Intrigued, a team of microbiologists from the Kyiv Institute of Microbiology and Virology began visiting the area regularly. It is one of the few places on the planet where researchers can study the effects of radiation on nature, and it has yielded many discoveries-including, in Tugai’s case, revelations about a particularly extraordinary kind of fungus.įive years after the disaster, in 1991, remotely piloted robots discovered a jet-black fungus growing on the inside of the reactors. Over the years, wildlife has adapted to life in the exclusion zone, the area around the plant where access to visitors is heavily restricted. The “sarcophagus” covering the fourth block of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 2018. In fact, Ukrainian officials report that radiation levels increased directly following the invasion, and the IAEA is investigating whether Russian soldiers experienced radiation poisoning during their occupation. However, the war could still lead to leaks, new plumes of radioactive dust, or worse. The most radioactive areas are contained within a stadium-sized steel sarcophagus. In the decades between what most scientists call the worst nuclear meltdown in history and the Russian invasion, the ruins of Chernobyl and the contaminated land around it have been managed and studied. Even then, her thoughts turned to Chornobyl, as it is known in Ukrainian, where, decades ago, she and a team of scientists had conducted groundbreaking research in the aftermath of the 1986 disaster-research that continues to be relevant in surprising new ways today. “Explosions are constantly heard,” she wrote in an email that day. On the day the plant was seized, shells were falling on Tatiana Tugai’s home city of Kyiv. It has been a harrowing time for people who know the site well. By the end of March, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has confirmed that Russian troops have pulled out, and is sending experts to assess safety and security there. The defunct power plant-still undergoing cleanup and decommissioning-was overtaken by the invaders and the employees held hostage.
On Thursday, February 24, 2022, Russian troops descended on the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone in northern Ukraine.
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