It’s hard to be alive in our modern society that relies so much on nuclear energy and not know what happened in Chernobyl. It’s a catastrophe that has kept people weary about this form of energy for several decades now and the area surrounding the plant where the disaster happened still hasn’t come anywhere close to recovering from what happened all those years ago.
Just to prove the point, here’s a few facts about Chernobyl that are pretty much guaranteed to give you nightmares. Just in case nuclear fallout wasn’t already doing it for you.
Nobody Lives There
Despite the disaster happening decades ago, no one has lived in Chernobyl since then and it doesn’t look like it’s going to change anytime soon. Despite there no longer being a nuclear plant to blow up, it seems like people still aren’t too keen on dealing with this area as a living space. Might have something to do with the next point.
The Radiation Levels Can Still Be Lethal
Despite the radiation levels in Chernobyl being highly variable, sometimes changing significantly over a distance of only a few miles, most of Chernobyl is still seeing radiation levels high enough to be considered lethal.
Even The Animals Are Radioactive
While humans can’t survive or reproduce with even minor numbers of radiation, the animals seem to be doing relatively fine. Sure, there’s birth defects and weird growths and all you’d pretty much expect from growing up in a radiated environment, but at least they’re somehow surviving.
It’s Open To Tourists
Despite everything else in this article, Chernobyl can be visited today by tourists. It goes with more than a handful safety measures and it’s probably not the ideal vacation for everyone, but you’re perfectly able to visit it if you want to. Only in a guided tour, of course.
The Radiation Hit Millions
Despite the disaster “only” killing about 30,000 people, the radiation went so far as to infect over 7 million souls. While not all of them suffered great ailments from the radiation, it does mean that the impact of this disaster went a lot further than just the immediate environment of the plant. It’s said that some of the nuclear dust even reached the eastern United States.
Women In The Close Vicinity Were Forced To Get An Abortion
After the disaster happened, pregnant women in a near 20 mile radius were forced to get abortions. If that doesn’t illustrate the severity of the situation, I’m not sure what does.
A Cover Was Built Over The Reactor
This happened about half a year after the disaster. It was supposed to keep the area safe from radiation for over 30 years, but recently it’s been reported that “The Sarcophagus” as it’s called is showing cracks.
The Elephant’s Foot Is Still Highly Lethal
The Elephant’s Foot is really the name that’s been given to most of the radioactive waste beneath the Chernobyl reactor. It’s said to remain radioactive for at least another 100 millennia and if you come into contact with it for slightly less than 10 minutes, it will outright kill you.
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