DATE=4/25/96 TYPE=CLOSEUP NUMBER=4-09097 TITLE=CHERNOBYL AND THE NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRY BYLINE=FRANCIS RONALDS TELEPHONE=619-3937 DATELINE=WASHINGTON EDITOR=PHIL HAYNES CONTENT= // ACTUALITIES IN AUDIO SERVICES // INTRO: THE CONSEQUENCES OF THE EXPLOSION OF REACTOR NUMBER FOUR AT THE CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR POWER PLANT IN UKRAINE, WHICH OCCURED TEN YEARS AGO FRIDAY (4/26), ARE STILL VERY MUCH WITH US. SOME AGREEMENTS ON TIGHTENING NUCLEAR SECURITY WERE REACHED AT THE MOSCOW SUMMIT MEETING LAST WEEKEND, BUT THERE WAS NO FINAL AGREEMENT ON THE CLOSING OF THE CHERNOBYL POWER PLANT ITSELF, SINCE THE WEST HAS OFFERED JUST THREE-BILLION DOLLARS FOR THE WORK INVOLVED IN SHUTTING IT DOWN, AND UKRAINE WANTS AT LEAST FOUR-BILLION DOLLARS TO INCLUDE CONSTRUCTION OF ALTERNATE SOURCES OF ELECTRICITY. MEANWHILE, OTHER NUCLEAR PLANTS IN THE FORMER SOVIET BLOC CONTINUE TO OPERATE, EVEN AS THE NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRY WORLDWIDE IS IN RAPID DECLINE. WITH BACKGROUND, HERE IS FRANK RONALDS. TEXT: RADIATION FROM THE CHERNOBYL EXPLOSION CONTAMINATED AN AREA OF 25-THOUSAND SQUARE KILOMETERS, REACHING WESTERN EUROPE AND BEYOND. AT A RECENT CONFERENCE ON THE CATASTROPHE AT YALE UNIVERSITY, ANATOLY ZLENKO, UKRAINIAN AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS, DESCRIBED THE RESULTS WITHIN HIS OWN COUNTRY: TAPE: CUT ONE -- ZLENKO "A TOTAL OF THREE AND A HALF MILLION PEOPLE, NEARLY ONE THIRD OF THEM CHILDREN, WERE AFFECTED BY THE DISASTER; MORE THAN 160-THOUSAND PEOPLE WERE RESETTLED. REGRETTABLY, WE DON'T KNOW THE EXACT FIGURE OF THOSE WHO DIED AS A RESULT OF RADIATION AND RELATED CAUSES. WOMEN, EVEN NOW, TEN YEARS LATER, ARE AFRAID TO GIVE BIRTH TO CHILDREN. HERE ARE THE LASTING CONSEQUENCES OF THE SO-CALLED CHERNOBYL SYNDROME." TEXT: [OPT] CANCERS DUE TO THE RADIATION ARE ONLY NOW BEGINNING TO APPEAR. DR. ROBERT PETER GALE, WHO HAS STUDIED THE POSSIBLE HEALTH EFFECTS OF THE DISASTER SINCE 1986, SAYS THERE WILL BE MORE CANCER VICTIMS IN EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE THAN IN THE THREE MOST AFFECTED REPUBLICS OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION: BELORUS, RUSSIA AND UKRAINE: TAPE: [OPT] CUT TWO -- GALE "THE LONG-TERM CONSEQUENCES ARE AN INCREASE IN CANCER, AN INCREASE IN TERATOGENIC OR BIRTH DEFECTS, AND GENETIC ABNORMALITIES WHICH COULD BE CARRIED ON INTO FUTURE GENERATIONS. AND THERE ARE OTHER PROBLEMS, SUCH AS DAMAGE TO THE THYROID GLAND, CATARACTS, AND STERILITY. THE SHOCKING THING IS THAT MORE THAN HALF OF THOSE CANCERS WILL NOT BE IN THE SOVIET UNION. THEY WILL BE IN EUROPE, PREDOMINANTLY IN EASTERN EUROPE. ABOUT A THIRD OF THE CANCERS ARE GOING TO BE IN THE SOVIET UNION AND THE REMAINDER WILL BE SPREAD OUT THROUGHOUT THE WORLD." [END OPT] TEXT: MOSCOW WAS BOUND BY TREATY TO IMMEDIATELY INFORM THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY OF ANY NUCLEAR ACCIDENT. BUT HARVARD PHYSICS PROFESSOR RICHARD WILSON SAYS THE SOVIET GOVERNMENT TRIED TO HIDE THE TRUTH, EVEN FROM ITS OWN PEOPLE: TAPE: CUT THREE -- WILSON "WHEN THEY HAD THE ACCIDENT, THE FIRST THING THAT THEY TRIED TO DO WAS TO KEEP IT, FIRSTLY, SECRET FROM THE REST OF THEN WORLD, AND WHEN THEY FOUND THEY COULDN'T DO THAT, THEY STARTED BY TELLING THE REST OF THE WORLD A FAIR AMOUNT ABOUT THE ACCIDENT, BUT THEY DIDN'T TELL THEIR OWN PEOPLE. THIS TURNED OUT TO BE A DISASTER IN PUBLIC RELATIONS." TEXT: PROFESSOR WILSON SAYS THAT THE "CHERNOBYL SYNDROME" -- THE MISTRUST AND FEAR FELT BY THE PEOPLE OF THE SOVIET UNION DUE TO THE DECEPTION AND THE FEAR OF RADIATION -- HAS PERHAPS CAUSED MORE SICKNESS AND DESPAIR THAN THE CANCER AND OTHER DISEASES TRACED DIRECTLY TO THE EXPLOSION. IN HIS VIEW, THE COVERUP HASTENED THE DISINTEGRATION OF THE U-S-S-R AND PAVED THE WAY FOR SOVIET LEADER MIKHAIL GORBACHEV'S POLICY OF GLASNOST, OR OPENNESS. CHRISTOPHER FLAVIN IS A SPECIALIST ON NUCLEAR ENERGY WITH THE WASHINGTON RESEARCH GROUP, "WORLDWATCH." HE SAYS THAT TECHNOLOGICAL ACHIEVEMENTS HAVE GREATLY REDUCED THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF NUCLEAR POWER, BUT CHERNOBYL WAS A MAJOR FACTOR IN HALTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NUCLEAR ENERGY INDUSTRY WORLDWIDE: TAPE: CUT FOUR -- FLAVIN "THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER WAS A CLEAR TURNING POINT FOR THE NUCLEAR POWER INDUSTRY AROUND THE WORLD. THERE ARE ONLY 34 NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION WORLDWIDE TODAY, COMPARED TO 160 AT THE TIME OF CHERNOBYL. IN SOME SENSE, THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY IS IN FULL MELTDOWN RIGHT NOW. IT HAS REALLY PEAKED, AS A SHARE OF THE WORLD'S ELECTRICITY SUPPLY. AND I THINK IF YOU PROJECT OUT TRENDS INTO THE FUTURE, IT'S PRETTY CLEAR THAT WE ARE GOING TO BE MOVING TO OTHER ENERGY SOURCES." TEXT: THE SAFE ENERGY COMMUNICATION COUNCIL, ANOTHER WASHINGTON-BASED RESEARCH ORGANIZATION, SAYS THAT THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY SHOULD FOCUS ON SAFETY MATTERS AND DROP ITS OTHER AIM OF PROMOTING THE USE OF ATOMIC ENERGY. IN A REPORT PUBLISHED LAST MONTH, THE COUNCIL NOTES THAT THE I-A-E-A HAS REDUCED ITS ESTIMATE OF THE ATOMIC POWER INDUSTRY'S OUPUT FROM FOUR AND A HALF BILLION MEGAWATTS, MADE IN 1972, TO JUST ONE-TWELFTH THAT FIGURE. HOWARD BENOWITZ, PROJECT MANAGER FOR THE REPORT, ALSO POINTS OUT THAT NO ONE HAS FOUND AN EFFECTIVE WAY TO DISPOSE OF NUCLEAR WASTE FROM THE POWER PLANTS. THE SIX-BILLION DOLLARS SPENT ON BUILDING A NUCLEAR WASTE DEPOSITORY IN THE YUCCA MOUNTAINS OF NEVADA, HE SAYS, IS A WASTE OF MONEY: TAPE: CUT FIVE -- BENOWITZ "IN ORDER TO DEPOSIT THAT WASTE AT YUCCA MOUNTAIN, THE RADIOACTIVE WASTE WOULD BE SHIPPED BY TRAIN, BY TRUCK OVER AND THROUGH 43 STATES, CREATING WHAT COULD BE A MOBILE CHERNOBYL, BECAUSE IF ANY OF THESE TRAINS OR TRUCKS GETS INTO AN ACCIDENT, WE WILL HAVE A PROBLEM THAT THIS COUNTRY HAS NEVER SEEN THE LIKES OF." HOST: THE HUMAN TRAGEDY OF CHERNOBYL LIVES ON. BUT ITS CONSEQUENCES HAVE LED NOT ONLY TO ACCELERATING THE DEMISE OF THE SOVIET UNION, BUT ALSO TO THE DEATH OF THE FOND HOPE THAT PEACEFUL USES OF ATOMIC FUEL WOULD SOLVE THE WORLD'S ENERGY NEEDS. (SIGNED) NEB/FR/PCH 26-Apr-96 8:00 AM EDT (1200 UTC) NNNN Source: Voice of America .