A Gift From the Forest: The Impact of Chernobyl on Mushrooms
After the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the resulting “Chernobyl plume” spread radiation throughout much of Europe, including Eastern Europe and Scandinavia. As radioactive Cesium isotopes contaminated soil throughout these geographical regions, mushrooms began to guzzle the element from the ground, and in the process, became radioactive themselves. “A Gift From the Forest: The Impact of Chernobyl on Mushrooms” examines the shifting role of mushrooms in a post-Chernobyl world and the ways in which the impact on the lowly buttons ripples upwards to inflict larger consequences on people and animals.
Anatole Shukla
RUSS043 Chernobyl: Nuclear Naratives and the Environment, Swarthmore College, Spring 2020
