And afterwards, that place is cursed beyond repair. No one can look upon it

Here's a guy looking upon it 30 years ago, 10 years after the accident.

https://www.chemistryworld.com/news/chernobyls-intensely-radioactive-elephants-foot-lava-recreated-in-the-lab/4011170.article

You wouldn't want to sleep next to it, and you certainly wouldn't want to breath it in, but it's not going to kill anyone who looks at it.