This grim museum in Podil tells the story of the world’s worst nuclear accident. Its hallways are lined with the signposts of the evacuated towns and villages around surrounding the plant.
Exhibits include photos of animal and human deformities and a model of the reactor.
I watched a program on BBC the other night about Chernobyl called ‘Cooking in the Danger Zone’. Food writer Stefan Gates travelled to Chernobyl to explore food issues facing the people that live in the area.
I was really surprised that people live in the exclusion zone around the plant (illegally) and live off the food that is produced in the area (berries, mushrooms etc).
He visited a couple in their eighties who moved back to the area shortly after the disaster and have been living their ever since. They looked remarkably healthy for their age.
Stefan also visited the town of Prypiat, a nearby city abandoned after the disaster. It was a strange sight to say the least; an empty city that is gradually being taken over by nature (trees growing inside apartment buildings and wild boar roaming around deserted shops). The spookiest sight was the completed deserted funfair.
He then left Chernobyl and went to the city of Slavutych, built outside the exclusion zone specifically to accommodate those evacuated from Prypiat. He went mushroom picking with the mayor who assured him that everything in the area was safe to eat. Stefan took the mushrooms to be tested and was quite shocked to find that the mushrooms contained massive levels of radiation and was advised not to eat them under any circumstances.