Nuclear energy was first
introduced to the world
on a large scale through World War II
where the horrific destructive power of it
was put on display by the United States
dropping two nuclear warheads
on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in Japan.
The purpose of these bombs being used
was said to be to make a much more swift end to the war
and with Japan surrender coming shortly after their use,
that goal was seemingly achieved.
However, whether it was their intention or not,
the bombs also put on display the amount
of power that could be derived from nuclear elements
and while bombs might have been the first large scale
use of nuclear fusion,
it wouldn't be the last
or even necessarily the most destructive.
Just six years after these bombs were used,
the first nuclear power plant was made.
By the 1970s, there were already
over 200 power plants generating energy
around the world.
But while the world was starting to benefit
from this new cheap energy creation,
the downside of it wouldn't be apparent
till many years later.
Today, we'll be taking a look at the scars
these nuclear charged pieces of technology
have left behind
in order of their destructiveness.
Starting off with the more tame examples
of nuclear testing zones that are now safe
to parts of the globe so damaged
they won't be safe to go near for decades.
Let's take a tour of the nuclear wastelands left behind.
But before we get into that,
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When taking a look at the less destructive examples
of nuclear remnants,
you'll most likely end up viewing those
of testing sites as they caused a large explosion,
but usually didn't leave much radioactive waste behind.
A great example of this comes from what is known
as the Trinity Testing Site in New Mexico, US
where the first nuclear bomb
code named Trinity was tested.
Taking a look at the site today,
it's hard to even
know it's the site where this bomb
was set off 76 years ago.
This is due not only to the large amount
of time that has gone by
and the small size of the bomb,
but also the site at which it was detonated at.
Barren deserts have become one of the most popular places
for nuclear tests to be held at
due to the lack of occupants usually in the area.
While the area itself is not very dangerous anymore,
only being about 10 times more radioactive
than the normal background radiation on earth,
the same cannot be said for the pieces of green glass
scattered across the site.
This glass, known as Trinitite,
was created from the immense heat
of the explosion interacting
with the sand around the testing site,
and it is much more radioactive
than most of the site itself.
But other than the glass and the barren landscape,
any other evidence of the explosion has been lost to time.
This is anything but the case for our next example though.
The US Marshall Islands in the middle
of the Pacific Ocean
were a popular destination
for early nuclear tests by the United States
with 67 total tests being conducted
between 1946 and 1958 on the islands.
While the nuclear fallout spread
throughout all of the Marshall Islands,
one in particular where an island is home
to a concrete dome covering almost 100,000 cubic yards
of radioactive debris.
The equivalent of 35 Olympic size pools
filled with radioactive material.
This dome was put in place in an attempt
to reduce the radiation levels around the islands.
While there is no question
that it's helped reduce these levels,
this dome is not a forever solution.
Recently, the dome's concrete has started to crack
and has even possibly been leaking radioactive matter
into the surrounding area
as warned by the US Department of Energy in 2013.
In addition, the dome itself only covers the top
of the radioactive waste
and not the surrounding areas,
which in combination
with the rising sea levels
has caused water to be able to seep in and out
of the dome,
causing radiation to leak into the ocean.
This issue will seemingly only become more of a problem
as sea levels rise over time,
eventually leading to the entire dome
becoming submerged itself,
exposing all of the radioactive material
to the surrounding ocean.
Even if the dome was constantly repaired and fixed,
it still isn't a great solution
as the dome actually only covers the top of the island.
Even more concerning,
much of the area is still radioactive,
including parts that people still inhabit to this day.
In addition, this dome is only one piece
of remnants that the nuclear warheads have left behind
with other critters scattered
throughout the islands
and the seawater surrounding them.
While the detonation of nuclear bombs
surely causes nuclear waste,
the actual making
of these bombs often leaves behind even more.
One place where this can be seen is
at our next stop.
At Sellafield in the United Kingdom.
Since the site's creation in the 1950s,
this has been the location
of nuclear reactors,
plutonium manufacturing plants,
nuclear waste cleanup facilities,
an even home to what is the United Kingdom's
worst nuclear accident.
In 1957, one of the nuclear reactors on site
known as Pile One
randomly caught fire
and it wasn't realized
until days later.
To make matters even worse,
once the fire became apparent,
remedies such as cranking up the fans,
releasing carbon dioxide,
and water all failed
or made the fires even worse.
It wasn't until the reactor manager ordered everyone out
of the facility except himself
so the air could be shut off
that the fire was finally put to rest.
Since then, the site's main purpose switched gears
to the repurposing and cleanup
of nuclear waste.
Complete with over 10,000 workers
and even its own police force,
making it the UK's largest nuclear site
and interestingly, its most dangerous.
This is due to a variety of reasons
but for starters,
it's home to enough untreated nuclear waste
to make 14 nuclear bombs
and that's only accounting for the plutonium.
It's also where many
of the older and decommissioned nuclear structures end up,
much of which are at risk
of collapsing according to an investigation by the BBC.
Another area of the site that is caused for concern,
the two ponds that are filled with nuclear waste and sludge.
These ponds are a relic from past generations'
failed attempts at nuclear waste recycling,
but are not properly maintained.
As John Large, a nuclear safety expert,
puts it, "In my opinion,
"there is a significant risk
"that the system could fail."
In 2015, work on cleaning up these ponds started,
but due to the staffing
and budget shortages,
they aren't expected to be decommissioned
until the year 2054.
This kind of idea seems to be the case
for much of the site overall.
A dangerous location littered
with radioactive material
which is not being properly dealt with
due to a lack of funding and solutions.
These failures prevalent on the site are only
just scratching the surface
of all of the issues there
and it seems like many of them won't be treated
for decades to come,
making the entire site
a harmful mosh pit that could fall apart at any moment.
However, at least this site remains
out of harm's way of the surrounding inhabitants.
Unlike our next location.
The Polygon in Kazakhstan was the location
of the Soviet Union's nuclear testing
and today, remains the most radioactive nuclear testing site
in the world.
From the years 1949 to 1989,
over 400 nuclear bombs were tested at The Polygon.
The site was originally chosen
as a testing site due to the lower pollution in the area,
but just because people didn't live
within the testing site
doesn't mean that the people weren't exposed
to the radioactive fallout of the bombs.
The fallout of these bombs were felt
by the surrounding area
and Kazak health authorities estimate
up to 1.5 million people were affected by them.
The reason this number is so high
is because the nuclear bombs going off
not only exposed the surrounding population
with immediate radiation,
but also lingered in the wind,
spreading radiation over much of Kazakhstan.
While the exact number of people who died
as a result of these nuclear tests are unclear,
the evidence of them still remains the day
through the people of Kazakhstan.
Like Berik Syzdykov
who was born with anomalies
as a result of his mother being exposed
to radiation while pregnant with him.
Syzdykov is just one example
of these bombs' effects
with others also suffering
from increased cancer rates, hair loss, radiation sickness,
reproductive damage, heart failure, and even brain damage.
To make matters even worse,
people are still suffering from these today
due to the lack of resources available to Kazakhstan
for the cleanup following the USSR's disillusionment.
While some of the areas have been sealed
off with the help of Russia and the US,
many still maintain life-threatening radiation levels
and even more have their marks
on the landscape through large craters.
The Polygon remains an example of not only
the devastation a nuclear bomb can make when dropped,
but also the long-lasting effects these bombs can cause.
And the second most nuclear torn place
in the world is Fukushima, Japan.
In March of 2011,
a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck about 90 miles
off the coast of Japan.
This earthquake subsequently caused a 15 meter
tsunami to form.
This tsunami would eventually
reach the Fukushima power plant,
which while elevated above sea level,
was only elevated about 10 meters.
The power plant was quickly overwhelmed
by the waves of the tsunami.
Although the reactors were able
to be shut down successfully,
the flooding from the wave
caused the backup generators to fail
as they were flooded.
This caused the cooling mechanisms
of plants one through four
to become a non-functional.
Although attempts were made to bring backup batteries
for the coolers,
the tsunami made the transport
of them difficult
and three of the plants ended
up suffering core meltdowns,
releasing radioactive material
into the atmosphere.
To make matters even worse,
multiple hydrogen explosions also occurred in the fallout,
including one in a containment zone,
which furthered the radioactive spread.
Ultimately, a concoction of radioactive material
including iodine 131 and Caesium 137 were released
from the disaster,
causing a 12 mile exclusion zone
around the site.
The radioactive fallout even ended up spreading
into Russia and the US in the following days.
But in just a few short weeks,
traces of it were found across
the entire northern hemisphere.
When taking a look
at the damage caused by this particular nuclear meltdown,
there are multiple things to consider.
First off being the damage
from the meltdown itself
and then the damage caused
by the tsunami that destroyed
much of the surrounding area.
This gives an interesting perspective
on the entire disaster because
as the tsunami caused a large amount of physical damage,
the radioactive fallout caused this area
to become uninhabitable
and remain not cleaned up for years.
A place destroyed by a tsunami
and then simultaneously frozen in time.
As for the areas that weren't as harmed by the tsunami,
they now present abandoned relics
of human structures that are slowly
being reclaimed by nature.
And interestingly enough,
we are only in the beginning
of this particular disastrous history
as it has occurred only a little bit over 10 years ago
and the area will not be inhabitable for at least 100 years,
leaving the question of what it will look
like in 10, 20 or even 50 years.
Interestingly enough,
our final location might give us a glimpse into that
and that location,
if you haven't already guessed it,
is Chernobyl, the site of the 1986 reactor meltdown
that completely decimated the surrounding area.
I'm sure many of you know
about the story of Chernobyl,
but for those who don't,
on April 26th, 1986
a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was
undergoing a test regarding a power outage
when things began to go terribly wrong.
Due to the improperly trained operators,
a design flaw and the nature of the test,
the reactor got out of control
and caused a massive explosion.
To make circumstances worse,
there was no protective dome
over the reactor,
causing a plethora of radioactive materials
to spread across the surrounding area.
Two individuals were killed from the explosion itself
and 28 members
of the cleanup team
died in the following months.
However, these casualties were just the beginning.
The radioactive elements ended up spreading
across an area of almost 150,000 square kilometers
and spread across multiple countries.
Today, the areas of this region further
from the blast are perfectly safe to live in.
However, as you venture closer to the site,
this becomes less and less true,
especially within the 30 kilometer exclusion zone
where trees with visible mutations,
animals with physical deformities,
and abandoned communities
and towns start to become more common.
The site itself, even to this day,
is a desolate landscape more akin
to something you'd see
in a post-apocalyptic movie than in real life itself.
Buildings and streets are slowly being reclaimed by nature,
weathered down and overgrown with plants.
Once populous regions now left completely abandoned.
Right after the explosion,
the radiation levels
in the immediate area were around a 300 Sievert per hour,
enough to give a fatal dose in just a few minutes.
However, because the disaster happened over 35 years ago,
the levels have gone down quite a bit.
Nowadays, those regions register
about 10 million times a weaker than then,
but there are still areas
like the Jupiter Factory basement that are much
more radioactive and dangerous to this day,
which have still not been properly cleaned up.
Today, the site of Chernobyl
is not nearly as dangerous as it once was.
The abandoned wasteland left behind services a reminder
of a time when it was one
of the most dangerous places on all of Earth.
Overall, it's interesting to see how little control we have
over things sometimes,
where huge machines made to power the world
at one moment are causing evacuations
and making areas uninhabitable for decades to come.
It really paints a strange picture.
This video was partially inspired by Veritasium
look into the most radioactive places in the world today
and I'd highly recommend checking it out
if this sort of thing interests you.
Thank you so much for watching.
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Thanks again and have a good night.