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Legal Treatment of Territories Contaminated with Radionuclides
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2.3.5. Legal Treatment of Territories Contaminated with Radionuclides
Apart from specially protected areas established with the purpose of biological diversity protection from adverse anthropogenic impact, there are a number of other territories with a special regime. Given that since 1986 the Dnipro Basin in the lower flow of the river has been exposed to radioactive contamination, such territories include the zone of compulsory evacuation and the isolation zone set up after the Chernobyl accident. The isolation zone has the area of about 170 thousand hectares; it is part of Polessye radiation-environmental reserve, the legal status of which is determined in the Regulations on Polessye State Radiation-Environmental Reserve approved by the Order of the Ministry for Emergency Situations and Protection of the Population from the Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident of the Republic of Belarus dated 5 August 1995. This reserve is set up to prevent the radionuclide transport beyond the contaminated zones, to maintain environmental balance of natural systems, to conduct radiation-and-environmental monitoring of flora and fauna, to carry out radio-biological research and to develop principles of sustainable use of natural resources and environmental protection. The reserve is an environmental research institution of national importance with a special land use regime (Item 1.2). Land of the reserve is under conservation. The types of activities allowed here are aimed at ensuring radiological safety of the territory, environmental protection, research and experimental work; limited economic activities are allowed in specifically assigned plots to satisfy the internal needs of the reserve. The conservation of biodiversity was one of the objectives of establishing Polessye radiation-environmental reserve (Item 2.1). Any transfer of land into temporary use, removal of soil, mineral resources and other values from the territory of the reserve are prohibited unless sanctioned by its administration and approved by the Ministry for Emergency Situations of the Republic of Belarus. It should be noted, however, that the institution and the territory in question should not have been granted the status of “environmental” because the aims and objectives of this reserve differ from those of the other reserve areas. The entire territory of the reserve lies within the zone of compulsory evacuation and isolation, surrounding the Chernobyl NPP. These zones are protected by the reserve guards and officers of the Ministry of Interior against unsanctioned trespassing by people, all land transportation means and other vehicles. All activities are strictly regulated. For example, the following is prohibited in the reserve territory: permanent residing of the population; unsanctioned stay of people, unsanctioned entry of all transportation means and other vehicles; timber floating; all economic activities unrelated to the reserve objectives (except for specifically assigned plots used for the internal needs of the reserve); any activity that is directly or indirectly harmful to the natural complexes; employing individuals without required medical certificates or their consent; unsanctioned removal of materials and constructions, machines and equipment, individuals’ personal belongings, timber, soil, peat, loam, sand and other mineral resources, plant-growing produce, medicinal herbs, mushrooms, berries and other by-products (except for research samples). All types of activities in the reserve territory can only be carried out with its administration’s permission and upon approval of the Ministry for Emergency Situations.
The legislation regulating the legal status of the territories subjected to radioactive contamination needs special consideration. In the Republic of Belarus, the core of this legislative framework is the Law “On Legal Status of Territories Subjected to Radioactive Contamination Resulting from the Chernobyl NPP Accident” adopted on 12 November 1991 and amended on 12 May 1999. The Law establishes the legal status of the territories in the Republic of Belarus that have been exposed to radioactive contamination since the Chernobyl accident; it aims to reduce the radiation impact on the population and ecological systems, to promote rehabilitation and restoration activities, to ensure sustainable use of the natural, economic and research potential of the area.
The following criteria are used to classify the territories subjected to radioactive contamination:
1) suitability for human residency (mean annual effective dose of people’s exposure to radiation);
2) level of radioactive contamination of the territory (density of radioactive contamination);
3) possibility of obtaining products in which the content of radionuclides does not exceed the nationally established maximum admissible levels (agricultural and forestry produce, peat, water and other kinds of products and raw materials).
According to Article 3 of the Law, the territory contaminated with radionuclides is part of the territory of the Republic of Belarus where a long-term environment contamination with radionuclides occurred as the result of the accident at the Chernobyl NPP, the density of soil contamination with radionuclides of Caesium-137, Strontium-90 or Plutonium-238, 239 and 240 being, respectively, 1.0; 0.15 and 0.01 Curie per square kilometer or higher; as well as other territories where the mean annual effective dose of people’s exposure to radiation can exceed the natural or technogenic background level by 1.0 м3в per year, and the territories where it is impossible to obtain products with the concentration of radionuclides below the admissible levels.
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