Legal Basis for Ensuring Fire Safety in Forests in the Territory Contaminated by Radioactive Emissions From the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Abstract

In the context of martial law in Ukraine and significant climate change, the risks of forest fires are significantly increased. The forest areas of the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone are most exposed to such threats, which is additionally mediated by a number of factors: radioactive contamination and threats of migration of radioactive elements in case of forest fires, significant clutter of these areas, structure of the stand, lack of forest roads and communications, shortcomings of legal regulation and insufficient level of funding. The purpose of the article is to analyze the legal capacity of the State to ensure an adequate level of fire safety in the forests within the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and to assess the relevant risks. The application of a system of both general scientific and special scientific research methods allowed for a comprehensive analysis of the problematic aspects of both the organizational and legal elements of the system of fire safety in the forests of Ukraine within the territory of the radioactive substances affected zone. The article describes the risks and threats of forest fires in the Exclusion Zone; identifies the peculiarities of forest management in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone and the stricter requirements for fire safety in the respective forests due to these factors; and identifies additional threats associated with the military occupation of this territory in 2022, mine residues and risks of radioactive substances migration during forest fires in the Exclusion Zone. A number of shortcomings and conflicts of legal regulation in the area under study that affect the effectiveness of fire safety in the exclusion zone are identified and outlined, and a set of proposals for its optimization is proposed.