Chernobyl 40 Years On: Legacy of the World’s Worst Nuclear Disaster

切尔诺贝利40周年:世界最严重核灾难的遗产

New Scientist Podcasts

2026-04-23

32 分钟
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Episode 362 It’s been 40 years since the world’s worst nuclear disaster unfolded. Since the explosion at Chernobyl in 1986, the world has feared nuclear power - and the widespread damage it can do. But are we right to fear it? Though it’s left a lasting scar on the region, nuclear power is still safer than fossil fuels - which kill millions of people each year. So what will it take to change public opinion? We examine the lasting impact of nuclear fallout on Chernobyl - and how things have changed in the exclusion zone over four decades. Rowan Hooper is joined by New Scientist reporter Matt Sparkes, who shares news of his recent visit where he met the families who still live there. And Professor Jim Smith, author of Chernobyl: Catastrophe and Consequences, explains how the ecosystem and wildlife are thriving - and how he’s been making Atomik Brandy out of radioactive apples from the region. To read more about these stories, visit https://www.newscientist.com/ To buy Atomik drinks and help support communities in Ukraine affected by Chernobyl and the war, see www.atomikvodka.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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  • The world's worst nuclear disaster happened at 1. 23am on April 26, 1986.

  • Reactor number four at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station in Ukraine blew up.

  • Sent a massive amount of radioactive material into the sky and into the surrounding area.

  • That's what we're getting into on this episode of The World, the Universe and Us.

  • I'm Rowan Hooper.

  • We 're exploring the legacy of Chernobyl, what we 've learned from it about radiation,

  • ecology and human behaviour, and in particular maybe how it skewed the public understanding of nuclear power.

  • We're also going to be drinking atomic brandy.

  • Made from radioactive apples grown in the, not the exclusion zone, it's the what zone?

  • We call it the second zone, or the zone of obligatory resettlement,

  • which was supposed to be abandoned but was n't fully abandoned.