Editing Chernobyl exclusion zone (section)

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| native_name        = <small>{{nowrap|{{langx|uk|Зона відчуження Чорнобильської АЕС|label=none}}}}</small>
| native_name_lang   = uk
| other_name         = 
| settlement_type    = [[Exclusion zone#Nuclear disaster exclusion zones|Disaster Exclusion Zone]]
| image_skyline      = Checkpoint_ditkatky_chernobyl_zone.JPG
| image_caption      = Entrance to the Zone of Alienation at [[Dytiatky]], 2010
| etymology          = 
| subdivision_type   = Country
| subdivision_name   = {{flag|Ukraine}}
| subdivision_type1  = [[Oblasts of Ukraine|Oblasts]]
| subdivision_name1  = [[Kyiv Oblast]]<br />[[Zhytomyr Oblast]]&nbsp;(''de jure'')<ref>Zhytomyr Oblast with its [[Korosten Raion]] includes several villages that were evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster, but never became a part of the administrative exclusion zone, which only covers the northern part of Kyiv Oblast's Vyshhorod Raion</ref>
| subdivision_type2  = [[Raions of Ukraine|Raion]]
| subdivision_name2  = [[Vyshhorod Raion]]
| subdivision_name4  = <!-- maps and coordinates -->
| parts_type         = Controlled by
| parts_style        = para
| image_map          = File:Map of Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.svg
| map_caption        = Map showing the "30-Kilometre Zone" (red) around the [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]] and the [[Polesie State Radioecological Reserve]] (orange) in neighbouring [[Belarus]]
| pushpin_map        = Ukraine Kyiv Oblast#Ukraine
| pushpin_map_caption = Location within Kyiv Oblast##Location within Ukraine
| coordinates        = {{Coord|51.3|30.005|display=inline,title}}
| coordinates_footnotes = <!-- established -->
| established_title  = Founded
| established_date   = {{Start date and age|27 April 1986}}
<!-- area -->| area_total_km2     = 2600
| area_land_sq_mi    = 
| area_water_sq_mi   = <!-- elevation -->
| elevation_ft       = <!-- population -->
| population_as_of   = 2016
| population_total   = 180 ''[[samosely]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/04/17/chernobyl-30-anniversary-babushka-ukraine/82887336/|title=Why a babushka in Chernobyl Exclusion Zone refuses to leave home|first=Kim|last=Hjelmgaard|website=USA TODAY}}</ref><br>
For others: the Zone of Alienation is an "Area of Absolute (Mandatory) Resettlement" and employees of state agencies are residents on a temporary basis.<ref name=Samosely01>{{cite web|url=http://ura-inform.com/ru/society/2012/08/28/chernobylskuju-zonu-zakhvatyvajut-samosely |title=Чернобыльскую зону "захватывают" самоселы |publisher=Ura-inform.com |date=28 August 2012 |access-date=2012-10-22}}</ref><ref name=Samosely02>{{cite web|url=http://chernobylsecret.my1.ru/index/quot_samosely_quot/0-11 |title=Секреты Чернобыля - "Самоселы" |publisher=Chernobylsecret.my1.ru |access-date=2012-10-22}}</ref>
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym = <!-- time zone(s) -->
| timezone1          = [[Eastern European Time|EET]]
| iso_code           = <!-- website, footnotes -->
| website            = [http://dazv.gov.ua/ dazv.gov.ua]
| official_name      = Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation
| utc_offset         = +2
| timezone_DST       = [[Eastern European Summer Time|EEST]]
| utc_offset_DST     = +3
| pushpin_label      = Chernobyl Exclusion Zone
| pushpin_label_position = bottom
}}
[[File:Chernobyl, Ukraine.jpg|thumb|Satellite image of the reactor and surrounding area in April 2009.]]
The '''Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Zone of Alienation''',{{efn|{{langx|uk|Зона відчуження Чорнобильської АЕС|translit=Zona vidchuzhennia Chornobyl's'koyi AES}}; {{langx|be|Зона адчужэння Чарнобыльскай АЭС|Zona adchuzhennia Charnobyl'skay AES}}; {{langx|ru|Зона отчуждения Чернобыльской АЭС|translit=Zona otchuzhdeniya Chernobyl'skoy AES}}.}} also called the '''30-Kilometre Zone''' or simply '''The Zone''',<ref name="Petryna" />{{rp|p.2–5}}{{efn|{{langx|uk|Чорнобильська зона|translit=Chornobyl's'ka zona|links=no}}; {{langx|be|Чарнобыльская зона|Charnobyl'skaya zona|links=no}}; {{langx|ru|Чернобыльская зона|translit=Chernobyl'skaya zona|links=no}}.}} was established shortly after the [[Chernobyl disaster|1986 Chernobyl disaster]] in the [[Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|Ukrainian SSR]] of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="Petryna">{{Cite book |last=Petryna |first=Adriana |title=Life Exposed: Biological Citizens after Chernobyl |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2002 |location=New Jersey |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EPnZrC4kEv8C&pg=PA49 |isbn=978-0-691-09019-1 }}</ref>{{rp|p.4–5}}{{rp|p.49f.3}}

Initially, Soviet authorities declared an [[exclusion zone]] spanning a {{Convert|30|km|mi||abbr=|adj=on}} radius around the [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]], designating the area for evacuations and placing it under military control.<ref name="marples1988">{{cite book |last=Marples |first=David R. |title=The Social Impact of the Chernobyl Disaster |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=1988 |location=New York |isbn=978-0-312-02432-1 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/socialimpactof00marp }}</ref><ref name="mould2000">{{cite book |last=Mould |first=R. F. |title=Chernobyl Record: The Definitive History of the Chernobyl Catastrophe |publisher=Institute of Physics Publishing |year=2000 |location=Bristol, UK |isbn=978-0-7503-0670-6 }}</ref> Its borders have since been altered to cover a larger area of [[Ukraine]]: it includes the northernmost part of [[Vyshhorod Raion]] in [[Kyiv Oblast]], and also adjoins the [[Polesie State Radioecological Reserve]] in neighbouring [[Belarus]]. The Chernobyl exclusion zone is managed by an agency of the [[State Emergency Service of Ukraine]], while the power plant and [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus|its sarcophagus]] and the [[Chernobyl New Safe Confinement|New Safe Confinement]] are administered separately.

The current area of approximately {{convert|2600|km2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Oskolkovetal" /> in Ukraine is where [[radioactive contamination]] is the highest, and public access and habitation are accordingly restricted. Other areas of compulsory resettlement and voluntary relocation not part of the restricted exclusion zone exist in the surrounding areas and throughout Ukraine.<ref name="ICRINzonesmap">{{cite web |title=Zoning of radioactively contaminated territory of Ukraine according to actual regulations |publisher=ICRIN |year=2004 |url=http://www.chernobyl.info/Default.aspx?tabid=130&map=58_en |access-date=25 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130218024359/http://www.chernobyl.info/Default.aspx?tabid=130&map=58_en |archive-date=18 February 2013}}</ref> In February 2019, it was revealed that talks were underway to re-adjust the exclusion zone's boundaries to reflect the declining radioactivity of its outer areas.<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-47227767 Chernobyl: The end of a three-decade experiment] [[BBC News]]. 14 February 2019. Retrieved 15 February 2019.</ref>

Public access to the exclusion zone is restricted in order to prevent access to hazardous areas, reduce the spread of radiological contamination, and conduct radiological and ecological monitoring activities.<ref name="Presidential Decree">{{cite web|url=http://dazv.gov.ua/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68:decree-of-the-president-of-ukraine--393-of-april-6-2011-qon-approval-of-the-state-agency-of-ukraine-on-the-exclusion-zone-managementq&catid=75:osnovn-zavdannya-ta-normativno-pravov-zasadi-dyalnost&Itemid=154|title=Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 393/2011 On approval of the State Agency of Ukraine of the Exclusion Zone|date=6 April 2011|publisher=State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203003019/http://dazv.gov.ua/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=68%3Adecree-of-the-president-of-ukraine--393-of-april-6-2011-qon-approval-of-the-state-agency-of-ukraine-on-the-exclusion-zone-managementq&catid=75%3Aosnovn-zavdannya-ta-normativno-pravov-zasadi-dyalnost&Itemid=154|archive-date=3 December 2013|url-status=dead|access-date=23 April 2012}}</ref> Today, the Chernobyl exclusion zone is one of the most radioactively contaminated areas on [[Earth]] and draws significant scientific interest for the high levels of [[radiation exposure]] in the environment, as well as increasing interest from [[Disaster tourism|disaster tourists]].<ref name="guardian2004">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/18/nuclear.russia|title=Postcard from hell|date=18 October 2004|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=25 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028150042/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/18/nuclear.russia|archive-date=28 October 2017|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.businessinsider.com/photos-abandoned-chernobyl-exclusion-zone-after-nuclear-disaster-david-mcmillan-2019-4|title=A photographer visited the abandoned towns around Chernobyl more than 20 times over the past 25 years, and the captivating photos show just how suddenly time stopped in its tracks after the disaster|first=Katie|last=Canales|website=Business Insider}}</ref> It has become a thriving sanctuary, with natural flora and fauna and some of the highest biodiversity and thickest forests in all of Ukraine, due primarily to the lack of human activity in the exclusion zone since 1986.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/how-chernobyl-has-become-unexpected-haven-wildlife|title=How Chernobyl has become an unexpected haven for wildlife|date=16 September 2020|website=UNEP}}</ref>

Since the beginning of the [[Russian invasion of Ukraine]] in February 2022, the Chernobyl exclusion zone has been the site of fighting with neighbouring [[Russia]], which [[capture of Chernobyl|captured Chernobyl on 24 February 2022]]. By April 2022, however, as the [[Northern front of the Russian invasion of Ukraine|Kyiv offensive]] failed, the Russian military withdrew from the region.<ref name="DohertySaric" /> Ukrainian authorities have continued to keep the exclusion zone closed to tourists, pending the eventual cessation of hostilities in the [[Russo-Ukrainian War]].