I was living in Kyiv at the time of the accident, and later I worked for the Ministry of Chernobyl (a special government ministry created to deal with the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster). I assisted groups of international researchers in analysing data on the consequences of the accident, including radioactive contamination distribution through food chains.

This article is complete rubbish. Everything was tightly measured and controlled. The radiation levels required to trigger memory bits (ferrite memory!) in a building next to the train station, through the walls and metal panels enclosing computer blocks and at such a distance, would probably make a cow glow in the dark :) Geiger counters weren’t restricted - they just weren’t sold to the general public. But somehow, after Chernobyl, every one of my friends managed to procure one (I had three). Even the final part about "filling in immigration papers with any country" is implausible. It wasn’t possible to simply emigrate from the Soviet Union to any country. There was a limited Jewish emigration path, but it was far from easy.

All fair.

This is likely also related to the (likely stretched) story about a train full of radioactive meat that floated around for a while [0] that seems to get interpreted a little differently each time [1].

[0] https://time.com/4305507/chernobyl-30-agriculture-disaster/#...

[1] https://origins.osu.edu/milestones/april-2016-eating-you-foo...

Also I remember reading the exact same "story" on the daily WTF website .. ~20 years ago. It surfaces regularly. :)