This article situates Henrik Vigh’s concept of ‘chronic crisis’ in social disaster research andhumanitarian studies in order to explore how child survivors experience and address theprolonged consequences of disasters. The rationale for mobilising the concept of chroniccrisis is that it opens up possibilities for exploring the dynamics and multidimensionality ofdisasters and humanitarian responses to them. Using the example of nuclear disasters, thearticle looks at the enduring humanitarian initiatives of Italian non-governmental organisationsin recuperating Chernobyl and Fukushima children in Italy. It focuses on the opportunities,challenges and outcomes of these recuperative programmes, and underscores the non-linearityof survivor agency. The article argues that chronic crisis in nuclear disasters can simultaneouslycontribute to deterioration and ruination of survivors’ lives, catharsis, and hope. It is furtherargued that humanitarianism can shape chronic crisis either by exacerbating the alreadyprecariousconditions of human existence (through social discrimination and prejudice), orby alleviating survivor suffering (through social and cultural support).