When Will Chernobyl Be Safe Again?

Chernobyl has had a short but very tragic history. Will the day come in our lifetimes when the area surrounding it becomes habitable again?

Transcript:

While we may harness some of the Earth’s boundless potential, we don’t necessarily entirely understand how it works, or even how to control it. The Chernobyl accident in 1986 is a prime example of the inadequate handling of nuclear energy and the decades of fallout that can follow after. How long does a mistake like Chernobyl last though, when will it finally fade into the history books rather than remaining as a scarred reminder of what happened over 35 years ago. Today, we’re going to find the answer.
If you’re unfamiliar or only slightly familiar with Chernobyl, we’ll do a quick rundown of the history here. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant resides in Ukraine, and was constructed during the peak of the Soviet Union’s influence. While the plant was being constructed, the Cold War was silently raging, a race for who could have the most firepower, the fastest. As such, the plant was built on a largely flawed design, operated by under trained workers, and without any major understanding of the safety requirements needed to run a nuclear power plant.
During a poorly planned experiment, many safety features of the plant were shut down and a chain reaction inside of the core went out of control, causing several explosions, spewing radioactive material, fires, and reactor shrapnel launching across the power plant.
Despite the massive size of the incident, only two of the workers on site would die during the accident, however, the true extent of the explosion would be known when 28 more workers would die from radiation poisoning.
The same material that poisoned these workers would be cast across chernobyl, and cause the neighboring city to entirely evacuate in an attempt to avoid the deadly radiation. Despite the Soviet’s best attempts to cover up the incident, the word would get out and soon the entire world would be aware of the disaster their design had caused. Millions of acres of farmland, forests would suffer, as well as the citizens and livestock of neighboring areas would contract mild radiation sickness, even as far as 100,000 square miles around the site.
Which brings us here, to decades later, have the Chernobyl cleanup efforts been successful? Is it possible to actually set foot in this ghost town once again? Well, Yes and No.
The Chernobyl reactor itself has been covered now with a metal shell, protecting any further radioactive material from spreading. Neighboring towns have been cleaned up enough, along with the passage of time to allow for tourists to come take guided tours through the remains of abandoned radiated cities. However, these aren’t entirely safe, and the tour is strictly guided and forbids touching structures or any of the plants and wildlife that have inhabited the area, as the radiation levels in certain areas are still very toxic. Besides keeping your hands to yourself though, these tours are considered largely safe and have a radiation check at the end for good measure.
For Chernobyl itself though, inside the plant where the reactor meltdown occurred, scientists predict that the ground and atmosphere around the site cannot be reopened, and may take up to 2000 years for the radiation to disperse entirely. Leaving a giant metal shell, outside of a ghost town as a reminder of the events from 36 years ago.

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[ericha]

5000 years. Not great but not terrible

[larryseibert]

Very informative video. Tragic indeed and that cutting corners, ignoring safety procedures effected so many people.

[davidwagner]

In 2017 the a new cover was built and installed over the building.

In 2024 work was supposed to start removing the concrete sarcophagus. Once that was done the nuclear fuel still in the reactor would be removed.

[WillowFox]

Why. WHY do people pronounce Nuclear as NUKE U LER ?

[ohzone]

It's already safe, people who stayed are thriving.

[themightybob]

If you know anything about radiation you would know that chernobyl is safe now, 2000 years is just ridiculous🤣