There was practically zero impact to the surrounding environment after the TMI leak, I think I read that radiation was practically undetectable after like 6 months.
This is not true for Chernobyl though. That place is fucked and they needed to encase the reactor building twice in order to stop it from leaking harmful radioactive particles (x-ray and gamma particles, alpha and beta particles are less worrisome but still harmful in large doses IIRC). Pripyat is still hot and will be for like a hundred years or more, tons of people died either immediately after the explosion or shortly thereafter. Those that didn’t die within the first few months developed serious health issues and cancers years later. It’s literally the worst nuclear disaster in history.