pinoideae. There are about 115 species of pine, although different authorities accept between 105 and 125 species.-Etymology:...
wood near the plant which was subsequently bulldozed.
There have been reports that wildlife has flourished due to significant reduction of human impact. For this reason, the zone is considered by some as a classic example of an involuntary park
Involuntary park
Involuntary park is a neologism coined by science fiction author and environmentalist Bruce Sterling to describe previously inhabited areas that for environmental, economic or political reasons have, in Sterling's words, "lost their value for technological instrumentalism" and been allowed to...
. Populations of traditional Polesia
Polesia
Polesia is one of the largest European swampy areas, located in the south-western part of the Eastern-European Lowland, mainly within Belarus and Ukraine but also partly within Poland and Russia...
n animals (like wolves
Gray Wolf
The gray wolf , also known as the wolf, is the largest extant wild member of the Canidae family...
, Badger
Badger
Badgers are short-legged omnivores in the weasel family, Mustelidae. There are nine species of badger, in three subfamilies : Melinae , Mellivorinae , and Taxideinae...
, wild boar, Roe Deer
Roe Deer
The European Roe Deer , also known as the Western Roe Deer, chevreuil or just Roe Deer, is a Eurasian species of deer. It is relatively small, reddish and grey-brown, and well-adapted to cold environments. Roe Deer are widespread in Western Europe, from the Mediterranean to Scandinavia, and from...
, White-tailed Eagle
White-tailed Eagle
The White-tailed Eagle , also known as the Sea Eagle, Erne , or White-tailed Sea-eagle, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which includes other raptors such as hawks, kites, and harriers...
, Black Stork
Black Stork
The Black Stork Ciconia nigra is a large wading bird in the stork family Ciconiidae. It is a widespread, but rare, species that breeds in the warmer parts of Europe, predominantly in central and eastern regions. This is a shy and wary species, unlike the closely related White Stork. It is seen in...
), Western Marsh-harrier, Short-eared Owl
Short-eared Owl
The Short-eared Owl is a species of typical owl . In Scotland this species of owl is often referred to as a cataface, grass owl or short-horned hootlet. Owls belonging to genus Asio are known as the eared owls, as they have tufts of feathers resembling mammalian ears. These "ear" tufts may or may...
, red deer
Red Deer
The red deer is one of the largest deer species. Depending on taxonomy, the red deer inhabits most of Europe, the Caucasus Mountains region, Asia Minor, parts of western Asia, and central Asia. It also inhabits the Atlas Mountains region between Morocco and Tunisia in northwestern Africa, being...
, moose
Moose
The moose or Eurasian elk is the largest extant species in the deer family. Moose are distinguished by the palmate antlers of the males; other members of the family have antlers with a dendritic configuration...
, Great Egret
Great Egret
The Great Egret , also known as the Great White Egret or Common Egret, White Heron, or Great White Heron, is a large, widely-distributed egret. Distributed across most of the tropical and warmer temperate regions of the world, in southern Europe it is rather localized...
, Whooper Swan
Whooper Swan
The Whooper Swan , Cygnus cygnus, is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American Trumpeter Swan. An old name for the Whooper Swan is Elk; it is so called in Francis Willughby and John Ray's Ornithology of 1676.-Description:The Whooper Swan is similar in...
, least weasel
Least Weasel
The least weasel is the smallest member of the Mustelidae , native to Eurasia, North America and North Africa, though it has been introduced elsewhere. It is classed as Least Concern by the IUCN, due to its wide distribution and presumably large population...
, Common Kestrel
Common Kestrel
The Common Kestrel is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European Kestrel, Eurasian Kestrel, or Old World Kestrel. In Britain, where no other brown falcon occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".This species...
and beaver
Beaver
The beaver is a primarily nocturnal, large, semi-aquatic rodent. Castor includes two extant species, North American Beaver and Eurasian Beaver . Beavers are known for building dams, canals, and lodges . They are the second-largest rodent in the world...
) have multiplied enormously and begun expanding outside the zone. The area also houses herds of European wisent
Wisent
The wisent , Bison bonasus, also known as the European bison or European wood bison, is a species of Eurasian bison. It is the heaviest surviving land animal in Europe; a typical wisent is about long, not counting a tail of long, and tall. Weight typically can range from , with an occasional big...
(native to the area) and Przewalski's Horse
Przewalski's Horse
Przewalski's Horse or Dzungarian Horse, is a rare and endangered subspecies of wild horse native to the steppes of central Asia, specifically China and Mongolia.At one time extinct in the wild, it has been reintroduced to its native habitat in Mongolia at the Khustain Nuruu...
s (foreign to the area, as tarpan
Tarpan
Tarpan is an extinct subspecies of wild horse. The last individual of this subspecies died in captivity in Russia in 1909....
was the native wild horse) released there after the accident. Even extremely rare native lynx
Lynx
A lynx is any of the four Lynx genus species of medium-sized wildcats. The name "lynx" originated in Middle English via Latin from Greek word "λύγξ", derived from the Indo-European root "*leuk-", meaning "light, brightness", in reference to the luminescence of its reflective eyes...
have reappeared, and there are videos of brown bears
Brown Bear
The brown bear is a large bear distributed across much of northern Eurasia and North America. It can weigh from and its largest subspecies, the Kodiak Bear, rivals the polar bear as the largest member of the bear family and as the largest land-based predator.There are several recognized...
and their cubs, an animal not seen in the area for more than a century. Special game warden
Game warden
A game warden is an employee who has the role of protecting wildlife. Game wardens may also be referred to as conservation officers or wildlife officers...
units are organized to protect and control them.
The rivers and lakes of the zone pose a significant threat of spreading polluted silt
Silt
Silt is granular material of a size somewhere between sand and clay whose mineral origin is quartz and feldspar. Silt may occur as a soil or as suspended sediment in a surface water body...
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" (UkrainianUkrainian language
Ukrainian is a language of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages. It is the official state language of Ukraine. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic alphabet....
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.
Ukrzaliznytsia
Ukrzaliznytsia , also known as Ukrainian Railways, is the State Administration of Railroad Transportation in Ukraine, monopoly that controls vast majority of the railroad transportation in the country with a combined total length of track of over 23,000 km, which makes Ukrainian railroad...
link to the outside world from the Semykhody station used by the power plant.
"Chernobyl-2"
The “Chernobyl-2”, a.k.a. “Duga-3Russian Woodpecker
The Russian Woodpecker was a notorious Soviet signal that could be heard on the shortwave radio bands worldwide between July 1976 and December 1989. It sounded like a sharp, repetitive tapping noise, at 10 Hz, giving rise to the "Woodpecker" name...
”, is a former Soviet
Soviet Army
The Soviet Army is the name given to the main part of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union between 1946 and 1992. Previously, it had been known as the Red Army. Informally, Армия referred to all the MOD armed forces, except, in some cases, the Soviet Navy.This article covers the Soviet Ground...
military installation relatively close to the power plant, consisting of a gigantic transmitter and receiver belonging to the Steel Yard Over-the-horizon radar
Over-the-horizon radar
Over-the-horizon radar, or OTH , is a design concept for radar systems to allow them to detect targets at very long ranges, typically up to thousands of kilometers...
system. 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
Microearthquake
A microearthquake is a very low intensity earthquake which is usually three or less on the Richter scale. In addition to having natural tectontic causes, they may also be seen as a result of underground nuclear testing or even large detonations of conventional explosives for producing excavations...
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.
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 vagabondVagabond (person)
A vagabond is a drifter and an itinerant wanderer who roams wherever they please, following the whim of the moment. Vagabonds may lack residence, a job, and even citizenship....
s 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
Rural
Rural areas or the country or countryside are areas that are not urbanized, though when large areas are described, country towns and smaller cities will be included. They have a low population density, and typically much of the land is devoted to agriculture...
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.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
Energy industry
The energy industry is the totality of all of the industries involved in the production and sale of energy, including fuel extraction, manufacturing, refining and distribution...
projects that would avoid the danger of proliferating polluted material. The most vocal advocate of such revival was the then-President Viktor Yuschenko who has expressed his deep concerns with the exclusion of polluted territories from the society and economy of Ukraine.
In November 2007, the United Nations General Assembly
United Nations General Assembly
For two articles dealing with membership in the General Assembly, see:* General Assembly members* General Assembly observersThe United Nations General Assembly is one of the five principal organs of the United Nations and the only one in which all member nations have equal representation...
adopted a resolution calling for "recovery and sustainable development" of the areas affected by the Chernobyl accident. Commenting on the issue, UN Development Programme officials mentioned the plans to achieve “self-reliance” of the local population, “agriculture revival” and development of eco-tourism.
However, it is not clear whether such plans of UN and Yuschenko deal with the zone of alienation proper, or only with the other three zones around the disaster site where contamination is less intense and restrictions on the population looser (such as the district of Narodychi
Narodychi
Narodychi is a town in Narodychi Raion, Zhytomyr Oblast, northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of the Narodychi Raion. The population is 2,585 . It lies on the northern side of the Uzh River, 134 kilometres northwest of Kiev.-History:Narodytchi is located in the historic region of...
in Zhytomyrska Oblast).
For several years tour operators have been bringing tourists inside the 30 km exclusion zone. Tourists are accompanied by tour guides at all times and are not able to wander too far on their own due to the presence of several radioactive "hot spots". Tourists can visit the abandoned town of Pripyat and view its overgrown streets. The International Atomic Energy Agency
International Atomic Energy Agency
The International Atomic Energy Agency is an international organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. The IAEA was established as an autonomous organization on 29 July 1957...
said that radioactivity in the area was tolerable to humans for a limited period.
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 PrypiatPrypiat, Ukraine
Pripyat is a ghost town near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Kiev Oblast of northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus....
, where the residents of about 30 high-rise apartment buildings had to leave all of their belongings behind. In 2007, the Ukrainian government adopted more severe criminal and administrative penalties for illegal activities in the alienation zone, as well as reinforced units assigned to these tasks. The introduced Przewalski's horse population has apparently fallen since 2005, due to poaching.
Chernobyl stalking
Chernobyl stalking , also known as Chernobyl tourism, is a new type of adventure tourismAdventure tourism
Adventure travel is a type of tourism, involving exploration or travel to remote, exotic and possibly hostile areas. Adventure tourism is rapidly growing in popularity, as tourists seek different kinds of vacations. According to the U.S...
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.
An early attention to what has become known as "Chernobyl stalking" was brought by Elena Filatova
Elena Filatova
Elena Vladimirovna Filatova is a Ukrainian motorcyclist and photographer who uses the online nickname "KiddOfSpeed". Her website, containing a photo-essay of her purported solo motorcycle rides through Chernobyl's zone of alienation, gained her internet fame. It was later suggested that the...
'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.
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
Roadside Picnic
Roadside Picnic is a short science fiction novel written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky between January 18 and November 3 of 1971. As of 1998, 38 editions of the novel were published in 20 countries. The novel was first translated to English by Antonina W. Bouis...
; 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
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first-person shooter video game by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World, published in 2007.It features an alternate reality theme, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone in the near future and causes...
and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a 2007 first-person shooter video game, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. A handheld game was made for the Nintendo DS. The game was released in North America, Australia, and...
. 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, 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.
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 SmithMartin Cruz SmithMartin Cruz Smith is an American mystery novelist.-Early life and education:Born Martin William Smith in Reading, Pennsylvania, he was educated at the University of Pennsylvania, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing in 1964...
's Arkady RenkoArkady RenkoArkady Renko is a fictional detective who is the central character of seven novels by the American writer Martin Cruz Smith.-Character timeline:...
novel, Wolves Eat DogsWolves Eat DogsWolves Eat Dogs is a crime novel by Martin Cruz Smith, set in Russia and Ukraine in the year 2004. It is the fifth novel to feature Investigator Arkady Renko, and the first set during the new independent era.-Plot:...
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 fictionScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
video game series named S.T.A.L.K.E.R. by Ukrainian developer GSC Game WorldGSC Game WorldGSC Game World is a Kiev-based computer game developer. Founded in 1995 in Kiev, Ukraine, it released titles such as Cossacks: European Wars, American Conquest, Alexander, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat...
is set in the Zone of Alienation around Chernobyl (known as merely 'The Zone' within the games). It consists of the games Shadow of ChernobylS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of ChernobylS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl is a first-person shooter video game by the Ukrainian developer GSC Game World, published in 2007.It features an alternate reality theme, where a second nuclear disaster occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Exclusion Zone in the near future and causes...
(2007), Clear SkyS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear SkyS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky, is the prequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter video game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. The game consists of a roughly 50/50 mix of new areas and old, remodeled areas from the previous game...
(2008), and Call of PripyatS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of PripyatS.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the sequel to S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl, a first-person shooter computer game by Ukrainian developer GSC Game World. S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat is the third game in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series....
(2010). Authentic photos and video footage from the zone were rendered into the graphics used in the games. The game was partially inspired by Stalker, a 1979 film directed by Andrei TarkovskyAndrei TarkovskyAndrei Arsenyevich Tarkovsky was a Soviet and Russian filmmaker, writer, film editor, film theorist, theatre and opera director, widely regarded as one of the finest filmmakers of the 20th century....
, based on a 1972 novel by Boris and Arkady Strugatsky entitled Roadside PicnicRoadside PicnicRoadside Picnic is a short science fiction novel written by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky between January 18 and November 3 of 1971. As of 1998, 38 editions of the novel were published in 20 countries. The novel was first translated to English by Antonina W. Bouis...
. 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 EstoniaEstoniaEstonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
.
- Parts of Call of Duty 4: Modern WarfareCall of Duty 4: Modern WarfareCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is a 2007 first-person shooter video game, developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii. A handheld game was made for the Nintendo DS. The game was released in North America, Australia, and...
take place in the Exclusion Zone, and the "Wasteland" map of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 video game consoles and the Microsoft Windows operating system. Officially announced on February 11, 2009, the game was released worldwide on...
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 MomentaryThis Momentary"This Momentary" is the second single by British alternative dance band Delphic, and is the third track on their debut album Acolyte.-Music video:...
', depicted residents living inside the zone and images of the new settlements around the zone.
- In the fictional Atlantis series by Greg DoneganBob MayerRobert "Bob" Mayer is an author, writing instructor, and former Green Beret. He has written over 30 titles under his name and his four pen names . Mayer has applied the principles from his training in the special forces to his career as a writer and as a writing instructor...
, the Chernobyl disaster was caused by a gateVile VorticesVile Vortices is a term referring to twelve geographic areas that are alleged by Ivan Sanderson to have been the sites of mysterious disappearances. He identified them in a 1972 article "The Twelve Devil's Graveyards Around the World", published in Saga magazine...
opening up nearby.
See also
- Chernobyl after the disasterChernobyl after the disasterThe Chernobyl disaster, Chornobylʹsʹka katastrofa, was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic , now in Ukraine....
- List of Chernobyl-related articles
- Ministry of Emergencies (Ukraine)Ministry of Emergencies (Ukraine)The Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine is the main body in the system of central bodies of the executive power that provides realization of a state policy in a sphere of a civil defense, rescue, creation and functioning of the system of insurance fund documentation, utilization of radioactive...
External links
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 GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
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 FilatovaElena FilatovaElena Vladimirovna Filatova is a Ukrainian motorcyclist and photographer who uses the online nickname "KiddOfSpeed". Her website, containing a photo-essay of her purported solo motorcycle rides through Chernobyl's zone of alienation, gained her internet fame. It was later suggested that the...
with pictures taken during guided bus tour through the zone. - November 2004