40 years after Chernobyl we face a new nuclear risk — this time as a weapon of war

40 years after Chernobyl we face a new nuclear risk — this time as a weapon of war

From Big Ideas by ABC Australia

April 23, 2026 · 56 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the implications of the Chernobyl disaster and the current weaponization of nuclear power in conflicts, particularly in relation to the Iran war and the Russian occupation of Chernobyl.

The explosion of reactor number four at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant is not only a story of the past. Right now, nuclear plants are weaponised in the Iran war. It happened in 2022 when Russian forces occupied the Chernobyl exclusion zone. A new way of weaponising nuclear power. What have we learned from the worst nuclear accident in history — and what have we failed to learn? This conversation was presented by the Royal Society of Arts (RSA) and the Ukrainian Institute London . Speakers Serhii Plokhy Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi Professor of Ukrainian History; Director, Ukrainian Research Institute at Harvard University Eglė Rindzevičiūtė Professor of Criminology and Sociology at Kingston University London Jonathon Turnbull Assistant Professor of Human Geography at Durham University Dr Sasha Dovzhyk (host)Writer, Curator and Head of INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Exchange (Lviv, Ukraine). Editor of the London Ukrainian Review

People in this episode

Host: Dr Sasha Dovzhyk

Guests: Serhii Plokhy, Mykhailo S. Hrushevs'kyi, Eglė Rindzevičiūtė, Jonathon Turnbull

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Royal Society of Arts, Ukrainian Institute London

Places: Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant

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