Reindeer are still very radioactive 30 years after Chernobyl

Amos Chapple

The holiday spirit might not totally explain what makes Rudolph's nose glow so bright.

Thirty years after a nuclear power plant exploded at Chernobyl, the reindeer that walk the picturesque, snow-capped mountains of Scandanavia are still radioactive.

They weren't the only ones affected. For generations, the Sami people, native to the Arctic North, lived in harmony with nature. Many worked as boazovázzi, or "reindeer walkers," herding the animals over hundreds of miles of terrain and selling their meat come slaughter season. The reindeer were a cultural and economic centerpiece for the Sami people.

But the explosion - considered the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history - coated the earth with toxic material, turned the reindeer radioactive, and poisoned the Sami people's way of life.

Photographer Amos Chapple with Radio Free Europe traveled to the Norweigan village of Snasa, where he met with herders fighting to preserve their traditions.

Chapple shared a few photos with us, and you can read the whole story here.