This is Randi Hacker with another Postcard from Abroad from the KU Centers for East Asian Studies and Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies.

In April 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear reactor exploded sending a cloud of radioactive material into the atmosphere in what was the world’s worst nuclear accident. Thirty years later, in the 30-kilometers that surrounds Chernobyl, radiation levels are among the highest in the history of the atomic age. But tell that to the 1,000 elderly men and women who have settled in the exclusion zone where they make their homes in abandoned houses and live off the land. As crazy as it sounds, science may be on their side as most will die of old age or alcoholism before cancer. Still, in an age where we can harness the strongest force in nature, surely we can come up with a less radioactive retirement plan for our older generations.

With thanks to Adrienne Landry for this text, from the KU Center for East Asian Studies, this is Randi Hacker. Wish you were here.