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Chernobyl: Environmental dead zone or eco-haven?

By Matthew Knight, for CNN

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Chernobyl nuclear disaster forced the evacuation of a 30 kilometer zone
around the site

Ongoing study of seeds shows signs some plants can adapt to radiation

Nature has filled the void left by humans to create "sanctuary of
biodiversity" according to U.N.

Scientists working in the area disagree, saying radiation has led to
decline in wildlife

CNN's global series i-List takes you to a
different country each month. In January, we visit Ukraine and look at changes
shaping the country's economy, culture and social fabric.

(CNN) -- The abandoned ruins of the town of Pripyat near the site of
the world's worst nuclear disaster, at Chernobyl in northern Ukraine, have been
crumbling away for almost a quarter of a century.

The absence of humans has seen nature seemingly flourish in the town's
deserted streets, squares and buildings, apparently defying the radiation that
leaked out when reactor number four exploded on April 26 1986.

But how true is this picture?

New research is showing that some plant species appear to be able to adapt,
despite high levels of toxicity.

Scientists studying the seeds harvested from soybean and flax plants grown
inside (five kilometers from the power plant) the exclusion zone found them to
be relatively unaffected by radiation.

Martin Hajduch from the Institute of Plant Genetics and Biotechnology at the
Slovak Academy of Sciences said: "We detected very low radioactivity in the
seeds. In the stem or leaves there is radioactivity, but it is somehow blocked
and doesn't come to the seeds."

In the stem or leaves there is radioactivity, but it is somehow blocked and
doesn't come to the seeds
--Martin Hajduch, Slovak Academy of
Sciences

RELATED TOPICS

Chernobyl

Nature and
the Environment

Nuclear Energy

Science and
Technology

Ukraine

Hajduch and his colleagues in Ukraine conducted a proteomic study (examining
the structure and function of proteins) of the plants and found that the seeds
harvested inside the exclusion zone compared favorably with ones grown in
non-contaminated soil outside.

"I cannot recommend eating something from Chernobyl, but I think it will be
possible at some stage," Hajduch said.

He's encouraged by the recovery plants are making at Chernobyl -- an area he
describes as "full of life."

The Chernobyl Forum -- a collection of eight U.N. agencies, including
the International Atomic Energy Agency -- published a report in 2005 examining,
among other things, the environmental legacy of the disaster.

Plant and animal populations had grown since the disaster, they said, and the
exclusion zone had "paradoxically become a unique sanctuary for
biodiversity."

But some scientists disagree with the U.N.'s assessment.

Biologist Anders Moller from the University of Paris Sud in France has been
examining the effects of radiation on animals around Chernobyl for two
decades.

"Areas with higher radiation have fewer animals, survival and reproduction is
reduced, sperm are abnormal and have reduced swimming ability. Abnormalities are
commonplace and mutations rates are much elevated," Moller said.

Recent studies of bird life in the area by Moller and Tim
Mousseau from the University of South Carolina revealed abnormality rates running
as high as one in 10. A rate Moller says is "astonishing."

Last year, Moller and Mousseau published the results of the largest census of
animal life in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. It revealed, contrary to the
Chernobyl Forum's 2005 report, that biodiversity in insects, birds and mammals
is declining.

Not all species are affected by radiation in the same way according to
Moller. Some birds -- including migrant species and long distance dispersers --
are more vulnerable to radiation than others, he said.

Hajduch said animal numbers in the exclusion zone are probably higher now
than before the accident. But that's because there are no humans there hunting
or fishing.

"But if you look at how many species of animals are in the area, I think it
would be less," Hajduch said.

According to Chernobyl.Info, run by the U.N.'s Development Program, over 40
different types of radioactivity were released after the accident.

Cesium remains the most widely dispersed isotope while concerns remain over
long-term contamination from strontium and plutonium.

Cesium and strontium have a half-life of around 30 years. Plutonium, however,
has a half-life of 29,000 years.

The recent decision by Ukraine's government to sanction
official tours to the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, coupled with the upcoming
landmark anniversary, will mean that more tourists will probably visit than ever
before.

Chernobyl tourist Ruben Solaz, who took the stunning gallery images above on
a summer trip to the site in 2008, described his visit as a "very touching,
hair-raising" experience.

Few who enter Chernobyl's "zone of alienation" would
disagree.

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