DATE=4/9/96
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-195517
TITLE=CHERNOBYL: 10 YEARS AFTER (L-ONLY)
BYLINE=KATE GOLDBERG
DATELINE=NEW YORK
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 

(VOICED BY BRECK ARDERY)

INTRO:  ALMOST TEN YEARS AGO, ON APRIL 26, 1986, A NUCLEAR 
REACTOR EXPLODED IN CHERNOBYL, NORTHERN UKRAINE. AT A 
COMMEMORATIVE CONFERENCE IN NEW YORK TODAY (TUESDAY), EXPERTS SAY
THE DEATH TOLL FROM THE EXPLOSION IS STILL RISING.  V-O-A'S KATE 
GOLDBERG REPORTS.

TEXT:   WHEN THE REACTOR AT THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT 
EXPLODED,  HUNDREDS OF TIMES MORE RADIATION WAS PRODUCED THAN AT 
THE ATOMIC BOMBINGS OF HIROSHIMA AND NAGASAKI, JAPAN, IN 1945.  
IN THE IMMEDIATE AFTERMATH OF THE EXPLOSION, 31 PEOPLE DIED, 187 
PEOPLE FELL ILL FROM ACUTE RADIATION SICKNESS, AND CROPS WERE 
CONTAMINATED IN PLACES AS FAR AWAY AS JAPAN.

SOME RECENT REPORTS HAVE SAID THE CONSEQUENCES OF CHERNOBYL HAVE 
BEEN EXAGGERATED. BUT PARTICIPANTS AT THE COMMEMORATIVE 
CONFERENCE AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY ARGUED THAT THE EFFECTS OF 
RADIATION ARE DELAYED, AND SAID THE DEATH TOLL IS STILL RISING. 
PROFESSOR DAVID MARPLES FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA, CANADA, 
HAS BEEN STUDYING THE IMPACT IN BELARUS OF THE CHERNOBYL 
DISASTER, ESPECIALLY THE INCREASE OF THYROID CANCER.

                    /// MARPLES ACTUALITY ///

         THE MOST SIGNIFICANT AND WORRISOME MEDICAL IMPACT FROM 
         CHERNOBYL IS THE MARKED RISE OF THYROID CANCERS AMONG 
         CHILDREN IN THE CONTAMINATED REGIONS. IN THE 
         POST-ACCIDENT YEARS, 1986 TO 1990, IT HAD RISEN BY SEVEN
         TIMES. IN 1990 THE FIRST MAJOR RISE OCCURRED, AND BY THE
         END OF 1990,  84 THOUSAND 200 CHILDREN WITH GOITER 
         (ENLARGED THYROID GLAND) AT THE FIRST STAGE HAD BEEN 
         OBSERVED IN BELARUS, AND 63 THOUSAND IN THE SECOND 
         STAGE. AND ONCE AGAIN THE NUMBER OF CASES WAS HIGHEST IN
         THE CONTAMINATED ZONES.

                      /// END ACTUALITY ///

MEDICAL EXPERTS BELIEVE CHILDREN ARE TWENTY TIMES MORE 
SUSCEPTIBLE THAN ADULTS TO RADIATION. IN ADDITION TO THYROID 
GLAND CANCER, A NEW MEDICAL SYNDROME HAS BEEN  LINKED TO HIGH 
LEVELS OF RADIATION. ITS SYMPTOMS INCLUDE FATIGUE, APATHY, AND A 
WEAKENED IMMUNE SYSTEM. YURI SHCHERBAK, AMBASSADOR OF UKRAINE, 
BELIEVES CHILDREN WILL CONTINUE TO FEEL THE EFFECTS OF THE 
CHERNOBYL DISASTER FOR DECADES TO COME.

                   /// SHCHERBAK ACTUALITY ///

         MANKIND HAS YET TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THE DRAMATIC 
         CONSEQUENCES OF THE ACCIDENT, AND THE WARNING IT BRINGS.
         CHERNOBYL MUST TEACH THE NATIONS OF THE WORLD A DREADFUL
         LESSON OF PREPAREDNESS IF WE ARE TO RELY ON 
         SUPER-POWERFUL AND HYPER-DANGEROUS NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY. 
         WHEN I CAME TO THE RADIOACTIVE ZONE SHORTLY AFTER THE 
         ACCIDENT I WAS LITERALLY STRICKEN BY HORROR WHEN I 
         REALIZED THAT THE DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY HAD REACHED 
         THE STAGE WHEN MANKIND COULD BE DESTROYED BY THE FORCES 
         IT HAD CREATED ITSELF.

                      /// END ACTUALITY ///

THE REACTOR THAT EXPLODED IN CHERNOBYL WAS AN ADAPTATION OF A 
MILITARY MODEL THAT DID NOT CONFORM TO INTERNATIONAL SAFETY 
STANDARDS. TODAY, 10 YEARS AFTER THE CHERNOBYL EXPLOSION, THE 
SAME REACTORS ARE STILL IN USE IN UKRAINE, RUSSIA, AND LITHUANIA.
ACCORDING TO THE ORGANIZATION GREENPEACE-UKRAINE, AN ESTIMATED 32
THOUSAND PEOPLE HAVE NOW DIED FROM DISEASES LINKED TO RADIATION 
FROM CHERNOBYL. (SIGNED)

NEB/NY/KG/LSF/PT



09-Apr-96 7:13 PM EDT (2313 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.