Thanks for reading!
Yes, I always thought the same. Recon my visit was in 2008, about twenty years after the disaster. Although I cannot prove anything I'm sure both reactors 1 and 2 were still in operation during my visit.
Maybe not for civilian power purposes, but something was going on there. The amount of military people and labor people suggested that the place was still in full operation and that somehow something important was till going there.
I'm not a conspiracy guy, but at the time I thought the idea made sense that the place was very useful to train "post nuclear" military strategies or to test equipment in high radioactive environments.
From a military perspective it is a very useful place to train and test post nuclear situations. And as no other country has such a place to practice it becomes a military advantage by itself.
Again, I'm not a conspiracy person but I never underestimate the other mans willingness to gain an advantage.