Chernobyl zone in Belarus reduced

Territories at which pass control has been cancelled, make more than 5,000 hectares.

The decision has been made by the Department of Chernobyl disaster control of the Emergency Ministry of Belarus, Respublika newspaper informs.

For instance, it is no longer prohibited to visit such populated areas as Dzeryazhna, Kashanouka, Haradzeshnya, Ihnatauka and others. As stated by the authorities, in the period after 1986 the level of radioactive contamination there has dropped considerably, and it no more than 15 curie now.

However, as noted by the leading expert of the administration of the exclusion and compulsory evacuation zones in Klimavichy district Syarhei Salanovich, a special legal regime in these places is to be maintained. As before, it is prohibited to make camp fires there, to dump rubbish, and in case someone would decide to collect berries and mushrooms there, they must be checked in a laboratory for radionuclides content.

The rehabilitated lands have been placed in service of forest management, which has technologies of growing clean forest at territories moderately contaminated by radioactivity.

Dwellers of the formerly contaminated towns would have to say goodbye to their benefits.

We remind that recently the Chernobyl zone was already reduced. In line with the decree of the Council of Ministers of February 10, 2010 the total number of contaminated human settlements was decreased by 211, as compared to the list approved in 2005.

Meanwhile, according to the head of Kyiv coordination and analytical centre of Ecology and Health, Professor Yury Bandazheuski, in case a radioactive counter do not trace radiocaesium on the surface of the ground, it simply means that radioactive elements had migrated into the earth stratum and are at the level of the root system. The expert says that transformation of radioactive elements into the ones more dangerous for human health occurs.

For instance, Caesium-137 decays into barium, and barium is very toxic for a human being. People at "conditionally clean" territories get it with plants and animals’ meat.