Radioactive heritage: an autoethnographic investigation of Chernobyl as a dark heritage site

This research aims to unearth Chernobyl’s radioactive heritage through autoethnographic methodology. The autoethnographic method takes readers on a first-person tour of Chernobyl and the Exclusion Zone. In doing so, readers are given the unique first-person opportunity to experience the site, its heritage, and its value. The overarching questions addressed are whether Chernobyl’s heritage is universally valuable and does that value warrant UNESCO’s attention and possible consideration for future enlistment on the World Heritage List. This work should help bring new meaning to Chernobyl as more than just a dark tourism site. In visiting and learning more about Chernobyl, tourists will not only renew their awareness of nuclear disasters but will be inspired by Chernobyl’s heroes, nature’s resurgence and the transformative power of dark tourism sites