The (; ; ) is a river in
Eastern Europe , of approximately 710 km (441 mi.) length. It flows east through
Ukraine ,
Belarus , and Ukraine again, draining into the
Dnieper .
The Pripyat passes through the thirty-kilometer zone around the
Chernobyl reactor, where the
Nuclear Disaster happened. Therefore it transported and still transports
Radionuclide s downstream. The concentration of
Caesium-137 is still increasing in dredges and has not been reduced in the river sediments.
The city of
Prypiat, Ukraine (population 45,000) was completely evacuated after the Chernobyl disaster.