A representative office of the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve, which belongs to the management sphere of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, was opened in Kyiv.

The World Bank's top management visited the Exclusion Zone, where they became acquainted with the construction of the spent nuclear fuel storage facility No. 2 (ISF-2), where spent nuclear fuel from ISF-1 will be stored, the system of processing, storage and disposal of radioactive waste (industrial complex Vector). During the event, Vitalii Petruk, Head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management presented the main directions and prospects of the agency and told about the state of implementation of international projects at the ChNPP industrial site.

Within the framework of the OSCE project aimed at increasing the radiological and ecological safety of the Exclusion Zone, in particular, during natural disasters, in Gomel (Belarus), joint Belarusian-Ukrainian inter-departmental command-and-staff training on forest fire extinguishing took place in Gomel, Republic of Belarus. In the process of training, specialists worked out a variety of scenarios for the interaction of all government bodies, services and profile enterprises of Ukraine and Belarus, involved in the suppression of transboundary fires in the Exclusion Zone.

In order to evaluate the effectiveness of the anti-radiation protection of the New Safe Confinement (NSC), the personnel of the Chornobyl NPP performs measurements of radiation dose around the NSC. The work is carried out using an unmanned aerial vehicle (drone), to which the radiodosimeter is attached. The drone with a dosimeter is taken to a control point where it measures the dose rate at an altitude of 30, 60 and 90 meters above the level of the industrial site.

Specialists of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management in Vienna at the kick-off meeting on the UKR9038 IAEA project agreed on a work plan and mechanism for the implementation of the National Project on further support for the Chornobyl NPP decommissioning, management of radioactive waste (RAW) and spent nuclear fuel (SNF). The project is scheduled for 2 years, during which the IAEA experts will provide their assessments and recommendations for Ukraine to implement these measures in accordance with international standards.

Today, the Exclusion Zone has become a true research ground for scientists from all over the world. Everyone is interested in how radiation has affected the state of flora and fauna in this territory and in what state the ecosystem of Ukrainian Polissia is now.

«Officially, in 2016, the Chornobyl Radiation and Ecological Biosphere Reserve was established by the Decree of the President of Ukraine on the territory of the Exclusion Zone, which has existed here since 1986 in the format of the restricted area. Natural complexes quickly recovered, developing their laws without human influence. And now ecosystems of the Exclusion Zone have returned to a state in which they were almost 100 years ago. Today, only 10% of this territory is made up of people, and the remaining 90% is wildlife, which is the place of many Red Data Book animals and plants we have to protect, and this is the main mission in the Reserve's activity», – Vitalii Petruk, Head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, said.

In April 2018, employees of the Clean Future Fund, the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and NOVARKA company shipped 12 puppies from the ChNPP site, which will fly to the United States in June, where they will be arranged in the families and find permanent homes.

On May 7, a Memorandum of Cooperation was signed between the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management (SAUEZM) and the State Finance Institution for Innovation (SSFII). The joint activity of the institutions will be aimed at attracting investments for implementation of energy projects and development of the socio-economic area of the Exclusion Zone, deepening of international economic, scientific and technical cooperation, as well as the implementation of new investment projects in this territory.

During the international conference «Sustainable Energy and Heritage of Chornobyl» held at UN Headquarters in New York (USA), the experts of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management presented the current state of overcoming the consequences of the accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the prospects for the development of the territory of the Exclusion Zone. In particular, a lot of attention was paid to the opportunities for the development of alternative energy in this area.

The project of international technical assistance for the rehabilitation of storage sites for radioactive waste (RAW) of Chornobyl origin located outside the Exclusion Zone is included in the stage of practical implementation. With the financial support of the European Union within the framework of the "Nuclear Safety Cooperation Instrument" program, the said sites for temporary storage of radioactive waste have been distributed by their degree of radiation hazard.

Oleh Nasvit, First Deputy Head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management, at the International Conference "Problems of Decommissioning of Nuclear Energy Facilities and the Restoration of the Environment" INUDECO 18, on April 25-27 in Slavutych, took part in the panel discussion on perspectives of the development of the Exclusion Zone and the role of Slavutych in them.