Medical Consequences of a Nuclear Disaster

Abstract

The question of the medical consequences of Chernobyl has elicited more discussion and resulted in more controversy than perhaps any other single issue. Concern for health has been the reason for the constant visits of scientists and medical personnel to the contaminated regions; to the hospitals and clinics of Kyiv, Moscow and Minsk; for the involvement of organizations such as the International Red Cross, the World Health Organization, Greenpeace International and other groups. It was the reason behind the International Chernobyl Project, commissioned by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 1990–1, which made a study of villages within the contaminated zone and published the results in the summer of 1991. Since 1986 there have been annual and biannual conferences on the topic of the health consequences of Chernobyl and the likely repercussions to be expected in the future.