The biggest threat to Chernobyl is no longer radiation
Tell someone you’re visiting New York for work and they’ll be jealous. A Paris summit? Green with envy. But mention that you’re going to Chernobyl to cover the 40th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear disaster and you’ll get a different reaction.
Some people will seriously warn you about the risk of cancer, others will explain that radiation poisoning is inevitable, all referring to sensationalist headlines, schlocky films and overly dramatic documentaries. This is why we sought to access the exclusion zone and unearth the facts. Has the contamination lessened or gotten worse? Is nature mutated, burned and dying, or thriving? Will the area ever be repopulated? Could Russia’s invasion of Ukraine trigger more radiation?
Four decades later, there is certainly much to explore: engineering efforts to contain radiation, environmental changes as vast cooling ponds drain and become forests, growing populations of rare animals including wolves and elk. But the story is unfortunately also greatly complicated by the war, with occupation by the Russians, their widespread vandalism and subsequent reconquest and militarization by the Ukrainian army.
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The one-dimensional view of Chernobyl as a contaminated wasteland is completely irrelevant.
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Today, the area is a highly restricted military zone, located right on Ukraine’s border and a potential route for further invasions. With the help of the scientists who work there, New scientist had rare access. The visit, reported in depth, shows how the one-dimensional view of Chernobyl as a contaminated wasteland is so completely irrelevant: the region has a fascinating history; nature bounces back; contamination is largely controlled; and the Exclusion Zone is a haunting, fascinating and beautiful place.
Today, as throughout Ukraine, the future of Chernobyl is at stake. The ongoing war makes management of the area more difficult and scientific research there infinitely more difficult. A drone attack threatened future cleanup operations. The biggest threat to Chernobyl’s security may no longer be radiation – which can be monitored and managed with sufficient budget – but Russia.
