Chernobyl 40 years on, and countering ash dieback disease

The Naked Scientists Podcast

Dr Chris Smith

Natural Sciences, Science, Science Radio, Naked Scientists, Health & Fitness, Engineering, Medicine, Technology, Life Sciences

4.6 • 958 Ratings

🗓️ 1 May 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Forty years on from the Chernobyl disaster, we discuss radioactive fallout and our relationship with nuclear risk. In sport, researchers suggest repeated head impacts may disrupt the blood-brain barrier, potentially increasing dementia risk in retired athletes. And a new approach offers hope for speeding up recovery from ash dieback in affected woodlands... Like this podcast? Please help us by supporting the Naked Scientists

Transcript

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0:00.0	All engine running.
0:03.3	Absolutely genius.
0:04.2	Welcome.
0:05.0	Welcome.
0:05.9	This is the show where we bring you science.
0:07.8	What that essentially means is discovery.
0:09.9	Advances.
0:10.9	Research.
0:11.6	Technology.
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0:13.4	Without further ado, this is the naked scientists.
0:16.6	Hello, welcome to the Naked Scientist podcast, the program that brings you the biggest
0:20.3	breakthroughs and also talks to the major movers and podcast, the program that brings you the biggest breakthroughs
0:21.0	and also talks to the major movers and shakers in the worlds of science, technology and medicine.
0:26.4	I'm Chris Smith.
0:27.5	Coming up, 40 years since the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, we discussed the radioactive and other fallout.
0:34.7	Also, signs that a leaky blood-brain barrier might be the reason that rugby
0:38.3	players and boxers are developing dementia and a new way to speed up the recovery of ash trees
0:44.4	affected by fungal dieback disease.
1:08.1	On the night of the 26th of April in 1986, almost exactly 40 years ago, a reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant exploded, spewing out radioactive material across Ukraine and large parts of Europe.
1:12.3	Dozens of people, many of them emergency firefighters, were killed in the immediate aftermath, but thousands more are thought to have died from the after effects of the blast
1:17.0	in the years that followed.
	...

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