172 C Eriksen and J Turnbull
parts of the Soviet Union, particularly Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia, as
well as many European countries.
The area most heavily contaminated is known as the Red Forest – a
10-km 2 area surrounding the ChNPP, named after the pine trees that turned
a ginger-brown colour after absorbing high levels of radiation. The ensuing clean-up operations bulldozed the majority of the pine trees and buried
them, together with other contaminated materials, in newly dug trenches
(WHO 2006). These unlined and leaky trenches were then covered with a
thick carpet of sand, and pine plantations were replanted in an attempt to
soak up radiation and prevent its spread into the groundwater. Up to 85 percent of the radioactivity in the Red Forest is concentrated in the soil, with
the remainder deposited in the bark, needles, timber, and branches of the
remaining trees and other forms of vegetation (Hao et al. 2009). The gradual and indefinite evacuation of over 300,000 people and the abandonment
of agriculture within the CEZ has, with time, facilitated the presence of a
diverse range of flora and fauna, despite the radioactive fallout they absorb,
eat, or inhale (Mycio 2004). Nevertheless, the area remains one of the most
contaminated regions in the world today (Brown 2019).
The relatively undisturbed growth of vegetation since 1986 has resulted
in another problem. Over a thousand wildfires have burnt inside the CEZ
since it was established, and in April 2020, fires in the area surrounding
the ChNPP became a worrisome presence once again. Whilst the spectres
of 1986 are alive in these wildfires, they pose different threats to the original disaster in scale and intensity. The graphite fire of 1986 released a huge
amount of radioactive material high into the atmosphere that was distributed globally. The 2020 wildfires released clouds of smoke containing radioactive particles and mineral dust from radioactive pollutants absorbed and
held over time by vegetation and soil. The smoke enveloped surrounding
areas, including Kyiv, 100 km to the south, where one of us (Turnbull) happened to live, directly experiencing (inhaling) the smoke.
These wildfires and the drifting smoke are cause for international concern, as their likelihood increases with climate change (Amiro et al. 1996;
Eriksen 2022). Whilst small increases in radioactivity were detected in the
air in Kyiv in 2020, an air filter station in the north of Norway registered
an increase in the presence of Caesium-137 (one of the most common radioisotopes at Chornobyl), which potentially stemmed from the CEZ (Nilsen
2020). Scientific assessments highlight that inadequate forest management
‘has resulted in a high wildfire hazard in the 260,000 ha of forests and grasslands of the Ukrainian part’ of the CEZ (Zibtsev et al. 2015, p. 40). Given the
right wind conditions, smoke and dust can travel across not just geopolitical borders but across continents due to the indiscriminate crossing of borders by atmospheric particulates moved by uncontrollable forces, such as
wind and air currents (Eriksen and Ballard 2020). This poses a health threat
both to the people who eat food grown in fallout areas, and to people who
inhale contaminated smoke, like firefighters and land-stewards who attempt
parts of the Soviet Union, particularly Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia, as
well as many European countries.
The area most heavily contaminated is known as the Red Forest – a
10-km 2 area surrounding the ChNPP, named after the pine trees that turned
a ginger-brown colour after absorbing high levels of radiation. The ensuing clean-up operations bulldozed the majority of the pine trees and buried
them, together with other contaminated materials, in newly dug trenches
(WHO 2006). These unlined and leaky trenches were then covered with a
thick carpet of sand, and pine plantations were replanted in an attempt to
soak up radiation and prevent its spread into the groundwater. Up to 85 percent of the radioactivity in the Red Forest is concentrated in the soil, with
the remainder deposited in the bark, needles, timber, and branches of the
remaining trees and other forms of vegetation (Hao et al. 2009). The gradual and indefinite evacuation of over 300,000 people and the abandonment
of agriculture within the CEZ has, with time, facilitated the presence of a
diverse range of flora and fauna, despite the radioactive fallout they absorb,
eat, or inhale (Mycio 2004). Nevertheless, the area remains one of the most
contaminated regions in the world today (Brown 2019).
The relatively undisturbed growth of vegetation since 1986 has resulted
in another problem. Over a thousand wildfires have burnt inside the CEZ
since it was established, and in April 2020, fires in the area surrounding
the ChNPP became a worrisome presence once again. Whilst the spectres
of 1986 are alive in these wildfires, they pose different threats to the original disaster in scale and intensity. The graphite fire of 1986 released a huge
amount of radioactive material high into the atmosphere that was distributed globally. The 2020 wildfires released clouds of smoke containing radioactive particles and mineral dust from radioactive pollutants absorbed and
held over time by vegetation and soil. The smoke enveloped surrounding
areas, including Kyiv, 100 km to the south, where one of us (Turnbull) happened to live, directly experiencing (inhaling) the smoke.
These wildfires and the drifting smoke are cause for international concern, as their likelihood increases with climate change (Amiro et al. 1996;
Eriksen 2022). Whilst small increases in radioactivity were detected in the
air in Kyiv in 2020, an air filter station in the north of Norway registered
an increase in the presence of Caesium-137 (one of the most common radioisotopes at Chornobyl), which potentially stemmed from the CEZ (Nilsen
2020). Scientific assessments highlight that inadequate forest management
‘has resulted in a high wildfire hazard in the 260,000 ha of forests and grasslands of the Ukrainian part’ of the CEZ (Zibtsev et al. 2015, p. 40). Given the
right wind conditions, smoke and dust can travel across not just geopolitical borders but across continents due to the indiscriminate crossing of borders by atmospheric particulates moved by uncontrollable forces, such as
wind and air currents (Eriksen and Ballard 2020). This poses a health threat
both to the people who eat food grown in fallout areas, and to people who
inhale contaminated smoke, like firefighters and land-stewards who attempt