"Big Construction" program to clear access to Chornobyl exclusion zone – official

Deputy Head of the Ukrainian President's Office, coordinator of the Big Construction project Kyrylo Tymoshenko says the government is working to ensure that the Chornobyl exclusion zone in Kyiv region becomes an area of development rather than a site of oblivion.

The official made the comment on the eve of the opening of the Chornobyl. Journey exhibition at Ukraine's Expocenter, also known as the VDNH, the Ukrainian Ecology and Natural Resources Ministry's press service said on its website on April 21.

"Today, the latest technologies are being introduced in the Chornobyl zone, while nature is reviving there. The Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant [NPP] has become a unique platform for alternative energy generation. I believe that new roads are one of the symbols of development of this territory," he said.

"So, this year, on the 35th anniversary of the Chornobyl disaster, the [Ukrainian] president's Big Construction program has been launched in the exclusion zone. Over the next three years, we plan to repair all main motorways there, providing access to the exclusion zone for environmentalists, researchers, power engineers, and entrepreneurs. Life goes on. This is the result of heroic efforts of liquidators of the Chornobyl disaster fallout," he added.

Read alsoUIA to offer sightseeing flight over Chornobyl NPPThe exhibition, which will have seven conceptual blocks, is dedicated to the 35th anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy. Its organizers also plan to hold discussion programs, presentations, and thematic lectures.

Visitors will see archival photos and videos, and paintings by world-acclaimed artists, including famous Ukrainian artist Maria Prymachenko. Moreover, everyone will be able to get to the Chornobyl NPP and explore it using VR technology. In particular, visitors will see the covering of the NPP's fourth power unit with a new safe confinement and how life, step by step, returns to the exclusion zone.

On April 26, a preliminary opening ceremony of the exhibition will take place for Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Mariano Grossi Grossi, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, and media. The exhibition will host visitors after strict lockdown is lifted.

Read alsoEnergoatom: Ukraine will no longer transport spent nuclear fuel to RussiaEarlier, Tymoshenko shared plans to rebuild and restore 150 cultural heritage sites in Ukraine within three years.