Editing Chernobyl exclusion zone (section)

== Population ==
[[File:Pripyat, Ukraine, abandoned city.jpg|thumb|Abandoned apartment blocks in [[Pripyat]]]]

The 30-kilometre zone is estimated to be home to 197 [[Samosely]]<ref name="URAInformSquatters">{{cite web|url=http://ura-inform.com/ru/society/2012/08/28/chernobylskuju-zonu-zakhvatyvajut-samosely|title=ChernobylZone squatter captured|last=URA-Inform|date=28 August 2012|publisher=URS-Inform|language=ru|access-date=11 December 2012}}</ref> living in 11 villages as well as in the town of Chernobyl.<ref name="MarplesKyivPost">{{cite news|url=https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/chornobyls-legacy-in-ukraine-beyond-the-united-nat-103516.html|title=Chornobyl's legacy in Ukraine: Beyond the United Nations reports|last=Marples|first=David|date=3 May 2012|newspaper=[[Kyiv Post]]|access-date=11 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160121010817/https://www.kyivpost.com/article/opinion/op-ed/chornobyls-legacy-in-ukraine-beyond-the-united-nat-103516.html|archive-date=21 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> This number is in decline, down from previous estimates of 314 in 2007 and 1,200 in 1986.<ref name=MarplesKyivPost /> {{Update needed|date=February 2024}}These residents are senior citizens, with an average age of 63.<ref name=MarplesKyivPost /> After repeated attempts at expulsion, the authorities have accepted their presence and allowed them to stay with limited supporting services. Residence is now informally permitted by the Ukrainian government.

Approximately 3,000 people work in the Zone of Alienation on various tasks, such as the construction of the [[New Safe Confinement]], the ongoing decommissioning of the reactors, and assessment and monitoring of the conditions in the zone. Employees do not live inside the zone, but work shifts there. Some of the workers work "4-3" shifts (four days on, three days off), while others work 15 days on and 15 days off.<ref name="afterchernobyl">{{cite web|last=Rothbart|first=Michael|title=After Chernobyl|url=http://www.afterchernobyl.com/|access-date=11 December 2012}}</ref> Other workers commute into the zone daily from Slavutych. The duration of shifts is counted strictly for reasons involving pension and healthcare. Everyone employed in the Zone is monitored for internal [[bioaccumulation]] of radioactive elements.

The town of Chernobyl, located outside of the 10-kilometre Exclusion Zone, was evacuated following the accident but now serves as a base to support the workers within the Exclusion Zone. Its amenities include administrative buildings, general stores, a canteen, a hotel, and a bus station. Unlike other areas within the Exclusion Zone, the town is actively maintained by workers, such as lawn areas being mowed and autumn leaves being collected.

===Access and tourism===
[[File:Entrance to zone of alienation around Chernobyl.jpg|thumb|The entrance to the Zone of Alienation]]

Prior to the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] and [[Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion]] there were many<ref name="How To Stay Safe"/> visitors to the Exclusion Zone  annually, and  daily tours  from [[Kyiv]].{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} In addition, multiple-day excursions can be easily arranged with Ukrainian [[tour operator]]s. Most overnight tourists stay in a hotel within the town of Chernobyl, which is located within the Exclusion Zone. According to an exclusion area tour guide, as of 2017, there are approximately 50 licensed exclusion area tour guides in total, working for approximately nine companies. Visitors must present their [[passport]]s when entering the Exclusion Zone and are screened for radiation when exiting, both at the 10&nbsp;km checkpoint and at the 30&nbsp;km checkpoint.<ref name="How To Stay Safe">{{Cite web |last=Sylvester |first=Phil |date=28 October 2020 |title=Visiting Chernobyl - How To Stay Safe |url=https://www.worldnomads.com/travel-safety/eastern-europe/ukraine/ukraine-is-it-safe-to-travel-to-chernobyl |access-date=2022-11-11 |website=www.worldnomads.com |language=en}}</ref>

The Exclusion Zone can also be entered if an application is made directly to the zone administration department.

Some evacuated residents of Pripyat have established a remembrance tradition, which includes annual visits to former homes and schools.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pripyat.com |title=Сайт г. Припять. Чернобыльская авария. Фото Чернобыль. Чернобыльская катастрофа |publisher=Pripyat.com |access-date=2015-10-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151024074036/http://pripyat.com/ |archive-date=24 October 2015 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> In the Chernobyl zone, there is one operating [[Eastern Orthodox]] church, St. Elijah Church. According to Chernobyl disaster liquidators, the radiation levels there are "well below the level across the zone", a fact that president of the Ukrainian Chernobyl Union Yury Andreyev considers miraculous.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interfax-religion.com/?act=news&div=8394|title=The only church open in Chernobyl zone shows the minimum radiation level|date=20 April 2011|publisher=[[Interfax]]|access-date=29 April 2014}}</ref>

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone has been accessible to interested parties such as scientists and journalists since the zone was created. An early example was Elena Filatova's online account of her alleged solo bike ride through the zone. This gained her Internet fame, but was later alleged to be fictional, as a guide claimed Filatova was part of an official tour group. Regardless, her story drew the attention of millions to the nuclear catastrophe.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-06-fg-chernobyl6-story.html|title=Account of Chernobyl Trip Takes Web Surfers for a Ride|last=Mycio|first=Mary|date=6 July 2004|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> After Filatova's visit in 2004, a number of papers such as ''[[The Guardian]]''<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/oct/18/nuclear.russia|title=Chernobyl: Ukraine's new tourist destination {{pipe}} World news|date=18 October 2004|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> and ''[[The New York Times]]''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/front%20page/world/pripyat-journal-new-sight-in-chernobyls-dead-zone-tourists.html|title=Pripyat Journal; New Sight in Chernobyl's Dead Zone: Tourists|last=Chivers|first=C.J.|date=15 June 2005|work=[[The New York Times]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110224082610/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/15/international/europe/15chernobyl.html|archive-date=24 February 2011|url-status=live}}</ref> began to produce reports on tours to the zone.

Tourism to the area became more common after Pripyat was featured in popular video games<ref name="Distillations">{{cite journal|last1=Boyle|first1=Rebecca|date=Fall 2017|title=Greetings from Isotopia|url=https://www.sciencehistory.org/distillations/magazine/greetings-from-isotopia|journal=Distillations|volume=3|issue=3|pages=26–35|access-date=19 June 2018}}</ref> ''[[S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl]]'' and ''[[Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare]]''. Fans of the ''S.T.A.L.K.E.R.'' franchise, who refer to themselves as "stalkers", often gain access to the Zone.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slavutich.kiev.ua/?module=articles&c=news&b=4&a=176 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110405015453/http://www.slavutich.kiev.ua/?module=articles&c=news&b=4&a=176 |archive-date=5 April 2011 |title=Славутич-Портал - Сам себе сталкер }}</ref>

The terms "The Zone" and "stalker" derive from [[Arkady and Boris Strugatsky]]'s [[science fiction]] novel ''[[Roadside Picnic]]'', which predates the accident. The narrative revolves around evacuation and subsequent looting of a mysterious zone in Canada in which normal logic does not hold and dangerous artefacts abound. It in turn served as the basis for the classic film ''[[Stalker (1979 film)|Stalker]]'', the screenplay of which the Strugatskys wrote. The movie, set in a similar "Zone" but now in the Soviet Union, has served as a font for the public imagination of Chornobyl, despite also predating the disaster.

Prosecution of trespassers became more severe after a significant increase in trespassing in the Exclusion Zone. An article in the penal code of Ukraine was specially introduced,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/cgi-bin/laws/main.cgi?page=7&nreg=2341-14|title=Кримінальний кодекс України {{pipe}} від 05.04.2001 No. 2341-III (Сторінка 7 з 14)|publisher=Zakon.rada.gov.ua|language=ru|access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://zakon.rada.gov.ua/cgi-bin/laws/main.cgi?page=2&nreg=80731-10|title=Кодекс України про адміністративні правопорушення (ст... {{pipe}} від 07.12.1984 No. 8073-X (Сторінка 2 з 15)|publisher=Zakon.rada.gov.ua|language=ru|access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> and horse patrols were added to protect the zone's perimeter.

In 2012, journalist Andrew Blackwell published ''Visit Sunny Chernobyl: And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places''. Blackwell recounts his visit to the Exclusion Zone, when a guide and driver took him through the zone and to the reactor site.<ref name="Blackwell">{{cite book|last=Blackwell|first=Andrew|title=Visit Sunny Chernobyl: And Other Adventures in the World's Most Polluted Places|year=2012|publisher=Rodale Books|isbn=978-1-60529-445-2 |page=320|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VMsI1oAHNPoC}}</ref>

On 14 April 2013, the 32nd episode of the wildlife documentary TV program ''[[River Monsters]]'' (''Atomic Assassin'', Season 5, Episode 1) was broadcast, featuring the host Jeremy Wade catching a [[wels catfish]] in the cooling pools of the Chernobyl power plant at the heart of the Exclusion Zone.

On 16 February 2014, an episode of the British motoring TV programme [[Top Gear (2002 TV series)|''Top Gear'']] was broadcast, featuring two of the presenters, [[Jeremy Clarkson]] and [[James May]], driving into the Exclusion Zone.

A portion of the finale of the [[Netflix]] documentary ''[[Our Planet]]'', released in 2019, was filmed in the Exclusion Zone. The area was used as the primary example of how quickly an ecosystem can recover and thrive in the absence of human interference.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2019/04/wildlife-series-finally-addresses-elephant-room/586066/ |title=Netflix's Our Planet Says What Other Nature Series Have Omitted | website=The Atlantic | first=Ed|last=Yong|date=1 Apr 2019}}</ref>

In 2019, Chernobyl Spirit Company released Atomik Vodka, the first consumer product made from materials grown and cultivated in the exclusion zone.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://allthatsinteresting.com/chernobyl-atomik-vodka|title=Chernobyl Just Produced A Vodka With Grain Grown Right In The Exclusion Zone|date=2019-08-08|website=All That's Interesting|language=en-US|access-date=2020-03-03}}</ref>

On 11 April 2022, the zone administration department suspended the validity of passes that allowed access to the exclusion zone, for the duration of martial law in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-04-11 |title=ДАЗВ повідомляє про призупинення дії перепусток |trans-title=DAZV informs about the suspension of passes |url=https://dazv.gov.ua/ua/news/44 |access-date=2023-09-16 |website=Державне агентство України з управління зоною відчуження |language=uk}}</ref>

=== Illegal activities ===
The [[poaching]] of game, [[illegal logging]], and metal salvage have been problems within the zone.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Davies |first1=Thom |last2=Polese |first2=Abel |date=2015 |title=Informality and survival in Ukraine's nuclear landscape: Living with the risks of Chernobyl |journal=Journal of Eurasian Studies |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=34–45 |doi=10.1016/j.euras.2014.09.002|doi-access=free }}</ref> Despite police control, intruders started infiltrating the perimeter to remove potentially contaminated materials, from televisions to toilet seats, especially in Pripyat, 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,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://korrespondent.net/ukraine/events/182665 |script-title=ru:Желающие привезти сувениры из Чернобыля станут уголовниками |publisher=Korrespondent.net |language=ru |access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref> as well as reinforced units assigned to these tasks. The population of [[Przewalski's horse]], introduced to the Exclusion Zone in 1998,<ref name="Distillations"/> has reportedly fallen since 2005 due to poaching.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/14277058 |title=Chernobyl's Przewalski's horses are poached for meat |last=Gill |first=Victoria |date=27 July 2011 |work=BBC Nature News |access-date=31 October 2015}}</ref>