Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in the context of "Vyshhorod Raion"

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (ChNPP) is a nuclear power plant undergoing decommissioning. ChNPP is located near the abandoned city of Pripyat in northern Ukraine, 16.5 kilometres (10 mi) northwest of the city of Chernobyl, 16 kilometres (10 mi) from the Belarus–Ukraine border, and about 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Kyiv. The plant was cooled by an engineered pond, fed by the Pripyat River about 5 kilometres (3 mi) northwest from its juncture with the Dnieper River. On 26 April 1986, during a safety test, unit 4 reactor exploded, exposing the core and releasing radiation. This marked the beginning of the infamous Chernobyl disaster.

Originally named the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant of V. I. Lenin after the founding leader of the Soviet Union, the plant was commissioned in phases with the four reactors entering commercial operation between 1978 and 1984. In 1986, in what became known as the Chernobyl disaster, reactor No. 4 suffered a catastrophic explosion and meltdown; as a result of this, the power plant is now within a large restricted area known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Both the zone and the power plant are administered by the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management. The three other reactors remained operational post-accident maintaining a capacity factor between 60 and 70%. In total, units 1 and 3 had supplied 98 terawatt-hours of electricity each, with unit 2 slightly less at 75 TWh. In 1991, unit 2 was placed into a permanent shutdown state by the plant's operator due to complications resulting from a turbine fire. This was followed by Unit 1 in 1996 and Unit 3 in 2000. Their closures were largely attributed to foreign pressures. In 2013, the plant's operator announced that units 1–3 were fully defueled, and in 2015 entered the decommissioning phase, during which equipment contaminated during the operational period of the power station will be removed. This process is expected to take until 2065 according to the plant's operator. Although the reactors have all ceased generation, Chernobyl maintains a large workforce as the ongoing decommissioning process requires constant management.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Державна служба України з надзвичайних ситуацій, romanized: Derzhavna sluzhba Ukrainy z nadzvychainykh sytuatsii), until December 24, 2012 named the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine (Ukrainian: Міністерство надзвичайних ситуацій України, romanized: Ministerstvo nadzvychainykh sytuatsii Ukrainy) is the main executive body tasked with carrying out state policy in the spheres of civil defence, rescue, creating and managing the system of insurance fund documentation, utilization of radioactive wastes, protection of population and territory in emergency situations, emergency prevention and response, liquidation in the aftermath, and the Chernobyl catastrophe. They represent Ukraine's sole fire & rescue service.

It is abbreviated as ДСНС [України]. It also directly administers the zone of alienation located just north of Kyiv.

The Polesie State Radioecological Reserve (PSRER; Belarusian: Палескі дзяржаўны радыяцыйна-экалагічны запаведнік, romanized: Palyeski dzyarzhawny radyyatsyyna-ekalahichny zapavyednik; Russian: Полесский государственный радиационно-экологический заповедник, romanized: Polessky gosudarstvenny radiatsionno-ekologichesky zapovednik) is a radioecological nature reserve in the Polesie region of Belarus, which was created to enclose the territory of Belarus most affected by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl disaster. The reserve adjoins the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in Ukraine. The environmental monitoring and countermeasure agency, Bellesrad, oversees the agriculture and forestry in the area.

The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant sarcophagus or Shelter Structure (Ukrainian: Об'єкт "Укриття", romanized: Ob'yekt "Ukryttya", Russian: Объект «Укрытие», romanized: Ob"yekt «Ukrytiye») is a massive steel and concrete structure covering the nuclear reactor number 4 building of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. Built in the aftermath of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the sarcophagus was designed to limit radioactive contamination of the environment by encasing the most dangerous area and protecting it from climate exposure. The sarcophagus locked in an estimated 200 tons of radioactive lava-like corium, 30 tons of highly contaminated dust and 16 tons of uranium and plutonium.

Structurally, the sarcophagus is largely supported by the damaged reactor building. By 1996, the structure had deteriorated to the point where numerous stabilization measures were required. Internal radiation levels were estimated to be as high as 10000 röntgens per hour in certain areas (normal background radiation in cities is usually around 20–50 microröntgens per hour, and a lethal dose is 500 röntgens over 5 hours). By 2017, the sarcophagus was surrounded by the New Safe Confinement structure, which is designed to protect the environment while the sarcophagus undergoes demolition and the nuclear cleanup continues. The reactor site is located within a large restricted area known as the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.