If you ’re looking for something unique to put in your vacation slug , it does n’t get more unique than this . A distiller has just releasedATOMIK , a grain spirit similar to vodka , made from crops grown in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone — and it ’s secure to drink , further showing how plant life and fauna have recovered in the mostly unpeopled area since theworst nuclear accidentin history .
On April 26 , 1986 , a nuclear meltdown and twin explosion blow the lid off one of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant ’s reactors . Radioactive fuel and debris were mess up into the air over northern Ukraine , covering the immediate area and spreading radioactive stuff across Europe [ PDF ] . The explosion sprinkle 400 times more radioactive material than the dropping of the atomic bomb over Hiroshima , and over 200,000 hoi polloi had to be evacuated from the area . They were ushered onto buses and impel to leave behind their dwelling house , most of their belongings , and even theirpets . To foreclose more radiation passing water , the nuclear plant life wasensconcedin a concrete “ sarcophagus . ”
In the almost 40 yr since the disaster , though , the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone — a 30 - klick ( 18.6 - mile ) radius around the nuclear plant that is off - limits for human inhabitancy — has fare astonishingly well . Plants andanimalscontinue to thrive , and in some pillow slip are doingbetterthan they were when humans were around . And the neighborhood ’s eery , abandoned reputation hasattracted curious visitor . In 2019 alone , more than 125,000 touristsflockedto Chernobyl for a “ glimpse of the apocalypse . ”
But not everyone has given up on the exclusion zona ’s potential .
Jim Smith , the Colorado - founder of the Chernobyl Spirit Company , is a prof at the University of Portsmouth in the UK who has studied the Chernobyl tragedy and its aftereffect for more than 30 yr . His goal in start the company and produce ATOMIK vodka was to show that the spirit could still be safely made from a kingdom many people view as irreversibly contaminated . The societal enterprise company patronize the field ’s recuperation by donate over half of their profits so far — a total of over £ 30,000 .
“ We ’re certainly the only drink society clear intent from Chernobyl , and probably the only one whose directors are n’t study any salary or dividend , ” Smith say in a command .
As for the question on most imbiber ’ minds—‘is the hooey radioactive?’—all of the Chernobyl Spirit Company ’s drinks , include their orchard apple tree spirit and pear and plum schnaps , have been scientifically tested to raise they ’re safe to drink . Studiesshowedthat the Chernobyl - grown rye whisky used for the vodka had radiostrontium levels slightly above the conservative Ukrainian limit , but that once it was distilled , no Chernobyl - colligate radiation could be detected . And though the inebriant isdilutedwith water supply also from Chernobyl , that water comes from a deep resistance aquifer 10 km ( 6.2 miles ) south of the mightiness plant . It has a similar chemistry to water in limestone aquifer in England and France .
The company remains steadfast in its impression in the power of both nature and the Ukrainian people . Every bottle they sell features awild Sus scrofa , oftentimes date in the ejection zone , on the recording label as a symbol of the “ resilience of nature , ” the troupe writes on its web site , “ but also the longsighted and difficult route to recovery of the Chernobyl - affected mass in the face of too many simplistic and often incorrect premiss about their surroundings . ”
The batches currently for cut-rate sale are the first produced since Russia infest Ukraine in February 2022 . Smith describes the war as having had a “ much worse ” shock on Ukraine than the Chernobyl incident , and the company intends to donate at least 75 percent of their profits to plunk for the convalescence of Ukrainian residential area . The Naodychi territorial dominion is one such community : This semi - inhabited country west of Chernobyl is where the company source its fruit , and when the high school ’s windows were destroyed by a Russian missile , the Chernobyl Spirit Company donate to its renovation .
Such efforts are only made more poignant by the fact that , in August , the company ’s director was called to the front lines . “ With all the repugnance move on in Ukraine and elsewhere , it sometimes seems that our crusade with ATOMIK spirits do n’t make much difference , but they do , ” says director Kyrylo Korychensky , who is also a geologist and radiochemist at the Ukrainian Hydrometeorological Institute . “ They make mass ’s lives a little bit better . ”
ATOMIK spirits make a great conversation starter at your next cocktail party — but they ’re also a testament to Ukraine ’s endurance .
