Prypiat is a city in northern Ukraine, on the
border with Belarus. Built in 1970 as a home for workers at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant.
After a major nuclear disaster, in which one
of the nuclear reactors exploded, the city was completely evacuated due to
radiation.
It is estimated that before the crash in
Prypiat there were about 50,000 inhabitants, all employed in Chernobyl nuclear
plant.
Concerns about nuclear energy were ruled by
the Soviet Union in the late 1960s.
During the construction of the nuclear
station, the Ukrainian Academy of Science insisted that the site be at least
100 km from the nearest settlement.
The Soviet authorities obeyed, and made a
special settlement for the displaced, but allowed free access to the
surrounding towns so as not to panic unnecessarily among the population.
Following the Chernobyl disaster, later judged
to be the worst nuclear disaster in history, after nearly half of Europe was
exposed to radiation, the city of Prypiat has been completely evacuated. Since
then, no one has lived here, and vegetation has almost swallowed it for the
past 20 years.
After the disaster, the city of Slavutych was
built as a replacement for the radioactive Prypiat, and as the power plant was
repaired and resumed work a few weeks after the accident, the staff needed a
new settlement.
Today, Ukraine has turned this area into a
tourist attraction, although some zones are still guarded by the military. The
nuclear power plant was shut down in 2000, and tourist walks are around the
cities of Prypiat and Slavutych.
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