On April 26, 1986, Unit 4 of the Chernobyl nuclear reactor in northern Ukraine, then a part of the Soviet Union, was shut down for an unauthorized safety test. When the nuclear fuel rods hit the cooling water, the fission reaction accelerated out of control due to a sudden power surge. This caused the reactor to overheat and build up pressure until its structure failed and it blew up, releasing large amounts of radiation. It took officials a whole day to comprehend the scale of the disaster and to order an evacuation of the surrounding area. Some 50,000 people had to leave, not knowing that they would never return.
In the following months, massive efforts were made to decontaminate the area while increased radiation levels were detected across much of Europe. *Fallout from the disaster continues to this day, decades later, and long-term effects such as cancers are still being investigated. *Estimates of the number of deaths that will eventually result from the accident vary enormously.
The forest area near the reactor site is one of the most radioactive places on Earth . Named the Red Forest because its trees turned a reddish-brown colour as they died, the forest is trying to make a recovery. Animals such as elk and eagles have been seen in the area. And birch trees grow where the radioactive trees of the forest were bulldozed and buried by the Soviet government.
Some people have returned as well, mostly former residents who returned illegally after the evacuation. The old company town of Pripyat, once home to 50,000 plant workers is still deserted, but is slowly being reclaimed by the forest. It seems that nature can recover and even thrive where humans cannot. Let's hope that humans can learn from this experience. Chernobyl, and more recently, Fukushima in Japan, have lessons to teach us.
# It's clear that officials were completely unprepared for the accident.
# The reactor exploded because too much pressure was build up inside.