Chernobyl Exclusion Zone

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Lore & Background

The Exclusion Zone was established on 2 May 1986, when a Soviet government commission headed by Nikolai Ryzhkov decided on a 'rather arbitrary' area of a 30-kilometre radius from Reactor 4 as the designated evacuation area. The 30 km Zone was initially divided into three subzones: the area immediately adjacent to Reactor 4, an area of approximately 10 km radius from the reactor, and the remaining 30 km zone. Later in 1986, after updated maps of contaminated areas were produced, the zone was split into three areas based on a revised dose limit of 100 mSv: the 'Black Zone' (over 200 μSv·h⁻¹), where evacuees were never to return; the 'Red Zone' (50–200 μSv·h⁻¹), where evacuees might return once radiation levels normalized; and the 'Blue Zone' (30–50 μSv·h⁻¹), where children and pregnant women were evacuated starting in the summer of 1986. Special permission for access and full military control was put in place in late 1986. Although evacuations were not immediate, 91,200 people were eventually evacuated from these zones. In November 1986, control over activities in the zone was given to the new production association Kombinat, based in the evacuated city of Chernobyl. In March 1989, a 'Safe Living Concept' was created for people living in contaminated zones beyond the Exclusion Zone in Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. In October 1989, the Soviet government requested assistance from the International Atomic Energy Agency to assess this concept. Throughout the Soviet period, an image of containment was partially achieved through selective resettlements and territorial delineations of contaminated zones.

In Their Own Story

Historically and geographically, the zone is the heartland of the Polesia region. This predominantly rural woodland and marshland area was once home to 120,000 people living in the cities of Chernobyl and Pripyat as well as 187 smaller communities, but is now mostly uninhabited. All settlements remain designated on geographic maps but marked as 'нежил.' (nezhyl.) – 'uninhabited'. The woodland around Pripyat was a focal point of partisan resistance during the Second World War, which allowed evacuated residents to evade guards and return into the woods. Near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant stood the 'Partisan's Tree' or 'Cross Tree', used to hang captured partisans; it fell due to age in 1996, and a memorial now stands at its location. Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Chernobyl exclusion zone has been the site of fighting. Russian forces captured Chernobyl on 24 February 2022. By April 2022, the Kyiv offensive failed and Russian military withdrew from the region. Ukrainian authorities continue to keep the exclusion zone closed to tourists, pending cessation of hostilities in the Russo-Ukrainian war. In May 2025, it was reported that around 100 hectares of land in the Chernobyl exclusion zone had contamination drop to a level safe enough to allow farming to commence in those areas.

Reader's Guide

The Exclusion Zone was established on 2 May 1986, soon after the Chernobyl disaster. In February 1991, the law 'On The Legal Status of the Territory Exposed to the Radioactive Contamination resulting from the ChNPP Accident' was passed, updating the borders and defining obligatory and voluntary resettlement areas, and areas for enhanced monitoring. The borders were based on soil deposits of strontium-90, caesium-137, and plutonium as well as the calculated dose rate as identified by the National Commission for Radiation Protection of Ukraine. In-depth studies from 1992 to 1993 completed an update of the 1991 law, followed by further evacuations from the Polesia area. Evacuation zones determined were: the 'Exclusion Zone', the 'Zone of Absolute (Mandatory) Resettlement', and the 'Zone of Guaranteed Voluntary Resettlement', as well as many areas throughout Ukraine designated for radiation monitoring. From 1990 to 1995, 53,000 people were evacuated from areas in Ukraine. In 1997, the areas of Poliske and Narodychi were added to the existing Exclusion Zone, which now encompasses approximately 2,600 km². This Zone was placed under management of the 'Administration of the exclusion zone and the zone of absolute (mandatory) resettlement' within the Ministry of Emergencies. On 15 December 2000, all nuclear power production ceased when the last remaining operational reactor, number 3, was shut down. During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on 24 February 2022, Russian forces captured the plant. An estimated 100 plant workers and 200 Ukrainian guards were unable to leave. On 22 March 2022, the Ukrainian state agency reported that Russian forces had destroyed a new laboratory at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which had opened in 2015 and worked to improve radioactive waste management. The agency stated: 'The laboratory contained highly active samples and samples of radionuclides that are now in the hands of the enemy, which we hope will harm itself and not the civilized world.'

Did You Know?

• The Exclusion Zone was established on 2 May 1986, with a 'rather arbitrary' 30-kilometre radius from Reactor 4.
• 91,200 people were eventually evacuated from the initial 30 km zone.
• In the woodland near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant stood the 'Partisan's Tree' or 'Cross Tree', used to hang captured partisans during WWII; it fell in 1996.
• In May 2025, around 100 hectares of land in the zone had contamination drop to a level safe enough to allow farming.
• On 22 March 2022, Russian forces destroyed a laboratory at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant that contained highly active samples and radionuclides.