Destruction and Healing at Chernobyl
By Olivia Kiley
Science and Tech Editor
In April of 1986, the world witnessed the largest nuclear accident in all of history unfold at a nuclear power plant just outside of a small city in the USSR named Chernobyl. With four RMBK nuclear reactors, the Chernobyl plant had a hugely flawed design which was altered significantly after the explosion of the plant. Before this, these reactors came with a slew of problems. All the issues, in combination with the violation of safety protocols, led to the fourth reactor exploding and setting off a chain reaction that would expose the nuclear core and contaminate the air with cancer causing radiation.
Following this disaster, a thirty-mile radius “exclusion zone” was established and 335 000 people were evacuated. However, the radioactive material had already spread as far as Sweden.
Experts predicted that it would take around 20 000 years for the radiation to dissipate completely.
With all this being said, why is the Chernobyl accident relevant today? Well, scientists have discovered a fungus, within the reactor and around the plant, that has not only survived the radiation but that is thriving because of it. Some of the fungus even appeared to “digest” immensely radioactive particles. This suggests that certain strains of fungi are “radiotropic” meaning they actively seek out high levels of radiation as a fuel source in the same way that plants seek out sunlight.
"The Chernobyl explosion put 400 times more radioactive material into the Earth's atmosphere than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima"
- Based on the proceedings of the IAEA/WHO/EC international conference in Vienna 1996
Professor Ekaterina Dadachova found that the cells of these fungi accumulated more biomass, i.e., renewable organic material, when exposed to the high levels of radiation. The key to this adaptation is melanin, a molecule that provides pigment to an organism and that can absorb UV radiation and visible light. It was then theorized that melanin wasn’t just a shield to protect the organism against radiation but an energy transducer that could utilize the energy from the ionizing radiation.
This opens many new doors in the field of renewable energy as the fungi are very resistant to harsh conditions. One day, scientists may be able to replace plants in regions where there isn’t enough rain to grow proper crops. The fungi could also be able to speed up the decomposition of the radioactive material, making Chernobyl habitable once again.
This all just goes to show how mother nature is healing the wound the explosion caused and returning the land to what it once was.
