Twenty-five years ago today, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded and burned, creating what was at the time the largest accidental release of radiation to the environment. Ken Buesseler was at the time a young MIT/WHOI Joint Program student in marine chemistry studying radiation in the North Atlantic from Cold War-era nuclear weapons testing. He and his colleagues immediately began tracking the fate of fallout from Chernobyl in the Black Sea. Although radiation levels there remain higher than most other ocean basins, the Black Sea is safe for swimming and fishing. Today, Buesseler finds himself monitoring releases from the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in northern Japan that was damaged following the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami. (Illustration by Jack Cook, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)
SHARE THIS:
Text, images, graphics and other material contained on this website are subject to copyright. For more information or to license material, please contact the WHOI Media Relations Office, media@whoi.edu or (508) 289-3340.
The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution is dedicated to research and education to advance understanding of the ocean and its interaction with the Earth system, and to communicating this understanding for the benefit of society. Learn more »
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Vimeo
YouTube
LinkedIn
RSS Feeds
