The first bottle of vodka in the world produced by Chernobyl cereals

Those who seek strong feelings when visiting the ruins of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine can soon bring a part of the historic radioactive home . home in a bottled form.

A group of scientists from the US and Ukraine has produced the first bottle of wine they call Atomik vodka . This is a strong alcohol made from water and cereals harvested in the once-exclusion area of ​​the Chernobyl reactor.

Although the 2,600-square-kilometer area around the plant was originally declared to be uninhabitable for 24,000 years after the 1986 crisis, Atomik's manufacturers ensured that their products had no radiation. more than any other alcohol on the market.

The image of the first vodka bottle was produced by cereals grown in the excluded area at Chernobyl.

Part of it was because most of the region excluded almost no danger as it had been warned 33 years ago. Some radiation hotspots, such as the Red Forest, where most of the radioactivity from the reactor is spilled is still out of bounds for visitors. However, for the most part, the risk of radioactive contamination in most exclusion areas is now considered "insignificant" by the Ukrainian government, which reopened the area for tourism nearly a decade ago.

Today, Chernobyl is the number one tourist destination in Ukraine, with 60,000 visitors in 2018. Visits even increased by about 30% in May 2019.

However, trips to this area are still strictly controlled, with tour groups often forbidden to touch local plants or eat local products.

According to Anders Moller, a biologist who spent a few weeks a year studying the area except in the past few decades, local crops are often exposed to radiation and can cause "serious problems" if eaten. right.

Certainly, rye that the founders of Atomik have developed in the exclusion area for their vodka tested positive for radiation. However, according to co-founder of Atomik and Professor Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth, all pollution traces disappeared during distillation, in which fermented liquids were cleaned with water and mixtures. Other dilutions are removed.

Currently, only one bottle of Atomik vodka exists at this time, but the founders hope to produce at least 500 other bottles by the end of the year and sell them to the eager Chernobyl tourists.

According to Smith, 75% of the profits from selling vodka will be brought back to the people living in the excluded area villages, which have seen little economic development since the nuclear disaster. 33 years ago.

"After 30 years, I think the most important thing in the region is actually economic development, not radioactivity," Smith told the BBC.

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