18 April
2006 - Chernobyl, Ukraine — A new Greenpeace report
has revealed that the full consequences of the
Chernobyl disaster could top a quarter of a million
cancers cases and nearly 100,000 fatal cancers.
Our report involved 52 respected
scientists and includes information never before
published in English. It challenges the UN International
Atomic Energy Agency Chernobyl Forum report, which
predicted 4,000 additional deaths attributable
to the accident as a gross simplification of the
real breadth of human suffering.
The new data, based on Belarus
national cancer statistics, predicts approximately
270,000 cancers and 93,000 fatal cancer cases
caused by Chernobyl. The report also concludes
that on the basis of demographic data, during
the last 15 years, 60,000 people have additionally
died in Russia because of the Chernobyl accident,
and estimates of the total death toll for the
Ukraine and Belarus could reach another 140,000.
The report also looks into the
ongoing health impacts of Chernobyl and concludes
that radiation from the disaster has had a devastating
effect on survivors; damaging immune and endocrine
systems, leading to accelerated ageing, cardiovascular
and blood illnesses, psychological illnesses,
chromosomal aberrations and an increase in foetal
deformations.
The real face of the nuclear
industry
Each one of these statistics
has a face. Many people are paying a price for
the negligence of a dirty and dangerous industry:
This is just a selection of
pictures from a new photography exhibit opening
in 30 cities worldwide. The exhibition features
poignant portraits of individuals and families,
and the stories of their suffering due to Chernobyl
and other nuclear disasters.
These powerful images are a
timely reminder that human lives are more than
just numbers. For each statistic there is a person
paying the ultimate price. Anyone who doubts the
dangers of nuclear power should visit the exhibition
and see for themselves one of the reasons why
we oppose nuclear power. Twenty years on, every
nuclear power plant bears the legacy of the nuclear
industry's victims; and every nuclear power plant
represents the threat of becoming the next Chernobyl.
