Oh yeah.
We're going there in the end of the summer; we have friends living in Ukraine who invited us...will stay in Kiev a few days and I'd like to visit Pripyat/Chernobyl area as well.
Those friends are local doctors...and they told me in reality the closer the people live to the disaster area, the more healthy they are. Kids closer to the area have statistically much less illness, grow bigger and stronger etc. and the same goes for animals. But it's no surprise; the radiation is merely a little more than background by now and that's just healthy. Radiation levels higher than normal but less than lethal are only food for you within certain limits of course. People fear radiation way too much; it's more like...well anything from water to oxygen etc. Too much will kill you but it's better to have some than nothing.
The funniest thing is that cancer incidents dropped drastically in the years after the accident, but then the government decided to grant pensions fueled by international trust funds, aimed at people who were diagnosed having tumors etc. that could be thought to have been caused by radiation, and then suddenly the cancer numbers boomed greatly. My friends told me it's kind of a local national hobby to try your best to forge documents or bribe doctors to somehow get diagnosed with anything that could be related to the radiation, because it'll mean a nice pension for the rest of your days.
It's the same in Fukushima...mere metres away from the very plant area the radiation is quite nominal level and not dangerous at all. More radiation occurs naturally in sea water in most areas than in Fukushima waters.
Dee
"When life's a biatch, be a horny dog"
Amps: Marshall JVM 410H w/ Plexi Cap mod, Choke Mod & Negative Feedback Removal mod, 4x12", Behringer GMX110, Amplitube 3/StealthPedal
Half a dozen custom built/bastardized guitars all with EMG's, mostly 85's, Ibanez Artwood acoustic & Yamaha SGR bass, Epiphone Prophecy SG, Vox Wah, Pitchblack tuner plus assorted pedals, rack gear etc. for home studio use.