Who Is This Mysterious Woman Making Videos in Chernobyl?

The Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, established after the 1986 Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster, is one of the most infamous nuclear sites on the planet. The zone’s purpose is to restrict access to hazardous areas in order to reduce radiation exposure, but that hasn’t deterred one woman from traipsing all over the contaminated space and documenting it on YouTube.

Atlas Obscura caught up with the woman, known only as “Bionerd23,” via email. This young lady, quoting Marie Curie, seems to have no fear of the hazards around her: “Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood.” She has shown herself eating radioactive apples from a Chernobyl tree, going head-to-head with a possibly rabid fox, and even picking up fragments of nuclear waste with her bare hands.

With a collection of over 60 videos documenting her trips to the plant, Bionerd23 shows no intentions of stopping anytime soon.

For more on Bionerd23’s excursions, check out the full piece from our friends at Atlas Obscura.