[ RadSafe ] Fwd: [graffis-l] Young Chernobyl Victims Heal in Cuban Sun

[Minnema, Douglas]

Norm and all,

I usually don't jump in on these topics, but would like to comment on this
one.  

I have followed from a distance the various arguments over the human effects
of the Chernobyl accident. I have always wondered how human interest stories
like the one you cite can continue to be raised when the various
international scientific groups have always claimed that they could not find
significant radiation impacts from the accident.  (And I do not believe in
international conspiracies to hide the impacts.)  Due to a conversation I
had with a neighbor the other day, I was curious as to what information was
available about the Ukraine in general, so I did some "googling" on the web.
What I found seemed to provide some clues, at least to my simple mind.

The Ukraine has a great deal of problems right now that will provide a great
number of human interest stories like yours.  For example, visit this
Encarta article http://encarta.msn.com/text_761573617___15/Ukraine.html or
an IAEA statement of about ten years ago,
http://www.un.org/french/ha/tchernobyl/focus.htm.  Other sites will give you
additional information.

The Ukraine's problems are complex and tragic.  The population is declining
as death rates significantly exceed birth rates.  Environmental pollution,
poor diet, widespread smoking and alcoholism, deteriorating medical care,
rampant crime and corruption, an 80% decline in the standard of living since
1991, 32% of the population living below the poverty level, rising HIV
infection rates, and other problems all contribute to the country's
situation.  And any of these problems could be inserted into your story in
place of "Chernobyl" and the story would sound just as tragic and
believeable to the general public.  These problems are much more related to
the country's previous life under the Soviet Union and the upset caused by
its collapse than Chernobyl or any other single source.

Then why blame Chernobyl? I think it is for two reasons.  First, the general
public does not understand the science and usually does not trust the
scientists, so blaming radiation is usually easier than acknowledging all of
the other problems.  Second, Chernobyl has received the most international
publicity, so it is easier use as a reason to request outside funding and
donations.

Personally, I now better understand why the US and other countries have been
reluctant to provide the assistance the Ukraine has requested in the form of
cash.  They seem willing to provide technical expertise that can be focused
directly on Chernobyl, but perhaps there is not enough confidence that the
cash would not be used as claimed.

The situation in Ukraine is tragic, and there is much work to be done.  But
placing all of the blame on Chernobyl seems misguided to me.

Doug Minnema

No fancy disclaimer, just my personal thoughts.


-----Original Message-----
From: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl]On
Behalf Of Norm Cohen
Sent: Wednesday, July 06, 2005 11:11 PM
To: know_nukes at yahoogroups.com; radsafe at radlab.nl
Subject: [ RadSafe ] Fwd: [graffis-l] Young Chernobyl Victims Heal in
Cuban Sun

<snip>

Planet Ark : FEATURE - Young Chernobyl Victims Heal in Cuban Sun
CUBA: July 6, 2005
http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/31533/story.htm

TARARA - At a beach resort near Havana, children with bald heads and skin
lesions splash with joy in the warm Caribbean sea.

<snip>