Chernobyl: How exclusion zone lines could be redrawn as ‘much of it is safe’

The 1986 disaster in northern Ukraine resulted in a nuclear fallout 400 times larger than after the Hiroshima bomb. The people in the surrounding areas were ordered to evacuate and an exclusion zone of 30km around the nuclear plant was established. Residents were forbidden to return to their homes within the exclusion zone, although that did not stop everyone.

In the intervening years, scientists have conducted research on the environment around Chernobyl.

They have found that much of it are safe for food to be grown and for the land to be developed, the BBC reports.

Whilst there are “hotspots” within the exclusion zone that would be dangerous to stay in for too long, other areas in 2600 square km of ‘contaminated land’ have relatively normal levels of radiation.

Professor Jim Smith from the University of Portsmouth told the BBC: “Yes, the exclusion zone is contaminated, but if we put it on a map of radiation dose worldwide – only the small ‘hotspots’ would stand out.

READ MORE: Chernobyl: Men used as ‘biorobots’ to clear radioactive waste by hand

“Natural radioactivity is all around us – it varies from country to country, from place to place.

“Most of the area of the exclusion zone gives rise to loser radiation dose rates than many areas of natural radioactivity worldwide.”

Earlier this year, scientists, community members, medical experts and officials from the state agency that manages the exclusion zone gathered to discuss a potential boundary change.

Professor Smith and his colleague, Ukrainian scientist Gennady Laptev, presented their findings at the meeting.

Whilst the map was not officially redrawn in the meeting, most people agreed there needed to be a change.

Mr Laptev said: “The community wants to bring more life here.

“And we, as scientists, know that a lot of places here can be easily excluded from this bad, so I think this was a very positive moment.”

Many in the community near the exclusion zone wish the ban to be lifted so they can go home and return to developing the area.

After the nuclear plant shut down, those left behind have struggled with unemployment.

Many in the area depend on financial compensation from the government to survive.

However, if the lines of the exclusion zone were adapted this would allow for development in the future, and possibly the ability to grow food.

A resident of Narodichi, which is in the ‘outer zone’, Tatiana Kravchenko, said: “We forget that we are Chernobyl people; we have other issues to deal with.

“It’s no secret that half of the parents are unemployed, because there is nowhere to work.

“I wish that we could build something here – that our community could start to bloom.”

source: express.co.uk