CHERNOBYL, 30 YEARS LATER

The world in all its states

An episode from the series ARTE INVESTIGATION

Synopsis

Thirty years after the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history, the 3,600-square-kilometer exclusion zone around Chornobyl remains off-limits to humans. But nature has reclaimed the land; trees have overgrown the abandoned buildings, and wildlife is thriving. And a few elderly women have returned to tend their gardens, unconcerned by the radioactivity.

According to the most optimistic scientists, the site will cease to be radioactive in 24,000 years.