[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
IAEA on 15 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYL
I recieved this from the IAEA. Sorry for the length.
-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
3050 Traymore Lane
Bowie, MD 20715-2024
E-mail: jenday1@email.msn.com (H)
-----Original Message-----
From: IAEA.Daily.Press.Review@iaea.org
[mailto:IAEA.Daily.Press.Review@iaea.org]
Sent: Wednesday, April 25, 2001 5:34 AM
Subject: PR 2001/8 15 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYL
Importance: High
25 April 2001
PR 2001/8
15 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYL,
NUCLEAR POWER PLANT SAFETY IMPROVED WORLD-WIDE,
BUT REGIONAL STRAINS ON HEALTH, ECONOMY AND ENVIRONMENT REMAIN
25 April 2001 - When the news of an accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power
Plant came out, it shocked the world. The accident was by far the most
devastating in the history of nuclear power and the people of the region
continue to live with its consequences.
"The accident had a disastrous impact on life, health and the environment in
Ukraine, Belarus and Russia and prompted fear and concerns in other nations
of the world about the effects of radiation", said IAEA Director General
Mohammed ElBaradei looking back at 1986.
Fifteen years later, exhaustive studies by the IAEA and others provide a
solid understanding of the causes and consequences of the accident, which
stemmed from design deficiencies in the reactor compounded by a violation of
operating procedures. These deficiencies and the lack of an international
notification mechanism led to the speedy adoption of Early Notification and
Assistance Conventions as well as the later establishment of the landmark
Convention on Nuclear Safety.
Lessons learned from the accident were also a significant driving force
behind a decade of IAEA assistance to the countries of Central and Eastern
Europe and the former Soviet Union. Much of this work focused on identifying
the weaknesses in and improving the design safety of VVER and RBMK reactors.
Hundreds of international initiatives are easing the effects on the
environment, economy and health in the affected regions. In one example, the
Agency is working with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) on the
"Prussian Blue Project", which reduces caesium contamination in milk and
meat.
The Agency is also providing assistance in treating thyroid cancer in
Ukraine by supplying the radioactive iodine used to treat patients.
According to the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of
Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) in its 2000 Report to the UN General Assembly,
the number of cases among people who were children in 1986 has risen to
about 1800 and further cases can be expected in the future. Significantly,
UNSCEAR has, however, found no scientific evidence of increases to date in
the incidence of any other health effects that could be related to radiation
exposure.
Nevertheless, the socio-economic impacts remain serious. Farming communities
in Belarus and Ukraine suffered heavily from radioactive contamination as a
result of the Chernobyl accident. The IAEA, together with the FAO, is
therefore helping to restore agricultural land by producing the rapeseed
plant on 50 000 hectares of contaminated land in Belarus. The seed takes up
and stores radionuclides from the soil in its stalks and seed coat, but not
in the seed. This seed can then be used for economically viable products
such as biolubricants, cooking oils or high protein cattle feed.
Among the most difficult legacies of Chernobyl are the psychological effects
in the population related to lack of information immediately after the
accident, the stress and trauma of relocation, the breaking of social ties
and the fear of radiation, combined with the political changes of recent
years. Resulting economic hardship is also a major factor for distress, and
the recent closure of the Chernobyl plant which provided many hundreds of
jobs is a further strain. International assistance will be needed in these
areas for years to come.
"Chernobyl was a tragic but important turning point for the IAEA", said Mr.
ElBaradei. "It prompted us to focus unprecedented energies and resources to
assist the affected people and help ensure that such a serious accident
would never happen again."
For more on the Chernobyl accident and its aftermath, visit the IAEA
website: http://www.iaea.org/worldatom/
************************************************************************
You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,
send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu Put the text "unsubscribe
radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.