Chernobyl Happened When I was 27

This event is scarred into my memory. It is difficult to fathom something that happened 40 years ago, feels current. I got married the year Chernobyl melted and spread a radioactive cloud over Europe. Watching documentaries about this is surprising. At the time, reports indicated nothing would be able to survive within a hundred-mile radius, but we see wildlife flourishing in the restricted area. The lack of human disturbance in the restricted area (aside from the war) has been a boon to wild creatures. I feel happy that wild animals have a pristine place to occupy. Chernobyl was a human catastrophe, but the outcome 40 years on doesn’t fit the doomsday scenarios painted at the time. The Russian government demonstrated despicable behavior in their denials, but I can’t help but think the policies that developed around nuclear energy were a global overreaction. This technology has 1000x the energy density of coal. It has killed far fewer people than coal, gas, or oil, yet it is treated…