Exploring What Occurs When An Army of Ants Invades An Empty Polish Nuclear Power Plant And Nature Takes Over

This real-life example is a massive testament to how powerful nature can be once man-made structures become abandoned and thus, forgotten. It’s almost as if Mother Nature claims what was once hers and takes it back. 

It was initially in 2013 when a group of Polish zoologists journeyed to an abandoned bunker in the village of Templewo, in western Poland, to hopefully observe and study a colony of bats. The bunker was part of a now-deserted nuclear power plant, and the team wasn’t quite sure of what they might stumble upon. 

While looking in that small space, the zoologists discovered swarms of wood ants. An entire colony, in fact. There were millions of ants that had been trapped in the bunker without any of the fundamental resources to survive. 

Two years later, the team went back to the bunker to check in on the ants. While they thought the ants would just die out, they discovered a sight that was beyond incredible and shocking.  

Instead of the ants dying out as the zoologists had figured they would, the fact that they had at least doubled in population is an interesting story in and of itself. With no obvious signs of food or water, the team was perplexed as to how they were surviving. 

It’s not too unbelievable that the wood ants survived for that many years given that they had no food or water. Ants are creatures known to be extremely resilient and resourceful no matter what their situation is, and it’s the key reason why they have been in existence for such a long time. 

This particular colony of wood ants had no other options, except one. With no food source for sustenance, the ants figured out that in order to survive, they had to eat…each other. This ant cannibalism occurred on both the living and deceased ants. What else were they supposed to do? At least they were resourceful. 

Resorting to eat other ants in their colony was a necessary means for these bunker ants. The “ant cemetery” that the team found was around a few centimeters thick in some parts and “one cubic decimeter sample contained [roughly] 8,000 corpses.” There were likely two million dead ants piled around the mound of the nest. 

It’s obvious that the ants started eating one another to simply survive, but why? The cannibal ants were drawn to the abdomen the most because they believed that the stomach contents of the other ants belonged to them. The corpses of the deceased ants were a limitless food source for the trapped ants. 

Although this sounds like something right out of a horror film, the team of scientists was no doubt impressed with the resilience and resourcefulness of the ants. Not only this, but it was also very effective.    

It’s clear from this story that ants are beyond capable of surviving despite the odds that are stacked against them. Researchers assert that the bunker ants possess a “monumental potential,” and it’s incredible how they self-organized themselves, even under dire circumstances. 

The discovery, documentation, and further analysis of these cannibalistic ants are helpful for researchers to gain further insight and understanding of how they have to adapt under unique and stressful conditions.  

Imagine you’re driving through the Evergreen State and you see an eerie power plant. The Satsop Nuclear Power Plant (or, what’s left of it) in Washington near Elma in Grays County, was the largest of its kind before construction was halted.

The U.S. has had its fair share of nuclear power plants throughout its lifetime. Satsop, however, was one of the most ambitious nuclear power plant construction projects in America’s history. The Satsop project was filled with overbudgeting issues and other roadblocks.

In 1976, a new nuclear power plant in Marble Hill, Indiana was scheduled to be built. Today, thirty-five miles northeast of Louisville, Kentucky, on the Indiana side of the Ohio River, a 987-acre property lies untouched and abandoned. It was once the site of the Marble Hill Nuclear Power Station.

In 1984, construction was halted, and then completely abandoned. There were a few core reasons as to why this occurred: skyrocketing costs for construction, shifting attitudes towards nuclear energy, as well as increasing liabilities for the operator, and, an internal scandal. 

Western Australia’s South Fremantle Power Station opened in June 1951 and worked in conjunction with the Easter Perth Power Station to supply the metropolitan area with power until it closed in 1985. The South Fremantle station has remained empty for decades, and there is even a creepy urban legend that it consists of underground tunnels which connect to Fremantle Prison.  

Originally built in 1921, the Power Plant IM located in Charleroi, Belgium, used to be the one of the biggest coal burning power plants in Belgium. Its enormous cooling tower cooled 480,000 gallons of water per minute during the height of operation. In the interwar period, the new power plant assisted in the rapid development of the Belgian industry. 

In Bytom, Poland, the eerie remains of this 100-year-old power plant still exist. The Szombierki Power Plant used to be one of the most prominent and largest coal-powered power plants in all of Europe. Most of the station has been decommissioned and abandoned for decades-long.   

Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, Antioch College was a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. It was finished in 1930, and originally conceived as a way to heat its large science building without devoting any of its vast but precious interior space to a boiler or furnace. 

This abandoned power plant in Ithaca, New York was running from 1948 to 2000. In 1948, the New York State Electric and Gas Corporation was incorporated as the Ithaca Gas Light Company. The company laid gas mains and constructed a coal gas plant to light the street lamps, homes, and businesses. It was in the 1890s that the invention of the incandescent bulb, the generating power plant, and the use of alternating current, resulted in a steep decline in the use of gas for lighting.  

In 1903, the Elkhorn Power Plant was first opened by Pocahontas Consolidated Collieries. And, in 1911, tne newly formed Appalachian Power Company (APC) acquired the plant. By 1912, APC had built two hydroelectric power plants and dams along the New River in Virginia. In 1913, APC was serving 67 coal operations and camps throughout southwest West Virginia and western Virginia.  

Ten miles outside of Gaffney, South Carolina, lies the Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant, which remains uncompleted. It was in the early 1970s that Duke Power began construction on a three-reactor nuclear power plant at the site. The project was stalled due to economic issues by the early 1980s, which led to the power plant’s eventual abandonment. 

The Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant located two miles from a popular North Shore Long Island beach. It was built in 1973, with every intention of being fully operational and fucntional for a long time. The plant is in close proximity to residential neighborhoods and and beaches, which is quite alarming. 

This power plant was built in 1975, and, at the time, was the world’s largest power plant. All of a sudden, the sleepy town of Hartsville, TN was getting flooded with construction workers and the new businesses that catered to the increasing population size. 

Beginning in 1975, the Crimean Nuclear Power Plant was intended to allocate electricity for all of Crimea. In 1984, the plant was proclaimed the All-Union Komsomol construction project. 

The construction of the fifth unit of the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant began in 1986. It was intended to be put into power in 1992, but in 1989, the 5th power unit was designed based on the use of RBMK reactor (the same reactor installed at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant). There was $900 million invested into the plant 

20 miles up from the Danube River in Vienna, the construction of the  Zwentendorf power plant was commissioned in 1972, and it was the first nuclear power plant to be built in Austria. Reaching 700 megawatts, the reactor was expected to meet about one-tenth of Austrian energy demand at that particular time. In 1975, three more plants were supposed to be completely built by 1985, producing a total of 3.00 megawatts. 

Built in 1982, the “nuclear city” of Ciudad is home to the Ciudad Nuclear Power Plant. The city was originally designed to house thousands of workers, but ended up becoming a home for 30,000 residents. The power plant was supposed to be “the project of the century,” according to both the Cuban and Russian governments.  

The Big Rock Point/Midland power plant near Charlevoix, Michigan, was operated from 1962 to 1997. It was owned and operated by Consumers Energy. Big Rock was the first nuclear power plant in Michigan, and cost $27.7 million to build. Due to issues with the plant’s operating license, it was decontaminated in 1999, and, finally, decommissioned in 2003.