LONDON — Would you drink something called Atomik, whose ingredients come from near Chernobyl?

Scientists in Britain and Ukraine have distilled vodka using grains and water from a place that has become synonymous with nuclear disaster and contamination — and they say it is quite free from toxic radiation.

They set out to show that safe agriculture is feasible in some of the abandoned areas around Chernobyl, and they plan to make more of the artisanal spirit as a venture to support the local community.

“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,” Jim Smith, a professor of environmental science at the University of Portsmouth, said in a statement announcing the project.

The 1986 explosion, meltdown and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine caused the largest release in history of radiation and radioactive material. It became a worldwide symbol of the perils of nuclear power and invisible but deadly radiation.