District profile

District Profile

The total area of the Chechersk District is 123,062 ha. Practically all the district area (122,988 ha) has contamination levels over 1 Ci/km², with virtually 100% of agricultural land and 100% of wooded land completely contaminated (Figure 1).

Figure 1. ¹³⁷Cs contamination map of the Chechersk District

As of 1 January, 1986, the population of the Chechersk District, Gomel Region was 29,800, including 20,200 (or 67.8 %) of rural and 9,600 (or 32.2%) of urban portions.

Due to the Chernobyl NPP accident, the population was relocated from 43 communities (8,986 people); 4 former communities were evacuated and the houses buried. Over the post-accident period, the population of the district has declined by 41.6%. As of 1 January, 2003, for example, the number of population constituted about 17,500, including 9,800 (or 60.3%) of rural and 7,700 persons (or 39.7%) of urban population.

People live in 101 (of which 100 are rural) out of 125 communities. Thus, the bulk of the population of the Chechersk District are rural residents. Figure 2 shows numbers within the three key categories of rural population (working-age persons, pensioners and children under 15) for the period of 1986 - 2001.

Figure 2. Categories of rural population in the Chechersk District

The share of rural children in the Chechersk District is low (18%), the working-age population constitutes 42 %, and the share of pensioners is high. (Figure 3.).

Figure 3. Proportions of key population groups in the Chechersk District, %

During the post-accident period, 12,374 ha of agricultural land have been withdrawn from agricultural use. Figure 4 shows distribution of the affected areas, communities and population of the Chechersk District according to radioactive contamination zones.

Figure 4. Distribution of areas, communities and population of the Chechersk District according to contamination zones as of 1 January, 2004.

As it can be seen from the figure, 70% of land in the Chechersk District is within the contamination range 5-15 Ci/km², which includes 89 communities accommodating 98% of the district population. The bulk of the Chechersk District population lives in the area entitled to relocation, where the average annual effective human radiation exposure dose may exceed 1 mSv.

After the Chernobyl NPP accident, a set of forceful activities has been conducted in the district to mitigate the consequences of the disaster. Over the 1986-2002 period, 2 settlements were built for relocatees; 433 apartments (private estate houses) were built; 4 communities were connected to gas-supply network; 95,000 м2 of the territories were improved; 88 km of hard-surface roads were constructed; 34.2 km of water-supply pipelines were laid; 105.7 km of gas-supply lines were installed; 4 radiological laboratories were established; 71,800 м2 of open areas were deactivated.

All Rights Reserved, CORE, 2004