The economic and social situation of the city is still heavily influenced by the power plant and other Chernobyl zone installations.

In an interview with Pravda published on 10 October 1986, Erik Pozdyshev, the newly appointed Director of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, officially announced that a new city was to be built.

The city was intended to replace Pripyat which became a ghost town after it was evacuated thirty-six hours after the nuclear disaster due to radioactive material.

There is a memorial in Slavutych to remember the victims of the disaster, especially to those who lost their lives immediately after the event from radiation-related diseases.

A rail line (twice crossing the international border with Belarus) runs directly from the city to the site of the plant.

[7] On 26 March 2022, following days of shelling, the Russian troops entered the city, seized a hospital and detained the mayor Yuri Fomichev, while locals took to the streets to protest the occupation.

[12] On April 26, 2024, the city hosted a conference on the security situation for the entire Chernobyl exclusion zone and its surrounding areas.

The infrastructure and public facilities of the city were mostly funded by the company which operated the Chernobyl nuclear plant.

Because the remaining units of the nuclear power plant were shut down in 2001, the city faces significant social problems and an uncertain future.

In addition, substantial vocational retraining programs are provided by the government to improve the occupational outlook of those who lost jobs.

[weasel words] Slavutych has a railway station, and a minor stop in the locality of Poselok Lesnoi, on the Chernihiv–Ovruch line.