Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, week of July 1st
This image (2016) displays the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 30 years after the nuclear disaster of 1986. The facility at the center of the image is the power plant itself, and the reflective cylindrical figure is the New Safe Confinement encasing reactor No. 4, the site of the core explosion that spewed high levels of radioactive and airborne isotopes into the surrounding land and atmosphere. The purpose of this was to halt the release of contaminants into the environment for nuclear decommissioning. Manmade channels run through the facility originating from a large lake that once served as a cooling pond for reactor-related activities. Agricultural plots are discernible along the plant’s outskirts, and although they have since been abandoned, vegetation continues to grow densely. It is interesting to see how flora and fauna have thrived here following nuclear contamination. Recent studies found that wildlife flourished in the exclusion zone; it was thought that the accident would leave surrounding areas devoid of significant wildlife for many decades. However, in only three decades it has become a refuge for brown bears, bison, wolves, lynxes, Przewalski horses, and 200+ bird species.
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