The Chernobyl Forum is the name of a group of UN agencies, founded on 3–5 February 2003 at the

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 195 ...

(International Atomic Energy Agency) Headquarters in Vienna, to scientifically assess the health effects and environmental consequences of the

Chernobyl accident The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the No. 4 nuclear reactor, reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, near the city of Pripyat in the north of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Ukrainia ...

and to issue factual, authoritative reports on its environmental and health effects.

Participants

Eight UN organizations are involved in the Chernobyl Forum: * the

(International Atomic Energy Agency) * the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) * the

OCHA The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) is a United Nations (UN) body established in December 1991 by the General Assembly to strengthen the international response to complex emergencies and natural disaster ...

(United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) * the

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...

(United Nations Development Programme) * the UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme) * the

UNSCEAR The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) was set up by resolution of the United Nations General Assembly in 1955. 21 states are designated to provide scientists to serve as members of the committee which ...

(United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) * the WHO (World Health Organization) * the World Bank. The Chernobyl Forum also comprises the governments of Belarus,

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eight ...

and Ukraine.

Publications

The Chernobyl Forum released on 5 September 2005 a comprehensive scientific assessment report on the consequences of the

titled: "Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts".Press release by IAEA, WHO and UND
"Chernobyl: The True Scale of the Accident"
/ref> A revised edition was released in March 2006 and is availabl
here
together with the Forum's report "Recommendations to the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine". The report covers environmental radiation, human health and socio-economic aspects. About 100 recognized experts from many countries, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, have contributed. The report claims to be "the most comprehensive evaluation of the accident’s consequences to date" and to represents "a consensus view of the eight organizations of the UN family according to their competences and of the three affected countries". On the death toll of the accident, the report states that 28 emergency workers died from acute radiation syndrome and 15 patients died from

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck. Canc ...

. It roughly estimates that cancers deaths caused by the

might eventually reach a total of up to 4,000 among the 600,000 cleanup workers or "liquidators" who received the greatest exposures. One paper estimates an additional 5,000 deaths from the Chernobyl accident among the exposed population of around 6 million living in the contaminated areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia However, the paper notes that no significant increased cancer risk apart from thyroid cancer has been scientifically demonstrated to date; this prediction is only an indication of the ''possible'' impact of the accident, and should not be taken at face value. The report quotes 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer resulting from the accident, mainly in children and adolescents at the time of the accident; however the survival rate is almost 99%. Since most emergency workers and people living in contaminated areas received relatively low radiation doses, comparable to natural background levels, no decrease in fertility or increase in congenital malformations have been observed. The report indicates that many people were traumatised by the accident and the rapid relocation that followed; they remain anxious about their health, perceiving themselves as helpless victims rather than survivors, mainly because of the lack of credible information about the effects of the accident. The Chernobyl Forum recommends that relocated people be helped to normalise their lives and better access social services and employment. The report also concluded that a greater risk than the long-term effects of radiation exposure, is the risk to mental health caused by exaggerated fears about the effects of radiation:

" ... The designation of the affected population as “victims” rather than “survivors” has led them to perceive themselves as helpless, weak and lacking control over their future. This, in turn, has led either to over cautious behavior and exaggerated health concerns, or to reckless conduct, such as consumption of mushrooms, berries and game from areas still designated as highly contaminated, overuse of alcohol and tobacco, and unprotected promiscuous sexual activity."International Atomic Energy Agency
What's the situation at Chernobyl?
iaea.org Retrieved 2008-02-14.

References

External links

Chernobyl Forum page on the IAEA website

Chernobyl Forum report "Chernobyl's legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts"
{{Chernobyl disaster Scientific organizations Aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster Energy in Ukraine Health in Ukraine 1986 in the Soviet Union

Participants

Publications

See also

References

External links