This is the first detailed study of the ecological impact of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explosion on 26 April, 1986 - the largest civil nuclear catastrophe of all time. Geneticist Vladimir Savchenko details the effects of high level radionuclide release on the environment, on natural ecosystems, and on agroecosystems; the human effects then and now; the impact of radionuclide release on biological diversity and genetic systems; and the socioeconomic effects of the Chernobyl catastrophe. He also describes the Chernobyl Ecological Sciences Network, a multinational information network dealing with the large-scale, multidimensional effects of human technology out of control. The book has a bibliography, an index, and a glossary of units, ratios, and acronyms.