An explosion still echoing: Chernobyl at 40

<p>We go deep inside the Chernobyl nuclear-power plant and the surrounding exclusion zone, <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/europe/2026/04/20/chernobyls-forgotten-nuclear-lessons?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">recounting the history</a> of the accident on April 26 1986, and speaking with plant workers who were on shift that day. A pre-eminent Chernobyl historian discusses the lessons learned and yet to be learned from the disaster. And we consider the science <a href="https://www.economist.com/interactive/science-and-technology/2026/04/21/scientists-are-still-learning-from-the-chernobyl-nuclear-disaster?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">still being done</a> at Chernobyl.</p><br /><p>In 2024 “The Weekend Intelligence” went to Ukraine to consider the aftermath of the Russian invasion and occupation of Chernobyl, and then of the Zaporizhia nuclear-power plant. What we found was an industry that had no expectation that could even happen, and nothing of a plan when it did. <a href="https://shows.acast.com/theintelligencepodcast/episodes/the-weekend-intelligence-a-nuclear-catastrophe-waiting-to-ha?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Listen here</a>.</p><br /><p>Guests and host:</p><ul><li>Serhii Plokhy, historian, Harvard University</li><li>Olena Pareniuk, radiobiologist, Institute for Safety Problems of Nuclear Power Plants</li><li>Jim Smith, environmental scientist, University of Portsmouth</li><li>Jason Palmer, co-host of “The Intelligence”</li></ul><p><br /></p><p>Topics covered:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Chernobyl nuclear-power plant, history</li><li>nuclear safety, nuclear-energy policy</li><li>radiation exposure, radiobiology, radioecology&nbsp;</li></ul><p><br /></p><p><em>Get a world of insights by </em><a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>subscribing to Economist Podcasts+</em></a><em>. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our </em><a href="https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>FAQs page</em></a><em> or watch </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>our video</em></a><em> explaining how to link your account.</em></p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>