Chernobyl Happened When I was 27
This event is scarred into my memory. It is difficult to fathom something that happened 40 years ago, feels current. I got married the year Chernobyl melted and spread a radioactive cloud over Europe.
Watching documentaries about this is surprising. At the time, reports indicated nothing would be able to survive within a hundred-mile radius, but we see wildlife flourishing in the restricted area. The lack of human disturbance in the restricted area (aside from the war) has been a boon to wild creatures. I feel happy that wild animals have a pristine place to occupy.
Chernobyl was a human catastrophe, but the outcome 40 years on doesn’t fit the doomsday scenarios painted at the time.
The Russian government demonstrated despicable behavior in their denials, but I can’t help but think the policies that developed around nuclear energy were a global overreaction.
This technology has 1000x the energy density of coal. It has killed far fewer people than coal, gas, or oil, yet it is treated like an imminent threat to civilization. Nuclear energy is less risky than popular culture believes.
The decommissioning of nuclear power plants worldwide has been a mistake. If reducing carbon emissions is the only way to avoid adverse climate impacts, nuclear energy is the most viable way to achieve that goal and meet our needs.
This is what I think of Chernobyl at 67. It was a mistake, and it continues to generate poor thinking.