The Chernobyl children and their networks of concern are one of the reasons why a nuclear accident that was initially branded ‘typically Soviet’ in many parts of the world came into focus as a transnational disaster. These children brought the reality of Chernobyl into the everyday lives of hundreds of thousands of people in Europe and North America. They were living proof of the characteristic distress and fears associated with the accident. Far removed from the scene of the disaster, abstract headlines were replaced by the stories of actual individuals – albeit not always ones that confirmed the ideas and expectations of the children’s hosts.