Just because animals and plants are returning to the Chernobyl nuclear accident site, it does not mean there were no wildlife consequences from the ionizing radiation, especially in the areas that were impacted the most by the fallout. Researchers found that, just like atomic bomb survivors, some animals subjected to high radiation in the most contaminated areas suffer, even today, from increased cataracts, smaller brains, malformed sperm and sterility in males. Some birds in high radiation areas also develop obvious tumors.

Although comparative catastrophes are thankfully rare, another nuclear accident, considered the second-largest nuclear disaster (behind Chernobyl), occurred at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 MW earthquake shook the area just befor

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