FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY - Article 19

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ARTICLE 19GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR FREE EXPRESSIONThe All-Ukrainian Research Institute for Civil Defence of the Population and Territories fromTechnogenic and Natural Emergency (Civil Defence Institute), a research body for the Ministry ofEmergencies of Ukraine, admits that ‘mistakes and poor decisions’ were made in 1986. These werenot simply the result of recklessness, but due to the need to make decisions very swiftly without yethaving the full data to assess the scale of the problem and its implications. 73+ " % The effects of Chornobyl soon became evident, with 1.6 million children highly contaminatedimmediately after the accident. By 4 May, more than 1,882 people had been hospitalised, some 38,000had been examined and 204 (including 64 children) had been diagnosed with radiation syndrome.Eighteen people were found to be in a critical state. 74 As the figures continued to rise, the governmentreportedly tampered with the data. In a protocol from 1986, the Ministry of Health provided for ‘newnorms of acceptable radiation levels for members of the public as ten times the previous norms.’ 75Immediately, more than 10,000 people hospitalised for radiation-induced illnesses were declared‘healthy’ and discharged. As a result, the official number of people suffering from radiation syndromefell dramatically. Ultimately, only 31 victims were officially recognised by the Kremlin. 76Information on the accident remained vague. The main source of information for those whoworked to contain the effects of the disaster, including engineers, was the Western press. Moredetailed publications on Chornobyl only began to appear approximately three years after the incident.Yet they were mostly superficial: the population received no detailed information but only the generalmessage that everything was ‘under control’. 77%%Over $US1 billion was received from the international community and spent on the sarcophagus thatwas created in 1986 to cover and seal the damaged reactor. 78 The sarcophagus developed cracks in themid-1990s, which resulted in the leaking of radiation. In 2007 a fund managed by the European Bank73 Civil Defence Institute publication, p. 8. see note 60.74 A Yaroshinskaia, ‘Chernobyl: the Big Lie’, see note 59.75 ‘Increase of these norms to 50 times higher than previously is permitted in specific cases … By these meansthe health safety of the public of all ages is guaranteed, even should the current radiation situation last for 25years’. Government Protocol, 8 May 1986, quoted in A Yaroshinskaia, ‘Chernobyl: the Big Lie’, p.24, see note59.76 A Gregorovich, ‘Chernobyl Nuclear Catastrophe: Ten Years after April 26, 1986’,http://www.infoukes.com/historyChernobyl/gregorovich.77 Interview with Volodymyr Usachenko, see note 54.78 Ibid.For Internal Use Only. Is Post-Chornobyl Ukraine Ready for Access to Environmental Information?ARTICLE 19, London, 2007,
ARTICLE 19GLOBAL CAMPAIGN FOR FREE EXPRESSIONof Reconstruction and Development enabled the start of a project to build a shelter around thesarcophagus. The building is due to be completed in 2012. 79On the government side, information on Chornobyl is mainly gathered by the Ministry ofEnvironmental Protection (MEP) and the Ministry of Emergencies, particularly its Civil DefenceInstitute. During an interview, Institute representatives stated that all information is open and availableonline, with updates appearing on the website at 9am every day. 80 At the same time, therepresentatives said that they do not receive many information requests, and could only remember twoor three requests from journalists.A (State) Programme for the Reduction of the Chornobyl Effects has been in place since 1986,but there has been little information on its activities or effectiveness. The Programme has a section onthe provision of information to the population, but limited finances are earmarked for this, so it canhardly be implemented effectively. 81Even though there is now increased awareness, both in Ukraine and internationally, of theoverall significance of Chornobyl, there is still no reliable, comprehensive inventory of the impact ofthe accident on the population. 82 One reason is that the population was relocated within the USSR afterthe disaster without proper records. Another is that there is still no conclusive knowledge of theoverall cumulative impact on the ecosystems and human health. 83 This is partly because the accidentwas unique, so that normally applied standards could not effectively measure its impact. The accidentwas also extremely complex, with a multitude of consequences and ramifications. A number ofcancers, for example, develop over the course of more than 40 years, so that the effect of the disaster isdelayed and not immediately quantifiable.The report Health Effects of the Chornobyl Accident and Special Health Care Programs waspublished by the Chornobyl Forum in 2005 and compiled by specialists from the International AtomicEnergy Agency (IAEA), the UN, WHO, the World Bank and scientists from Belarus, Ukraine andRussia. The publication reports 4,000 to 9,000 deaths due to cancer from radiation, but notes that theimpact on people’s lives was less significant than it was originally thought to be. However, the79 M Danilova, ‘Chernobyl to get New, Steel Sarcophagus’, Associated Press, 17 September 2007.80 Interview with the Civil Defence Institute, May 2007. The Civil Defence Institute works on protecting thepopulation in every aspect of emergency situations generally, although the bulk of their work relates to theaftermath of Chornobyl.81 Ibid.82 Interview with Volodymyr Usachenko, see note 54, and interview with Oleg Listopad, July 2007.83 Greenpeace, The Chernobyl Catastrophe, p.10, see note 2.For Internal Use Only. Is Post-Chornobyl Ukraine Ready for Access to Environmental Information?ARTICLE 19, London, 2007+
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FOR INTERNAL USE ONLY - Article 19

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