NEWS
Science to raise a glass
How communities can rebound in
the shadow of a nuclear disaster.
O
n 26 April 1986, the worst
nuclear accident in history
occurred when a reactor core
exploded at the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant, in then Soviet Ukraine.
Authorities enforced a 30-kilometre
(19-mile) exclusion zone, forcing over
100,000 residents to be evacuated.
In their absence, wildlife has flourished,
adding to the unique opportunities the area
is providing for environmental research.
Professor of Environmental Science Jim
Smith has been studying the long-term
effects of chronic radiation on animals here
for 30 years. Some of his research findings
are quite startling. “In general, we don’t see
big effects,” he says. “Animal populations
in the zone are thriving. We see the same
abundance and diversity of large mammals
in the more contaminated areas as in the
less contaminated areas.”
One exception to the otherwise ‘normal’
population levels is wolves, which have
thrived in the absence of hunting.
Professor Smith and his colleagues in
Belarus calculate wolf numbers around
Chernobyl to be seven times higher than
in other nature reserves. In the most
contaminated ‘hot spots’ he does expect to
see an increased mutation rate but says this
has been subtle: “When we use the word
‘mutation’ we have to be careful, because
the reality is that mutation is part of nature.
It is happening in all animals and plants every
day, all over the world. It’s where we’ve all
come from. There is no clear evidence that
any increase in genetic mutation is affecting
animal populations at Chernobyl.”
He also points out that not only is
mutation natural, but there are many areas
around the world where naturally occurring
radiation is at the same level as much of the
Chernobyl exclusion zone.
Community recovery
The main exclusion zone is likely to remain
a wildlife reserve, but huge areas of land
in surrounding regions were never fully
evacuated. In the town of Narodychi in
northern Ukraine, there is a local council,
a school and shops, although no new
investment is allowed and the farmland
remains officially abandoned.
Half of the adult population is
unemployed, and Professor Smith and other
scientists have been working with them to
help rebuild their communities.
“I’m interested in how we can make
ILLUSTRATION: 123RF
Environmental
scientist Professor
Jim Smith has
been studying
some unexpected
developments in the
Chernobyl exclusion
zone, prompting a
creative idea to boost
the economy and
confidence of people
who have returned.
life better. The economic development of
these regions has been severely affected,
not by the radioactivity directly, but by the
perception of the radiation risk,” he says.
This takes a fair degree of myth-busting:
“For example, exposure to Chernobyl
radiation in surrounding populated towns
would be less risky to health than living in
London’s polluted air or living in many areas
of high natural radiation worldwide.”
To drive home this reality, he has
embarked on a novel economic project that
tries to capture – literally – the spirit of
regeneration in the affected areas.
Science to drink to
Enter ATOMIK Vodka. Professor Smith’s
research with Ukrainian colleagues had
identified that, while there is still a transfer
of radioactivity from soil to crops, many
areas can produce food below safety
thresholds. To demonstrate this, the team
decided to make a product from those crops
– one that everyone would know is pure.
They fermented local grain and distilled
it to produce vodka – and used advanced
radiochemistry techniques to prove its safety.
Professor Smith says ATOMIK actually
has more flavour than many of its potential
competitor drinks because it is made in the
style of local Ukrainian homemade vodkas,
which preserve more of the grain taste.
The aim is to produce the vodka
commercially by a social enterprise in
collaboration with local farmers. Seventy-five
per cent of the profits will go to helping revive
communities in contaminated territories.
Professor Smith hopes this new spirit
of Chernobyl will help to change more
than local lives. He’d like to make people
the world over think again about the
environmental costs and benefits of nuclear
power: “Nothing is without risks. But if
we’re serious about climate change we
need to use every technology we can. I’m
in favour of renewables, but, after nearly
30 years of research at Chernobyl, I’m also
in favour of nuclear. Neither emits carbon
dioxide, a pollutant which is much worse
than the small radioactive emissions that
come from nuclear power stations.”
The research team has only made one
bottle of ATOMIK grain spirit so far, in
advance of the planned community project,
and Professor Smith thinks it might just
prove to be the most important bottle of
vodka in the world.
ISSUE 1 / 2020
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