The collection contains reports prepared for and by a variety of Soviet and Ukrainian government agencies, such as the KGB, documenting and detailing the most important developments in the wake of the explosion of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) on April 26, 1986 in the Ukrainian city of Pripyat. It also provides internal reports and investigations on the various causes of the disaster, including the problems with the design of the NPP, and the extent of the Soviet and Ukrainian government knowledge on many of the shortcomings that made the Chernobyl meltdown not only possible but in a sense inevitable.

The Chernobyl Newspapers Collection comprises three previously unavailable local newspapers published in the Chernobyl area in the years before and after the nuclear disaster. The collection gives researchers unique access to important lesser-known primary sources from the era. The two newspapers "Prapor peremohy" (1981-1988) and "Trybuna pratsi" (1981-1990), published in Ukrainian within or in the immediate vicinity of the exclusion zone, provide the opportunity to explore the larger socio-cultural and historical context of the regions affected by the Chernobyl disaster. "Tribuna Energetika" (1979-1990), published in Russian under the aegis of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, provides insight into the everyday life of the power plant and the city of Pripyat.