The catastrophic accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant occurred on April 26, 1986, in the No. 4 nuclear reactor close-by to the city of Pripyat, in north Ukraine. The event saw 400 times more radioactive material than the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki sent into the sky. Locals were evacuated and told to pack enough for three days, however just one week later the government set up a 20-mile forbidden boundary.

The area has since been increased to cover 1,000 square miles – mainly of Ukraine, but also Belarus – to protect people from the radioactive nuclear fallout.

However, while most of the town remains a ghost town, some risked their lives to return to their homes.

Known in local dialect as “Samosely”, meaning “self-settlers”  they are a group of roughly 200 residents who live in the contaminated area.

During the filming of Amazon Prime’s “Chernobyl’s Cafe” viewers were introduced to Ivan and his wife Maria, who returned a year after the disaster.

I feel the radiation now, yes I do – it burns me

Ivan, local resident

Ivan said in 2016: “We left in 1986 and returned in 1987, which was a lot earlier than the others.

“I was hired as a guard at Chernobyl to monitor the area for 15 years.

“140 families have returned to live in their home and everything worked perfectly. 

“There was light, the electricity had not even been cut so we installed the radio and we lived well.

“But of those 140 families, only five remain today.”

Ivan then detailed a horrific account of how he reached radiation exposure well above the maximum recommended levels of 400 mSv, increasing his cancer risk to 250/1.

He added: “One day after work, returning from Chernobyl I felt bad.

“My radiation was measured and I had 500 mSv (radiation dose) – I was really surprised.

“I did not understand where I had been contaminated. 

“Then I remembered that passing in front of the plant my car got stuck in the mud. 

“It was pushing it out the mud [when] it must have happened.”

Ivan revealed how living in Chernobyl is all about being smart and avoiding contaminated areas.

However, he still feels the radiation often today.

He continued: “I feel the radiation now, yes I do – it burns me, it tingles my lips and under my clothes.

“When I feel that, I quickly go away (from the radioactive zone).

“It’s better not to hang around otherwise I feel dizzy.

“I have vertigo, my lips become all dry – yes I feel the radiation and so I avoid contaminated areas.”

The same series shockingly revealed how mobile phones today could be made from radioactive metal from the exclusion zone.

The narrator detailed: “Pripyat and Chernobyl were the two main cities, but there were also many villages and the most radioactive ones were bulldozed and buried.

“Those that remain are the prey of metal looters. 

“The metal is often radioactive to the extreme, especially when it comes to tools or vehicles that were used during the liquidation. 

Shockingly, the series went on to claim that corruption in the area allowed criminals to make it out of Chernobyl and to the surrounding Eastern European countries.

This means the scrap metal can be sold at a cheap price to Asian manufacturers who recycle it and produce goods for the rest of the world.

It added: “Some clandestine trucks were arrested, but the majority crossed the checkpoints untouched.

“Corruption is widespread and the government says it is helpless. 

“In 30 years, six million tonnes of radioactive metal has left the zone, that makes 548 tonnes per day.

“This metal goes to countries in Eastern Ukraine, that are then sold on the Chinese market.

“The Chernobyl radioactive metal can be found today all over the world in the most ordinary objects.”

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