The Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine is known for being the scene of the most devastating nuclear accident in history. On April 26, 1986, Chernobyl’s No. 4 core exploded, sending radioactive material and smoke skywards in a deadly cloud that spread over the Soviet Union and parts of Europe. Chernobyl’s nuclear release from the No. 4 explosion is estimated to be 400 times higher than what was experienced from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.
With the land around the Chernobyl site still unsuitable for farming or forestry, Ukrainian government officials are welcoming a potential billion-dollar plan to recycle the existing Chernobyl infrastructure and focus on the construction of a solar farms. The region is not completely free of radiation, although the population numbers for animals such as wolves and elk have been on the increase and in some cases are greater than what they were pre-meltdown. However, critics of the solar energy plan are voicing concerns over radiation exposure for workers during the construction of the solar farms, even with the $1.5 billion (U.S.) New Safe Confinement shelter built over Chernobyl’s No. 4 reactor.
Story by Jay Moon
Sources
- Chernobyl is Slated to Become a $1.2 Million Solar Farm
- The site of the world’s worst nuclear meltdown is about to become a solar farm
- Radioactive land around Chernobyl to sprout solar investments
- Chernobyl Goes Solar as First Panels in Nuclear Zone Near Finish
- Solar power to rise from Chernobyl’s nuclear ashes
- April 26, 1986 | Explosion at Chernobyl Nuclear Plant
