Says she's more likely to get cancer from swimming in the sea - but officials say it's so dangerous to live there


A 'superhero' scientist has ventured into one of the most radioactive places in the world - scaling missile defence system towers, getting bitten by 'radioactive' ants and eating contaminated apples that have grown on trees close to Chernobyl's epicentre.

Anonymous scientist Bionerd has attracted thousands of subscribers to her YouTube channel for her visits into the Chernobyl exclusion zone, the site of a devastating nuclear explosion 29 years ago on April 26, 1986, as she measures the high levels of radiation still lingering in the air.

Since the disaster the site has been closed off to the world, with Ukrainian scientists agreeing that the area isn't habitable for humans for at least 20,000 years.

Despite this, the daredevil researcher claims she has exposed herself to more radiation swimming in the sea and visiting hospital - and says the most scared she's felt during her six visits was getting dangerously close to a rabid fox and walking by abandoned, dilapidated buildings.

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Daring: Bionerd uploaded this picture of her in the Chernobyl power station control room on April 26, exactly 29 years after the disaster

Tasty: Bionerd eats an apple that has grown in radiation-filled Chernobyl, where humans are still not allowed to live due to the cancer risk - but she says she has exposed herself to more radiation going into hospital, and is more likely to develop cancer from swimming in the sea

High: Bionerd free-climbing up the early warning missile detection system in Chernobyl. The area was devastated by a huge nuclear explosion in 1986, but that hasn't stopped the scientist exploring into the no-go zone to film

Speaking to MailOnline Bionerd won't give her real name – because 'Nobody should adore a scientist, one should adore his or her work' – but explains how she has come to 'love' the disaster zone.

'At first it was just about the radiation, the contamination, measuring what was going on. By now, it's for a love of the place', she said.

'Nobody who has not seen this place is able to fully grasp this; a lot of people will think it's crazy.

'But if you've been there and experienced the zone as it truly is - a time capsule - you will understand.

Timewarp: An abandoned experiment room in Chernobyl, untouched since the destructive accident in 1986. 31 people died in the immediate aftermath

Abandoned: A derelict operating room in Pripyat - the 'ground zero' city when the nuclear reactor exploded. Bionerd says visiting the abandoned site is like stepping back in time

Damage: The broken pressure gauges from the nuclear power station's control room after the nuclear reactor exploded 29 years ago

Relaxed: Bionerd at the foot of the Duga-3 radar system - known as the Russian Woodpecker - in the heart of the Chernobyl exclusion zone

'Time stopped the moment the reactor blew, and I don't just mean the readings on the clocks... And if you embrace it, you can understand the zone's true meaning.'

The 29th anniversary of the disaster was marked on Sunday, and it is still regarded as the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. Thirty-one people died in the direct aftermath, but the long term effects of the population living close by are still being investigated.

As well as conducting scientific experiments measuring the amount of radiation with her bright yellow Geiger counter, Bionerd's videos also show the eeriness of the once thriving and busy area, now abandoned and inhospitable.

Yet despite the obvious dangers, Bionerd says she has exposed herself to more radiation when going for a medical procedure in hospital - and is more likely to get skin cancer by swimming in the sea without wearing sunscreen.

'The received dose of radiation [in Chernobly] was far too minor', she said.

'If anything, the medical procedures have exposed me to far greater amounts of radiation than Chernobyl ever will, so if I was to have a 'radiation induced cancer', I probably got it at the emergency room.

THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR DISASTER The Chernobyl power plant after the disaster in 1986 On April 26. 1986, a sudden power surge at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, near the city of Pripyat, led to a huge explosion of the reactor which cast highly radioactive particles into the air. The plume spread over wide areas of the then-Soviet Union and eastern Europe, leading to some 350,400 people having to be evacuated and resettled from the most contaminated areas in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. The fight to contain the contamination led to more than half a million emergency workers exposing themselves to high doses of radiation, and cost 18 billion rubles. The deaths of 31 people - all reactor staff or emergency workers - were directly attributed to the disaster, while the Chernobyl Forum predicts the eventual death toll could reach 4,000 among those with a high level of radiation. The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone was set up by the Soviet military directly after the disaster and covers around 30km of the site, including the epi-centre of the blast. It is one of the most radioactively contaminated areas in the world - but there are still 197 ' Samosley ', or 'illegal residents' of the area who refused to move out. Tourism to the zone is growing, thanks in part to the popularity of video games including Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Source: Wikipedia Advertisement

Relaxed: Bionerd with her Geiger counters measuring radiation in Chernobyl. She has visited the site six times to film her experiments

Radiation: Bionerd's array of Geiger counters, which measure the amount of ionizing radiation in the air including alpha particles, beta particles and gamma rays

Death trap: More dangerous than the radiation, Bionerd says, are the derelict buildings on the brink of structural collapse

Predator: The Chernobyl exclusion zone has become popular with wildlife, including this rabies-ridden fox

'It was very stupid of me to go swimming in the sea multiple times without re-applying sun protection, and I hope I won't have to pay for this ignorance one day.'

'When necessary - which which was very few occasions - I was wearing gloves and/or a respirator and/or shoe protection so I don't get contaminated', she added.

'I was extremely cautious about the buildings, as some of them have partially collapsed and are highly dangerous to enter.

'Being buried by a collapsing wall is the true physical danger in the Chernobyl exclusion zone.

'I was also carefully looking out for animals, especially as rabies is a big issue in any rural area in the Ukraine - and thus, also in the Chernobyl exclusion zone, which is a wildlife habitat more than anything else.'

Her encounter with a rabid fox is one of the few times on Bionerd's YouTube videos that you hear genuine panic in her voice, as the wild creature comes dangerously close to her car.

Reflecting on the impact that nuclear disasters such as Chernobyl has had on the surrounding environment, Bionerd said she doesn't see it as an 'ideal' energy source.

'In regard to stuff going really wrong, well, that rarely happens - in comparison to total running reactors versus time - and even if it does, it kills a lot less people in total than mining for coal or the smog resulting from emissions from coal plants.

Untouched: The operator console of the control room for the nuclear reactor in Chernobyl. The site has barely been touched since the explosion

Defiant: Bionerd and her colleagues in nuclear reactors five and six over the potential reactor core - right in the heart of Chernobyl (see arrow). She says she wants a reliable energy source before shutting nuclear power plants

But after coal, it's still the second-worst source of power because of all that waste that is produced. Both the chemicals during separation and enrichment of uranium or spent fuel as well as the radioactive waste that results in the end of a fuel cycle are a huge issue.

'In theory, I'd say 'Research nuclear reactors: Yes! Nuclear power as an energy source: No!'

But there, look at me - on my computer, with the lights on, drinking some coffee i have just prepared using one kW of power.

'We should also look into means of producing cleaner energy, for example nuclear fusion.

Dangerous: The sealed-off Chernobyl nuclear power plant, pictured in March 2015

Massive: Bionerd at the foot of the detection system. She said she finds the attention to her videos 'quite awkward'

'But I cannot demand that we shut off coal plants followed by nuclear power plants within the next ten years, as we need to have a true, reliable and sufficient alternative before that step.'

And while Bionerd's videos are rightly receiving praise from around the world due to their scientific content, many have flocked to praise Bionerd's punk style and good looks.

How does she feel about that attention?

'If somebody flatters me, it's quite awkward - kind of like if you hand in a manuscript to a book your have put a lot of time and effort into while writing it, and the publisher then writes back to you and just says that you have an absolutely beautiful and marvellous handwriting.

'It's not a bad thing, but it's not really what you want to hear, either.'