UK scientists use drones to survey forest 1,600ft from Chernobyl

One of the most radioactive places on Earth has been mapped in unprecedented detail, thanks to a team of British scientists equipped with the latest in drone technology. Chernobyl's Red Forest remains highly irradiated 33 years on from the catastrophic accident at the number-4 nuclear reactor. Experts led by the UK's National Centre for Nuclear Robotics and the University of Bristol used drones fitted with custom-built radiation detectors to create 3D maps of the area, some of which lies just 1,600ft (500m) from the power plant. Their efforts revealed previously undetected radiation'hotspots', where radioactive material from the fallout has gathered over the years. Around 70,000 tourists visited the Chernobyl exclusion zone last year, which stretches over 1,000 square miles (2,600 sq km).