AW: [ RadSafe ] Fwd: [graffis-l] Young Chernobyl Victims Healin Cuban Sun

[Franz Schönhofer]

Doug, 

Yes, you got it right. Already at the big conference organized by the
International Atomic Energy Agency "Ten years after" in 1996 it was clearly
stated that deficiencies like malnutrition, lack of medical capacities,
alcoholism, social problems etc. are the main reasons for the bad health
status of people, including children.

At the same conference the former president of the Ukraine had only one main
message: "Give us money!" Money for research and collaboration with European
institutions from the EU only partially reached the Ukrainian, Bjelo-Russian
and Russian Institutions (up to 40 % was practically "confiscated" by the
states as "taxes"). The EU changed its policy for granting money for
research. The costs for a new sarcophagus would be exorbitant high and
obviously the potential donators are reluctant, because it could be expected
that the money wanted by the Ukrainian authorities might not all be used for
the construction. (I hope I wrote this politely enough.) It seems that
nobody in this world would send cash to those countries affected. 

Back to the original message: Looking at contamination maps one might easily
find, that the Ukraine was of course affected by the Chernobyl fallout, but
only to a minor part, compared with Bjelorussia. I do not expect that you
will find a different picture of Bjelorussia on the internet. 

Having experienced very closely the aftermath of Chernobyl on Austria I may
express my surprise, that young children suffer from thyroid cancer, which
is said to originate from the Chernobyl accident - almost 20 years later. I
thought ever since, that I-131 which might be responsible for thyroid
cancer, has a half-life of about 8 days. Even Norman Cohen should know that
after so many years on RADSAFE. Surprising is what a large number of cancers
and other diseases like spine-deformation are attributed to the Chernobyl
accident. That there was a sharp rise in thyroid cancer after the accident
has already been clearly stated at the above mentioned "Ten years
after"-conference.

Also in Austria there are each year many children from the affected areas -
but even from other areas and some have been identified to be children of
local celebrities and party-members. Norman, I am surprised that you
obviously morally support this abuse.

Best regards,

Franz


Franz Schoenhofer
PhD, MR iR
Habicherg. 31/7
A-1160 Vienna
AUSTRIA
phone -43-0699-1168-1319


> -----Ursprüngliche Nachricht-----
> Von: radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl [mailto:radsafe-bounces at radlab.nl] Im
> Auftrag von Minnema, Douglas
> Gesendet: Donnerstag, 07. Juli 2005 15:58
> An: 'Norm Cohen'; radsafe at radlab.nl
> Betreff: RE: [ RadSafe ] Fwd: [graffis-l] Young Chernobyl Victims Healin
> Cuban Sun
> 
> 
> 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.