Animal Planet Documentaries

Chernobyl: Life in the Dead Zone (1x1)

Air date: Nov 04, 2007

What would happen if the world were suddenly without people – if humans vanished off the face of the earth? How would nature react - and how swiftly? This is science fact, not fiction. This habitat is REAL. The species we see are not cartoon characters, but representatives of a living legacy, involved in a genuine drama still unfolding today. The film takes place at the site of the world's worst nuclear accident, hastily abandoned by panic-stricken humans 20 years ago. On April 25/26th 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant located 80 miles north of Kiev in the former USSR (now Ukraine) lost control of one of its 4 reactors. At 1:23am the resulting chain reaction created a series of explosions. A devastating fireball blew off the reactor's heavy steel and concrete lid. In the immediate aftermath more than 30 died. Highly radioactive fall-out flooded everything within a 20-mile radius: 35,000 cattle and 135,000 people had to be evacuated. Only wild animals remained. While humans have made life in this land impossible for themselves, animals have found a way. They have not just survived: they have thrived.