Imagine being told you must leave your home in hours and can never return. On April 26, 1986, an explosion ripped through a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine. This was then part of the Soviet Union. The blast released harmful materials into the air. At first, the Soviet government tried to keep the accident a secret. But scientists in Sweden, over 1,000 miles away, detected the problem within days. The nearby city of Pripyat, home to 49,000 people, was evacuated in just 36 hours. Residents were told they would return in three days. They never did. The Chernobyl disaster changed how the world thinks about nuclear energy. Many countries slowed or stopped building new nuclear plants. Safety rules became much stricter around the world. Today, a massive concrete dome covers the damaged reactor. The 1,000-square-mile area around the plant, called the Exclusion Zone, remains mostly empty of people. But in a surprising turn, wildlife has thrived there. Wolves, wild horses, and lynx roam through abandoned buildings and overgrown streets.