Chernobyl’s TreesThe disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine was one of the w

Chernobyl’s TreesThe disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine was one of the worst nuclear catastrophes of all time. This 1986 explosion contaminated the surrounding area with 20 times more radiation than was released in Hiroshima. Part of the tragedy is that now, 29 years later, the risk of harmful radioactive exposure still lives on—and some of it is hidden in the trees.After the explosion, an “exclusion zone”, encompassing everything within a 30 km radius of the site, was designated as an unsafe, evacuated, do-not-enter zone. Many trees in this area died immediately following the explosion, but many forests are still alive. Oddly enough, the exclusion zone became an unintentional nature preserve—human interference is minimal and many unaware animals have made this their home. However, the dangers of radiation are still very real.The trees surrounding Chernobyl contain harmful amounts of cesium-137, a radioactive nuclide. The real threat lies in forest fires that could potentially send plumes of radioactive ash around Europe (radioactive particles from the initial explosion were found as far away as Sweden). A recent study found that forest fires in 2002, 2008, and 2010, displaced the equivalent of 8% of the Cs-137 that was released in 1986.Although forest fires are a natural, and somewhat expected, occurrence, these forests are actually at much higher risk for igniting…thanks again to radiation. Plant litter generally decays fairly rapidly, thanks to our trusty decomposers—mushrooms, lichens, bacteria, etc. However, many of these decomposers cannot survive in this toxic environment, so they aren’t around to break down organic material. The dead trees here don’t decay; many of them have been lying around for years, perhaps even since the explosion. This means there is quite a bit of kindling, ready to catch fire at the slightest spark.This is a clear problem without an easy solution. Setting off small, controlled fires (a commonly-used fire prevention technique) would still release the noxious nuclides. Furthermore, many local firefighters aren’t fully aware or fully prepared for the danger of the situation. With wildfire season coming soon, this is definitely something that will be on the environmental radar.-CMPhoto credit: http://bit.ly/1E0IYIPThe abstract of a recent publication on this:http://bit.ly/1ypHKV1For more information:http://bbc.in/1ECAV3Rhttp://bit.ly/1cYKgax -- source link

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