CHERNOBYL DISASTER 20 YEARS ON, STILL NOT FULLY ADDRESSED
NUCLEAR DISASTER CAUSED WIDESPREAD ENVIRONMENTAL, PUBLIC HEALTH CRISES WHICH ARE STILL BEING HIDDEN
18 April 2006

The world's worst nuclear accident occurred 20 years ago this week in Chernobyl, Ukraine, under the Soviet regime of the USSR. Fallout from the explosion directly contaminated an area inhabited by 5 million people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia. But contaminant particles also rained down on large swaths of Asia, the Baltic region and Scandinavia.

No study to date has been able to demonstrate conclusively how many people were exposed to direct radioactive contamination. But official estimates have long been a target of criticism from the global scientific community. The IAEA has estimated that only 4,000 people were killed by the catastrophe and its aftermath, a figure which seems to ignore the drastic increase in radiation-related health problems, including cancer, throughout the Chernobyl fallout belt.

But now, a new study, based on the findings of none other than the Russian Academy of Sciences, indicates that at least 200,000 people will eventually die from maladies whose direct cause was the massive nuclear accident at the Chernobyl plant.

Environmental groups are pushing for a worldwide movement to address the health needs of people suffering from after-effects of exposure to radiation from the Chernobyl disaster. Anecdotal reports also suggest the health services in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, the three countries most severely affected, lack the equipment, facilities, funding and medicines needed to provide the best treatment for the often severe effects of radiation exposure.

A spokesman for Greenpeace, which is lobbying for official recognition of the real scale of the fallout and for comprehensive and persistent treatment for all the victims, says the USSR sent 600,000 people into the contamination zone to clean up nuclear materials, often with nothing more than shovels. Clearly, that entire population needs to be accounted for, and it would be irrational to rule out long-term health effects related to that intimate exposure to highly radioactive nuclear materials.

Another point made by activists is that nations like the United Kingdom, which are considering expanding nuclear production, despite resistance from their citizens and concerns over security and funding, might not have the means of forcing hundreds of thousands of people into a highly dangerous radioactive zone to provide manual cleanup should the system fail, a fact which heightens the risk should an accident occur.

Though 20 years have passed since the Chernobyl explosion and consequent nuclear contamination of several nations, nuclear time is much longer. It is inappropriate to consider the accident and old story or a closed issue. Whatever materials seeped into ground water or into soil sitting on arable land or through which pipes are run, are still affecting the population of the Chernobyl fallout belt, though perhaps to a lesser degree than in the weeks following the disaster. [s]

BACKGROUND:
HANDICAPPING FOR NUCLEAR POWER
9 December 2005

Petroleum is a finite resource, a "fossil" fuel that cannot be replaced when existing volume has been exhausted. The UK is finding it hard to cope with Kyoto-agreed obligations. Current infrastructure cannot extract enough power from wind or tide... So, the nuclear power lobby came up with a great solution: build more nuclear power plants despite the enormous costs of maintenance, cleanup and storage. [Full Story]

BONN CONFERENCE CALLS FOR WORLDWIDE COMMITMENT TO RENEWABLE RESOURCES
31 May 2004

The Renewables 2004 global conference in Bonn, Germany, has resulted in recommendations for more aggressive research and development of renewable energy resources. Citing persistent unrest in oil rich countries, the negative environmental impact of fossil fuels, along with soaring prices and the economic problems associated with any finite resource, the conference noted the benefits to economic and political security of using resources that are local, clean and renewable.

Renewable resources were also put forth as a solution to poverty and marginalization: rural communities have historically been deprived of the resources of urban centers, and as many as 2 billion people worldwide still have no access to electricity. Developing countries are beginning to see the economic and political benefits of renewable resources. [Full Story]

DEPLETED URANIUM WILL POLLUTE IRAQ FOR 4.5 BILLION YEARS
26 May 2004

The President of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute has called for a comprehensive cleanup initiative in Iraq, aimed at reducing the danger posed by Depleted Uranium, left over from artillery shells launched against Basra, Baghdad and other Iraqi cities. According to Dr. Helen Caldicott, founder of the NPRI, Uranium 238, the radioactive isotope present in Depleted Uranium, has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. [Full Story]