Wow, really interesting and crazy. Maybe this is what the whole world of humans will look like someday. Thanks for the link.

Evidentally parts of it are deadly. The area was large and a lot of it was residential. At the actual site of the nuclear core things were different.

Interesting, a good friend is a documentary journalist, spent almost 2 years living in the Chernobyl area doing research on the people that had migrated back to the quarantined zone around the plant because they had no place else to live after the disaster. All of them developed signs of radiation sickness, cancers, thrombosis as it effected the lower part of the body the most and lung issues from breathing in the dust. He also got sick eventually and had to end his assignment early but you are right, it didn't kill him, maybe if he had stuck around longer.

Yes, they don't drop dead immediately. Even those working directly in the hot zone did not die on the spot. But most all of them died of known diseases directly linked to the radioactive exposure. If they are kicking up radioactive dust and inhaling it, they will not necessarily get sick right away, but have a great chance of developing deadly cancers and other related issues later.

@Barnie2years A lot of animals have gone into the areas yet nothing has been said about their fate. Perhaps their shorter lifespan meant they died before the radiation could do it's work.