Chernobyl: 40 years later

On 26th April 1986, Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine exploded, releasing vast amounts of radiation. Now, 40 years later, it remains the worst nuclear accident in history. Using the Chernobyl anniversary as a starting point, this week the Unexpected Elements team find out about the weird life thriving at the site of the nuclear reactor. Next up, we discover how radioactive isotopes can help doctors diagnose cancer. We then turn our attention to ‘gamma gardens’, which were developed by scientists in the 1950s and 1960s to investigate the impacts of radiation on plants. Professor Helen Anne Curry, from the Georgia Institute of Technology, joins us to reveal more. All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements. Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Andrada Fiscutean and Dr Emmanuel Samani Producers: Alice Lipscombe-Southwell, with Margaret Sessa Hawkins and Georgia Christie

You can listen to Chernobyl: 40 years later online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Chernobyl: 40 years later is an episode from The Science Hour by BBC.

This episode is 49:30 long.

This episode was published on Apr 24, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from The Science Hour when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.