The area around Pripyat is still full of radiation following the explosion more than 30 years ago, one of only two events to have ever been classified as a maximum level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event Scale.

But a group of scientists believe the tragedy was not caused by a steam explosion as has been long thought.

Instead they believe it was caused by two explosive events.

First, a spray of debris was thrown two miles into the air by a series of nuclear explosions inside the soviet power station.

Then, 2.7 seconds later, a steam explosion split the reactor and sent more debris flying into the atmosphere.

Eyewitness reported seeing a blue flash above the reactor following the first explosion, a possible sign the incident was caused by a nuclear blast.

And seismic readings along with damage to the core also hint at a nuclear trigger to the catastrophe.

Their findings could help to make nuclear power stations safer following widespread scepticism over the technology in the wake of Chernobyl and the Fukushima nuclear power plant meltdowns. 

Speaking to Fox News, lead scientist Professor De Geer said: “We realized that we, based on real measurements and observations, could explain details in the Chernobyl accident scenario and the nature of the two major explosions that occurred during a few seconds that unfortunate night more than 31 years ago.

“Our new theory deepens the understanding of the severe effects that can be the result of some original design faults in such reactors.

“Much has been corrected in remaining RBMK reactors, but a better understanding of what really happened in 1986 must of course be of great value for overseeing and possibly improving the design also in the future.”

It comes after an esteemed scientist revealed what life is like for the people who stayed in their homes in Chernobyl after the infamous nuclear explosion over 30 years ago.

The explosion at Chernobyl’s nuclear power station on April 26, 1986, killed 31 people and resulted in the mass evacuation and abandonment of a huge area and led to an evacuation of 50,000 people.

A UN study has predicted the eventual death toll caused by cancers related to the blast and other illnesses will reach 4,000.

The disaster prompted the second most expensive nuclear clean up in human history, costing £39billion.

And today a 19-mile exclusion zone remains in place, with authorities estimating the area will not be officially safe for human inhabitation for hundreds of years due to the huge amounts of radioactivity being released.

To this day, the area in Ukraine is still a no-go zone due to the vast amount of radiation still present.

But some people refused to leave their homes following the tragedy, and Jim Smith, Professor of Environmental Science at the University of Portsmouth, has given an insight into what life is like there for the few inhabitants.

Professor Smith makes regular trips to the exclusion zone as part of a scientific investigation with British and Ukrainian experts as to whether food can be grown in the region.

During his time, Professor Smith has encountered some of the locals who he says are blossoming in the deserted town.

He told Express.co.uk: “There are the people who have been living there since the accident, some of the older self-settlers, and they have been growing their own crops since then, and they are getting a dose of radiation. 

“But we’ve looked at some of the data, and they are living in the less contaminated areas, and the levels are kind of around and within limit.

“The people who remained after the accident, the self-settlers, the old people, they haven’t really been studied because they’re a particular group and it is very difficult to find a comparison group with those because they’re old and they have a different lifestyle to most people.

“I have heard stories in Ukraine that they have better lives than people of a similar age who moved out because they are living the life they choose to lead; they are living in their own houses, they’re growing their own crops, they’re kind of taking a survivor mentality.”