A RADIOACTIVE-FREE vodka brewed from crops in Chernobyl’s abandoned zone has been created by a team of scientists.

Professor Jim Smith, at the University of Portsmouth, described the artisan vodka – branded ATOMIK – as “possibly the most important bottle of spirits in the world”.

He and colleagues in Ukraine, where is was traditionally brewed, hope it will help the region recover economically.

Professor Smith and colleagues in the UK and Ukraine present the results of a three-year research project into the transfer of radioactivity to crops grown in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone.

Professor Smith now wants to produce the artisan vodka made from grain grown near Chernobyl, and give 75 per cent of the profits back to the affected community.

He said: “I think this is the most important bottle of spirits in the world because it could help the economic recovery of communities living in and around the abandoned areas.

“Many thousands of people are still living in the Zone of Obligatory Resettlement where new investment and use of agricultural land is still forbidden.

“We don’t think the main Exclusion Zone should be extensively used for agriculture as it is now a wildlife reserve.

“But there are other areas where people live, but agriculture is still banned.

“Thirty-three years on, many abandoned areas could now be used to grow crops safely without the need for distillation.

“We aim to make a high-value product to support economic development of areas outside the main Exclusion Zone where radiation isn’t now a significant health risk.”

The team found some radioactivity in the grain, but because distilling reduces any impurities in the original grain, the only radioactivity the researchers could detect in the alcohol is natural - at the same level you would expect in any spirit drink.

The Chernobyl Spirit Company is hoping to begin a small experimental production of “ATOMIK” this year.