I was studying at the uni when Chernobyl happened. As physics students, none of us was particularly worried but me and a mate wanted to sell umbrellas wrapped in tinfoil to the public. There was money to be made.
I was hiking all day, with a friend in shorts and tank-tops. When we came home in the evening, we heard we should have been inside all day, or at least covered up well.
One of my flatmates refused to eat fresh vegetables for over half a year. She became a zealous believer in tinned food. Made cooking for all just a bit harder.
For months, there was a heated debate in Sweden about what to do with the livestock that was exposed to the fallout from the accident. The general opinion was based on fear--people didn't want to eat meat from the poor animals, worrying about cancer and whatnot. Some of the more vocal members of the public worried about mutations.
As physics students, we pointed out that the meat could feed the elderly for years. Cesium 137 has a halflife of 30 years or so.