Feature story - April 20, 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.
In the cancer ward of a Kiev hospital in the Ukraine, 19-year-old Elena is being treated for her second case of thyroid cancer in just 3 years
Our report involved 52 respected scientists and includes
information never before published in English. It challenges the
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.
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