Every year it's something different, it seems. Points towards an impossible translation situation, maybe?
Not exactly. Chernobyl is the right way of transliteration from Russian name of the plant (Чернобыль), Chornobyl would be the right way if you are doing the same from Ukrainian (Чорнобиль).
Same goes for Kiev\Kyev.
These days ukrainians are often pissed if you use the 'wrong' one.
Thanks, that clears up a lot, including why Kyiv changes too. I was suspect that it was about political correctness.
I think it's reasonable for a country that wants to break away from its' Soviet past
I sympathize with that, but I'm a bit surprised they'd want to 'claim' Chernobyl/Chornobyl despite its location. Doesn't the Ukrainian government still try to persuade the Russian government to pay for the mess?
Also, the Chernobyl accident happened while the USSR still existed and its dominant / official language was Russian. Now the former Chornobyl power nuclear plant is in Ukraine where Ukrainian is the official language.