Amazing Adaptation

After 25 years, life springs eternal in some of the hottest irradiated areas surrounding Chernobyl.

Swans bob on the gentle waves of Glyboke Lake in Ukraine.

As a cool breeze blows, green trees and marsh grasses sway, making the spot look like an ideal place for a picnic. It’s not unusual to find moose, endangered horses and other large wild animals drinking from these waters. Only the crackling reminder of a Geiger counter attests to the fact that this is still the second hottest radioactive site in the area after the meltdown of reactor No. 4 on April 26, 1986, at Chernobyl.

Twenty-five years later, this corner of Ukraine reminds Robert Baker, director of the Natural Science Research Laboratory, of a pristine, untouched wilderness. Only Chernobyl’s ruined reactor, now encased in concrete, and abandoned buildings from neighboring villages and the city of Pripyat testify that humans ever lived in the area.

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