Where is Chernobyl?
The Chernobyl power plant lies in northern Ukraine, near the border with Belarus. Both countries border Poland to the west and Russia to the east. The Chernobyl power plant is about 7 km from the border with Belarus, while about 100 km to the south lays Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, with a population of 3.1 million. The reactor complex, which has been inactive since 12 December 2000, stands by the river Pripyat, which joins the Dnieper at the town of Chernobyl, 12 km away.
The Chernobyl power plant is located in Ukraine, a country that used to be part of the old Soviet Union. It’s about 110km north of Kiev and only 7km south of the border with the neighbouring country of Belarus. The town of Pripyat is 3km away. It grew up to support the nuclear plant, and had 49,000 inhabitants before the accident in 1986. The old town of Chernobyl, which had a population of 12,500, is about 15km south-east of the plant.
