A surge in energy consumption during one of the experiments on Apwas one of the main reasons Reactor 4 exploded.

One of the earliest such programs was undertaken at Limansk-13, a secret city where top Soviet scientists experimented with radiowaves, in order to harness them as a tool, to create unflinching loyalty to the Union in all affected people. During the course of the games, some characters express concern that the Zone might be growing and increasing its influence on the world.īefore the 1986 disaster, the remote areas around Chernobyl and Pripyat were used by the Soviet Union for research and development of psychotropic weapons and study of the noosphere. For example, Duty members are attempting to 'fight the Zone,' preferring to ultimately see its destruction, while Freedom believes that the entire area is a gift to mankind and should be shared equally by all of humanity. There are many different beliefs concerning the truth of, and reasonable response to, The Zone. Research is constantly ongoing to find out the nature and origin of The Zone, as well as a means to counter it. Among the more notable groups are Duty, Freedom and the Ecologists.

These people are either operating for themselves, or in factions. However, the prospect of lucrative looting and treasure hunting has led a large number of opportunists known as Stalkers to jump fence into The Zone itself. Supposedly, the area is kept under lockdown by the military. Mutated wildlife roams freely in The Zone Following the 2006 disaster, animals and plants have been grotesquely mutated and deadly anomalies abound. Due to the radical decrease in human presence and activity, wildlife has flourished in the Zone and the area is often described as having been 'reclaimed by nature'. The Zone of Alienation stretches between the borders of Ukraine and Belarus, and is kept protected by the Ukrainian authorities.

Stalker noise of the zone