Chernobyl, Ukraine
Agriculture
Wildlife
A nuclear accident devastated the region near Chernobyl, Ukraine, on April 26, 1986. These images show the area around the nuclear power plant three days after the accident, and then years and decades after the accident.
The Landsat 5 image from April 29, 1986, was the first civilian satellite image of the accident. The data from Landsat were used to help confirm that an explosion had happened at Chernobyl and that the plant had been shut down.
Location
Apr. 29, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine
Apr. 29, 1986, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine
July 26, 1992, Landsat 4 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine
June 5, 2011, Landsat 5 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine
Aug. 11, 2018, Landsat 8 (path/row 182/24) — Chernobyl, Ukraine
Chernobyl, Ukraine Additional Imagery & Stories
Abandonment
Near the common borders of Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant lies near the Pripyat River at the northwestern end of a co...
Cooling Pond
The Landsat 5 image acquired before April 26 shows heated water being pumped from the plant into the adjacent cooling pond and circulating countercloc...
New Safe Confinement
A temporary structure was quickly built over reactor number 4 to contain radioactive material. A more permanent solution was needed. About two decades...
Reactor Number 4
A closer look at the site of the power plant in the 1986 image shows a red spot near the location of reactor number 4. The high brightness of those...
Wildlife
The exclusion zone is not officially a wildlife preserve, but with virtually no human intervention in the 1,600-square-mile zone since the accident, w...
References
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