Pripyat

For other uses, see Pripyat (disambiguation).

Pripyat (Ukrainian: При́п'ять, Prýp'jat′; Russian: При́пять, Prípyat′  Pronunciation) is an abandoned city in northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus.

Named after the nearby Pripyat River, Pripyat was founded on February 4, 1970, the ninth nuclear city in the Soviet Union, to serve the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant.[1] It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979, and had grown to a population of 49,360[2] by the time it was evacuated, on the afternoon of April 27, 1986 (the day after the Chernobyl disaster.[3])

Though Pripyat is located within the administrative district of Ivankiv Raion, the abandoned city now has the status of city of oblast significance within the larger Kiev Oblast (province), being administered directly from Kiev. Pripyat is also supervised by Ukraine's Ministry of Emergencies, which manages activities for the entire Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

History

Background

Panoramic view of Pripyat in May 2009
View of the Chernobyl power plant including 2003 radioactive level of 763 microroentgens per hour

Access to Pripyat, unlike cities of military importance, was not restricted before the disaster as nuclear power stations were seen by the Soviet Union as safer than other types of power plants. Nuclear power stations were presented as being an achievement of Soviet engineering, where nuclear power was harnessed for peaceful projects. The slogan "peaceful atom" (Russian: мирный атом, mirnıy atom) was popular during those times. The original plan had been to build the plant only 25 km (16 mi) from Kiev, but the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences, among other bodies, expressed concern about it being too close to the city. As a result, the power station and Pripyat[4] were built at their current locations, about 100 km (62 mi) from Kiev. After the disaster the city of Pripyat was evacuated in two days.[5]

A panorama of Pripyat, circa 2011. The abandoned Chernobyl power plant can be seen in the distance, at top center.

Post-Chernobyl years

Pripyat Ferris wheel, as seen from the City Center Gymnasium
The Pripyat swimming pool was still in use by liquidators in 1996, a decade after the Chernobyl incident.
In 2009, over two decades after the Chernobyl incident, the Pripyat swimming pool shows decay after years of disuse.

In 1986 the city of Slavutych was constructed to replace Pripyat. After the city of Pripyat, this is the second-largest city for accommodating power plant workers and scientists in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

One notable landmark often featured in photographs of the city and visible from aerial-imaging websites is the long-abandoned Ferris wheel located at the Pripyat amusement park.

Infrastructure and statistics

Pripyat before the Chernobyl disaster

The following statistics are from January 1, 1986.[6]

Safety

The external relative gamma dose for a person in the open near the Chernobyl disaster site. The intermediate lived fission products like Cs-137 contribute nearly all of the gamma dose now after a number of decades have passed, see opposite.
The impact of the different isotopes on the radioactive contamination of the air soon after the accident. Drawn using data from the OECD report and the second edition of 'The radiochemical manual'.

A natural concern is whether it is safe to visit Pripyat and the surroundings. The Zone of Alienation is considered relatively safe to visit, and several Ukrainian companies offer guided tours around the area.[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]Nowadays, radiation levels have dropped considerably, compared to the fatal levels of April 1986, due to the decay of the short-lived isotopes released during the accident.[15] In most places within the city, the level of radiation does not exceed an equivalent dose of 1 μSv (one microsievert) per hour.[16]

Cultural references

Transport

The city was served by Yaniv station on the Chernihiv–Ovruch railway. It was an important passenger hub of the line and was located between the southern suburb of Pripyat and the village of Yaniv. An electric train terminus Semikhody, built in 1988 and located in front of the nuclear plant, is currently the only operating station near Pripyat connecting it to Slavutych.[22]

Personalities

Gallery

Ferris wheel of the Pripyat amusement park 
Pripyat city limit sign 

See also

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Pripyat.

Coordinates: 51°24′20″N 30°03′25″E / 51.40556°N 30.05694°E / 51.40556; 30.05694

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Monday, February 15, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.