City after Nuclear Disaster - Pripyat

Pripyat (city)

Pripyat

is a ghost town in the zone of alienation in northern Ukraine, in the Kiev Oblast (province), near the border with Belarus.^[2]

The city has a special status within the Kiev Oblast being the city of oblast-level subordination (see Administrative divisions of Ukraine) although it is located within the limits of Ivankiv Raion. The city also is being supervised by the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine as part of the Zone of alienation jurisdiction.

Pripyat was founded in 1970 to house workers for the nearby Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. It was officially proclaimed a city in 1979, but was abandoned in 1986 following the Chernobyl disaster. It was the ninth nuclear-city ("атомоград" (atomograd) in Russian, literally "atom city") in the Soviet Union at its time. Its population had been around 50,000 before the accident. Annual Rate of natural increase was estimated at around 800 persons, plus over 500 newcomers from all corners of the Soviet Union each year. It had been planned that the Prypiat's population should have risen up to 78,000 in the nearest future. Prypiat had a railroad link to Yazov station(Kiev railroad line) as well as a navigable river nearby.

Background
Access to Pripyat, unlike cities of military importance, was not restricted before the disaster. Before the Chernobyl accident, 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, mirnyj 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 the station being too close to the city. Thus the station and Pripyat^[3] were built in their current location, about 100 km (62 mi) from Kiev. After the disaster, the city of Pripyat was evacuated in two days

Development

Along with its prime goal as being home to nuclear power plant's employees, Pripyat had been viewed as a major railroad and river cargo port in Northern Ukraine. The urban nomenclature was quite typical for the time. There were traditional ideological names on the city map like Lenin Av., International Friendship St., Heroes of Stalingrad St. etc. There also were some street names that had local bearings, e.g. Embankment St., Builders Ave., and Enthusiasts Ave. Lesya Ukrainka St. has some cultural implications since it bears the name of one of the greatest poets of Ukraine. The "atom for peace" theme was also included in the naming scheme, owing to Igor Kurchatov street, which was named after a nuclear physicist who worked for a peaceful use of the nuclear technology.

Pripyat had a defined city centre where city hall (or city council), the largest shopping centres, major recreational and public catering facilities and the Polissya hotel were located.

The chief idea of the urban layout was the so-called triangular principle developed by Moscow architects, the project which then famous Nicolay Ostozhenko had been running. After some adjustments by Kiev architects, the plan of the city's development was finally approved. At the time this triangular one-of-a-kind layout was unique, though by the time the building-up of Pripyat started it had been implemented in dozens of Soviet cities and the novelty soon wore off.

The triangular method featured alternations of five-storey buildings with high-rises which made the city lined with broad vistas, open spaces, and the horizon visible from almost every corner. Unlike the old cities with their tiny yards and narrow streets, Pripyat had been initially planned to look free and vivid, all for the comfort of its inhabitants. Besides the calculated boost of street space, the goal had been achieved by making the streets and blocks symmetrical. Taken together, these solutions were intended to immunize Pripyat from such scourge of modern times as traffic-jams.

Evacuation note, April 27, 1986

"For the attention of the residents of Pripyat! The City Council informs you that due to the accident at Chernobyl Power Station in the city of Pripyat the radioactive conditions in the vicinity are deteriorating. The Communist Party, its officials and the armed forces are taking necessary steps to combat this. Nevertheless, with the view to keep people as safe and healthy as possible, the children being top priority, we need to temporarily evacuate the citizens in the nearest towns of Kiev Oblast. For these reasons, starting from April 27, 1986 2 p.m. each apartment block will be able to have a bus at its disposal, supervised by the police and the city officials. It is highly advisable to take your documents, some vital personal belongings and a certain amount of food, just in case, with you. The senior executives of public and industrial facilities of the city has decided on the list of employees needed to stay in Pripyat to maintain these facilities in a good working order. All the houses will be guarded by the police during the evacuation period. Tovarishchs, ("Comrades") leaving your residences temporarily please make sure you have turned the lights, electrical equipment and water off and shut the windows. Please keep calm and orderly in the process of this short-term evacuation."