Pripyat city today

The evacuation of people from the Pripyat city (in detail)

The city of Pripyat is located 2 kilometers northwest of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Such closeness has led to the sad fate of the city after the Chernobyl accident. This accident caused a need for the urgent evacuation of the city's population to other, non-contaminated regions of the state.

Panorama of Pripyat's river port. Photo by Andrew Neverov.

According to some sources, radiation monitoring in the city was already installed by the middle of the day on April 26. By the evening of April 26, radiation levels had risen sharply and in some places reached hundreds of mR/hr. Due to this, it was decided to prepare for the evacuation of the city's residents.

Throughout the night of April 26 and during the morning of April 27, 1,200 buses and railway trains arrived from Kyiv and other surrounding towns. Areas and settlements (approximately 50) to house evacuees were also identified. A temporary order of behavior and methods of movement were developed. Special teams were formed to respond quickly to emerging and critical issues that might arise during the evacuation. In the morning of April 27, after reviewing the situation, the State Commission decided to begin the evacuation at 2:00 PM the same day.

After a special announcement (message on the radio), at 2:00 PM on April 27, buses and specially equipped vehicles were dispatched to the entrances of all houses (apartment buildings) in the city. The evacuation of the population occurred during a period of 2.5-3 hours. In total, approximately 50,000 people were evacuated from Pripyat and the railway station Yanov.

In the first days after the accident, the population from the zone nearby (within 10 kilometers) the Chernobyl NPP were evacuated.

It should be noted that bus drivers who participated in the removal of evacuees from the city remained in the heavily contaminated areas for more than 12 hours and were exposed to high doses of radiation.

On May 2, heads of state including the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR, N.I. Ryzhkov and leaders of the Ukrainian SSR arrived in the area. On this day, based on a report by the State Commission members, specialists and doctors, it was decided to evacuate the population from within a 30 km zone of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant and several settlements outside the area. In general, before the end of 1986, 188 settlements (including Pripyat) were abandoned and 116,000 people were evacuated. At the same time, approximately 60,000 head of cattle and other farm animals were removed from the 30 km zone.

The evacuation of people from the entire territory of the exclusion zone lasted from April 27 through August 16, 1986.

On May 7, 1986, a decision on the removal of labor and household devices of the evacuees was adopted by the CPSU Central Committee of the USSR Council of Ministers. In it were provided specific guidelines for the resettlement of families of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant workers in the city of Kyiv and other settlements, and actions for the construction of residential homes and buildings for rural immigrants. The evacuees were given 7,200 apartments in Kyiv and 500 in Chernigov. As a result of special actions in 1986, more than 21,000 farmhouses were built for victims.

The Pripyat City Today

Contamination of the city by radioactive substances is quite uneven. The formation of levels of radioactive contamination of the city did not conform to the general direction of movement of the radioactive emissions, but also depended on the dispersion of radioactive clouds by buildings and structures of the city's infrastructure. Further redistribution of radioactivity occurred in accordance with the absorbing ability of contaminated surfaces.

It is known that trees have the ability to hold dust (including radioactive) in their crowns. Scientists assumed that contamination of the city was also linked to the nature of vegetation that grew in Pripyat at the time of the accident.

It should be noted that the radiation death of plants and animals in the city was limited. According to some sources, such facts were observed on during the initial (acute) phases of the accident and involved only two sites in the city - the southeastern section and the first micro and southwestern districts 2-A.

On the map is shown the generalized pattern of radioactive contamination in the Pripyat city.

Sheme of the Pripyat city radioactive pollution

Fragment of the scheme which displays the spatial distribution of capacity levels of exposure doses in the city of Pripyat. This map is compiled from literary sources (research (measurements) took place during the period 1992-1998).

(To read about the history of the creation of the city and its architecture, see the page History of the city of Pripyat. You can also see how Pripyat looks today in the the photo gallery)

Reference:

Kiivschinoznavstvo. A manual is for a teacher \ For an editor. I.L.Likarchuka. K.: [Kind.O.M.], 2001. Vip.. 1. p. 295. s.

Nuclear Energy. Questions and answers. Issue 4. The drafters of the V.A. Krasyuk and Kachalov Metro. IzdAT 1993. p. 48.

Buyanov NI, Lihtarev IA, Los IP, Moiseev AA. Radioactive contamination of soil and the town of Pripyat as a result of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident / / Reports Second scientific those. Meeting on the outcome of the Chernobyl LPA "Chernobyl-90." Radiation monitoring. Chernobyl, 1990, v. 1 .- ch.1., p..126-132.

Radiation monitoring Areas of alienation (A review geared-up DP of RADEK ) are // Bulletin of the ecological state of Area of alienation. Radiation monitoring of the Zone of alienation (DP Oglyad geared-up "RADEK") / / Bulletin of ecological going of Zone of alienation. February 1997 4(9) - s.8-28. Luthi 1997 4 (9) - p.8-28.