Radioactive-free vodka produced from crops in Chernobyl’s abandoned zone is distilled by a team of British scientists
- Professor Jim Smith, from the University of Portsmouth, produced the vodka
- Following distillation process, only ‘natural Carbon-14’ radioactivity was found
- 75 per cent of the profits are going back to the affected community in Ukraine
A radioactivity-free vodka produced from crops in Chernobyl’s abandoned zone has been brewed by a team of British scientists.
Professor Jim Smith, from the University of Portsmouth, described the vodka – branded Atomik – as ‘possibly the most important bottle of spirits in the world’ as he believed it would help the region recover economically.
He said tests on the vodka showed that, following the distillation process, only ‘natural Carbon-14’ radioactivity was found in line with any normal spirit drink.
Prof Smith now wants to produce the traditionally-brewed vodka for sale through a social enterprise called The Chernobyl Spirit Company, with 75 per cent of the profits going back to the affected community in Ukraine.
Distilled: A bottle of radioactive-free, traditionally-brewed ATOMIK artisan vodka, which was created by a team of British scientists from the University of Portsmouth
HOW DID THEY DO IT?
To produce the vodka, Professor Smith and his team diluted the distilled alcohol with mineral water from a deep aquifer in Chernobyl town, 6.2 miles (10km) south of the reactor.
This area is free from contamination and has similar chemistry to groundwater in the Champagne region of France.
He said: ‘I think this is the most important bottle of spirits in the world because it could help the economic recovery of communities living in and around the abandoned areas.
‘Many thousands of people are still living in the Zone of Obligatory Resettlement where new investment and use of agricultural land is still forbidden.’
A University of Portsmouth spokesman said: ‘The team found some radioactivity in the grain: Strontium-90 is slightly above the cautious Ukrainian limit of 20 Bq/kg.
‘But, because distilling reduces any impurities in the original grain, the only radioactivity the researchers could detect in the alcohol is natural Carbon-14 at the same level you would expect in any spirit drink.’
A 1,622 square mile (4,200 sq km) human exclusion zone around Chernobyl was put in place due to chronic radiation fall-out following the nuclear reactor accident in 1986.
Radiation was detected across Europe and about 300,000 residents were permanently evacuated from their homes after the accident.
To produce the vodka, Prof Smith and his team diluted the distilled alcohol with mineral water from a deep aquifer in Chernobyl town, 6.2 miles (10km) south of the reactor, which is free from contamination and which he says has similar chemistry to groundwater in the Champagne region of France.
Prof Smith, a professor of environmental science, said: ‘We don’t think the main exclusion zone should be extensively used for agriculture as it is now a wildlife reserve but there are other areas where people live but agriculture is still banned.
‘Thirty-three years on, many abandoned areas could now be used to grow crops safely without the need for distillation.
More than 160,000 residents of Pripyat and surrounding areas had to be evacuated and have been unable to return, since the disaster. Pictured: One of Pripyat’s most recognisable landmarks is the Ferris wheel. The ride was due to be opened on May 1986 but it never had the chance as the reactor exploded the month before
The exclusion zone, which covers a substantial area in Ukraine and some of bordering Belarus, will remain in effect for generations to come, until radiation levels fall to safe enough levels. Pictured: Another part of the amusement park in the ghost town of Pripyat that never got used
Chernobyl Exclusion Zone: A sign warns of radiation contamination near former apartment buildings in Pripyat, Ukraine, where 43,000 people were evacuated
‘We aim to make a high-value product to support economic development of areas outside the main exclusion zone where radiation isn’t now a significant health risk.’
Oleg Nasvit, first deputy head of the State Agency of Ukraine for Exclusion Zone Management, said: ‘We welcome this initiative to use abandoned lands to help local communities. It is important that we do everything we can to support the restoration of normal life in these areas whilst always putting safety first.’
Mr Nasvit added: ‘I’d call this a high-quality moonshine – it isn’t typical of a more highly purified vodka, but has the flavour of the grain from our original Ukrainian distillation methods – I like it.’
Economic boost: For sale through a social enterprise called The Chernobyl Spirit Company, with 75 per cent of the profits going back to the affected community in Ukraine
New era: Atomik vodka is the very first consumer product to come from the abandoned area around the damaged nuclear power plant, which devastated the community
The man behind the mission: Professor Jim Smith, one of the scientists behind ATOMIK vodka, which was produced by a team at the University of Portsmouth
WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE 1986 CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER?
On April 26, 1986 a power station on the outskirts of Pripyat suffered a massive accident in which one of the reactors caught fire and exploded, spreading radioactive material into the surroundings.
More than 160,000 residents of the town and surrounding areas had to be evacuated and have been unable to return, leaving the former Soviet site as a radioactive ghost town.
A map of the Chernobyl exclusion zone is pictured above. The ‘ghost town’ of Pripyat sits nearby the site of the disaster
The exclusion zone, which covers a substantial area in Ukraine and some of bordering Belarus, will remain in effect for generations to come, until radiation levels fall to safe enough levels.
The region is called a ‘dead zone’ due to the extensive radiation which persists.
However, the proliferation of wildlife in the area contradicts this and many argue that the region should be given over to the animals which have become established in the area – creating a radioactive protected wildlife reserve.
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