Re: Re[2]: UKRAINE CHERNOBYL AFTERMATH

[Schoenhofer <schoenho@via.at>]

At 12:16 25.04.1996 -0500,  J. Muckerheide wrote:
>Radsafers,
>
>Coming back from a few days in Vienna, I'm amazed at the lack of information,
>and egregious misperceptions, about the Chernobyl consequences that have
>existed on the list...... 

===========================================================================

I really thank you for these open words - I never would have dared as a
European to express these thoughts openly to the mainly American radsafers!
Having been heavily involved in the mitigation of the consequences of the
Chernobyl accident in Austria - the country probably most affected by the
accident - I find it difficult to understand, why so little is known about
the accident and the consequences in the USA. Many comments were based on
informations from mass media, taking them for truth. How can a scientist
believe what is written in even the most reputated daily press??? All these
incredible exaggerations, which are done by the press to raise the number of
sold copies or by TV channels to raise the quotes - how can this be taken as
a basis for a scientific discussion? The statements of government officials
about death and sickness in the former Sovjet states, who want and
deliberately need money and help from the West cannot be taken as the mere
truth. The clearly visible intentions of certain groups and politicians! All
these quotations of thousands, hundredthousands, millions of dead and
injured people - how is it possible that anybody believes this nonsense
which is against all common sense? How far has our society already gone,
that 30, 50, 1000 deaths are something which does not at all attract people
any more to buy a newspaper? Why have it to be 6 000, 100 000 casualities?
All these "informations" about deaths and injured people and research in
genetics and so on - most of them without giving any source! The plight of a
scientist should be to gather all relevant information and  t h e n  start
discussing. And as J. Muckerheide pointed out, there is so much information
available - one simply has to look it up. On Internet you can not only find
Greenpeace, but also the IAEA! The summary which Muckerheide has given is
excellent - I have been myself at the IAEA-WHO Chernobyl conference. I do
not want to downplay the Chenobyl accident - it was in my opinion the most
silly and useless accident ever happened and it  w a s  and still  i s  a
disaster for people living in the affected areas. Nevertheless one has to
see everything in perspective and of course all has to be done to mitigate
the consequences and help people there. 

Nevertheless, dear Radsafers, check journals and libraries and reports etc.
to improve your information and knowledge about things like Chernoby,
radioecology etc. Take my provocative words for what it is - to look for the
reliable scientific information, which is available.

Franz Schoenhofer
Federal Institute for Food Control and Research
Kinderspitalg. 15
A-1095 Vienna 
Austria