Editing Chernobyl (section)

==Aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster and evacuation==
[[File:Černobyl, 18.jpg|thumb|''[[Wormwood (Bible)|Wormwood Star]]'' Memorial Complex]]
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This article describes the city of Chernobyl. Please include information on the Chernobyl accident in [[Chernobyl disaster]].
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{{Main|Chernobyl disaster|Effects of the Chernobyl disaster}}

On 26 April 1986, one of the reactors at the [[Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant]] exploded after a scheduled test on the reactor was carried out improperly by plant operators.<ref>{{cite web |title=Chernobyl Accident 1986 |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/chernobyl-accident |website=World Nuclear Association |access-date=27 December 2024}}</ref> The resulting loss of control was due to design flaws of the [[RBMK]] reactor, which made it unstable when operated at low power, and prone to thermal runaway where increases in temperature increase reactor power output.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Chernobyl : the history of a nuclear catastrophe|last=Plokhy|first=Serhii|isbn=9781541617094|edition= 1st|location=New York|oclc=1003311263|date = 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|title=Producing power : the pre-Chernobyl history of the Soviet nuclear industry|last=Schmid|first=Sonja D.|year=2015|isbn=9780262321792|location=Cambridge, Massachusetts|oclc=904249268|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/producingpowerpr0000schm}}</ref>

Chernobyl city was evacuated nine days after the disaster. The level of contamination with [[caesium-137]] was around 555 [[Becquerel|kBq]]/m<sup>2</sup> (surface ground deposition in 1986).<ref name="atlas">{{Cite report |title=The atlas of cesium-137 contamination of Europe after the Chernobyl accident |display-authors=3 |last1=Izrael |first1=Yu A |last2=De Cort |first2=M |last3=Jones |first3=A R |last4=Nazarov |first4=I M |last5=Fridman |first5=Sh D |last6=Kvasnikova |first6=E V |last7=Stukin |first7=E D |last8=Kelly |first8=G N |last9=Matveenko |first9=I I |last10=Pokumeiko |first10=Yu M |last11=Tabatchnyi |first11=L Ya |last12=Tsaturov |first12=Yu |date=July 1996 |url=https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/biblio/20112711 |at=fig. 2 |access-date=22 July 2019 |archive-date=21 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190721225120/https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/biblio/20112711 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="UNSCEAR_J">{{cite web |author=UNSCEAR |author-link=UNSCEAR |title=UNSCEAR 2000 Report Vol. II Annex J Exposures and effects of the Chernobyl accident |year=2000 |url=https://www.unscear.org/docs/publications/2000/UNSCEAR_2000_Annex-J.pdf |access-date=22 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180410170954/http://www.unscear.org/docs/publications/2000/UNSCEAR_2000_Annex-J.pdf |archive-date=10 April 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Later analyses concluded that, even with very conservative estimates, relocation of the city (or of any area below 1500 [[Becquerel|kBq]]/m<sup>2</sup>) could not be justified on the grounds of radiological health.<ref>{{cite conference |title=Evaluation of countermeasures to be taken to assure safe living conditions to the population affected by the Chernobyl accident in the USSR |last1=Lochard |first1=J. |last2=Schneider |first2=T. |last3=Kelly |first3=N. |url=https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:36050233 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308155440/https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:36050233 |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 March 2021 |conference=8. International congress of the [[International Radiation Protection Association]] (IRPA8) |year=1992 |volume=36 |issue=24 |isbn=1-55048-657-8 }} [http://www.irpa.net/members/OCR_IRPA_8_Proceedings.pdf Full conference pdf] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722224516/http://www.irpa.net/members/OCR_IRPA_8_Proceedings.pdf |date=22 July 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite tech report |author1=Lochard, J. |author2=Schneider, T. |author3=French, S. |title=International Chernobyl project – input from the Commission of the European Communities to the evaluation of the relocation policy adopted by the former Soviet Union |url=https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=reportnumber:%22EUR--14543%22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308223428/https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=reportnumber:%22EUR--14543%22 |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 March 2021 |institution=[[Commission of the European Communities]] }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Waddington |first1=I. |last2=Thomas |first2=P. J. |last3=Taylor |first3=R. H. |last4=Vaughan |first4=G. J. |date=1 November 2017 |title=J-value assessment of relocation measures following the nuclear power plant accidents at Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi |journal=Process Safety and Environmental Protection |volume=112 |pages=16–49 |doi=10.1016/j.psep.2017.03.012 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2017PSEP..112...16W |issn=0957-5820|hdl=1983/f281150c-c2ab-4b06-8773-4aa2292f1991 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
This however does not account for the uncertainty in the first few days of the accident about further depositions and weather patterns.
Moreover, an earlier short-term evacuation could have averted more significant doses from short-lived isotope radiation (specifically [[iodine-131]], which has a half-life of eight days).
The [[Effects of the Chernobyl disaster#Long-term health effects|long-term health effects of the Chernobyl disaster]] are a subject of some controversy.

In 1998, average caesium-137 doses from the accident (estimated at 1–2 mSv per year) did not exceed those from other sources of exposure.<ref>{{cite report |title=Atlas of caesium deposition on Europe after the Chernobyl accident |first1=M |last1=De Cort |first2=G |last2=Dubois |first3=Sh D |last3=Fridman |first4=M G |last4=Germenchuk |first5=Yu A |last5=Izrael |first6=A |last6=Janssens |first7=A R |last7=Jones |first8=G N |last8=Kelly |first9=E V |last9=Kvasnikova |first10=I I |last10=Matveenko |first11=I M |last11=Nazarov |first12=Yu M |last12=Pokumeiko |first13=V A |last13=Sitak |first14=E D |last14=Stukin |first15=L Ya |last15=Tabachny |first16=Yu S |last16=Tsaturov |first17=S I |last17=Avdyushin |display-authors=3 |year=1998 |url=http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/chernobyl/UN-reports/Atlas.pdf |isbn=92-828-3140-X |oclc=48391311 |at=p. 31 |access-date=22 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190722234251/http://cricket.biol.sc.edu/chernobyl/UN-reports/Atlas.pdf |archive-date=22 July 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Current effective caesium-137 dose rates as of 2019 are 200–250 nSv/h, or roughly 1.7–2.2 mSv per year,<ref>{{cite web |title=Information on the radiation state of the environment of the exclusion zone |author=State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management |url=http://dazv.gov.ua/radiatsijnij-stan/informatsiya-pro-radiatsijnij-stan-dovkillya-zoni-vidchuzhennya.html |access-date=22 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190720225856/http://dazv.gov.ua/radiatsijnij-stan/informatsiya-pro-radiatsijnij-stan-dovkillya-zoni-vidchuzhennya.html |archive-date=20 July 2019 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
which is comparable to the worldwide average [[background radiation]] from natural sources.

The base of operations for the administration and monitoring of the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was moved from Pripyat to Chernobyl. Chernobyl currently contains offices for the [[Chernobyl Exclusion Zone#Administration|State Agency of Ukraine on the Exclusion Zone Management]] and accommodations for visitors. Apartment blocks have been repurposed as accommodations for employees of the State Agency. The length of time that workers may spend within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone is restricted by regulations that have been implemented to limit radiation exposure. Today, visits are allowed to Chernobyl but limited by strict rules.

In 2003, the [[United Nations Development Programme]] launched a project, called the [[Chernobyl Recovery and Development Programme (CRDP)]], for the recovery of the affected areas.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.undp.org.ua/?page=projects&projects=14|title=UNDP Ukraine|date=4 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704002250/http://www.undp.org.ua/?page=projects&projects=14|archive-date=4 July 2007}}</ref> The main goal of the CRDP's activities is supporting the efforts of the [[Government of Ukraine]] to mitigate the long-term social, economic, and ecological consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

The city has become overgrown and many types of animals live there. According to census information collected over an extended period of time, it is estimated that more [[mammal]]s live there now than before the disaster.<ref>{{cite news |first=Victoria |last=Gill |date=5 October 2015 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34414914 |title=Wild mammals 'have returned' to Chernobyl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180817164332/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-34414914 |archive-date=17 August 2018 |work=[[BBC News]] |department=Science & Environment}}</ref>

Notably, [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], the final leader of the [[Soviet Union]], stated in respect to the Chernobyl disaster that, "More than anything else, (Chernobyl) opened the possibility of much greater freedom of expression, to the point that the (Soviet) system as we knew it could no longer continue."<ref>{{cite news |work=Japan Times |url=https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2006/04/21/commentary/world-commentary/turning-point-at-chernobyl/ |title=Turning point at Chernobyl |first= Mikhail |last=Gorbachev |author-link=Mikhail Gorbachev |date=21 April 2006 |location=Moscow}}</ref>