A bird flies over a mudflat in Chernobyl, Ukraine, on April 5, 2017. (Xinhua/Chen Junfeng)
"All routes are checked by dosimetrists and are safe for visitors."
KIEV, Aug. 2 (Xinhua) -- The State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management revealed that tourist routes are developed along the Pripyat River and the Uzh River in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, reported Interfax Ukraine News Agency on Thursday.
"Water routes for the exclusion zone visiting were developed ... All routes are checked by dosimetrists and are safe for visitors," the report said.
Photo taken on April 5, 2017 shows a deserted amusement park in Pripyat, a city near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine. (Xinhua/Chen Junfeng)
The plan to develop new tour forms in the exclusion zone was initiated by tourism operators because the number of visitors there has increased 10 times over the past five years.
The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, some 110 km north of capital Kiev, witnessed one of the worst nuclear accidents in human history on April 26, 1986. After the disaster, a large tract of land around the plant was designated as a forbidden zone for decades.
Photo taken on April 5, 2017 shows a canal in Chernobyl, Ukraine. (Xinhua/Chen Junfeng)
As the radiation levels decreased, the 30-square-km area around the plant was officially opened to tourists in 2010. The country launched guided tours to the plant in 2018.
About 63,000 tourists visited the Chernobyl Exclusive Zone last year, according to the Ukrainian Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources.
