Environmental News Network story

["Neil, David M" <neildm@id.doe.gov>]

Rumyantsev, a staunch believer in the future of nuclear energy, said that despite the shock experienced by the public in 1986, estimates of the number of victims were often exaggerated.

Environmentalists and doctors in Ukraine say there have been thousands of deaths from radiation-related illnesses and a huge increase in thyroid cancer following the accident.

"Say there were 200 deaths ... an accident in a chemical factory would be more horrible judging by the number of victims," Rumyantsev said. "It was about as deadly as a plane crash - Concorde, say," he said, referring to a supersonic jet that crashed in Paris nearly three years ago. "When Greenpeace or other ecologists talk about a million victims, I am prepared to agree that a million people were scared. That was the main medical result of the disaster."





Excerpt from http://www.enn.com/news/2003-04-23/s_3999.asp

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