Radiation Situation and Health Statistics of the People in the Tula Region of
Russia after the Chernobyl Catastrophe
J. Socorro DELGADO ANDIA
The Federal Assembly - Parliament of the Russian Federation - the State Duma2, Geogievsky per., r. 1426, Moscow 1-3265, Russia
in 1986, 70% of hay and 80% of milk were rejected in
the Bryansk region. Part of population received a
considerable level of additional irradiation. According
to the data of EMERCOM of Russia, as a result of
countermeasures and natural processes, theradiation-hygienic situation on the polluted territories
became better significantly. Recently contents ofradionuclides in food products are below
regulation limits in general. Nearly 100,000 people
are, however, still subject to additional exposure in
doses higher than 1 mSv/year, and in 4 settlements (inthe mentioned regions) the average additional
irradiation dose exceeds 5 mSv/year [7].
Compensations and supports in the affected areasfrom the government were sufficient until 1992.
However, since the end of 1992, the situation got worse
abruptly. Negative consequences of the accident ineconomic development and social sphere are clearlyseen in the Bryansk, the Kaluga, the Orel and the Tularegions. In late years there appear in the affected areas
greater reduction of industrial and agricultural
production, aggravation of demographic situation,
lowering of citizens’ income, and slow adaptation to
the social-economic changes than in the country on thewhole.
According to sociological studies of last years, inspite of the complicated ecological situation in theseareas, people are concerned more about heavy living
conditions, inflation and the critical state of economy
rather than about the environmental and medical
problems due to the Chernobyl accident. Objective
grounds exist for it. Indices of mean wages and total
income are substantially lower there than the
Russian average, and the level of salary is lower
than the price to buy principal food products.
The social consequences of the accident are alsoquite significant. Already in first years there appeared atendency to migration of a part of population from
polluted areas; first of all, intelligentsia (teachers,
physicians, rural specialists) and youth. This tendency
later on became a mass phenomenon. The government
activities related to resettlement promoted this trend.
The migration process led to a significant aggravationof the demographic situation in rural areas. The shareof pension age people in villages of polluted districts
reached 40%, and the number of pre-pension age
among the able-to-work population reached 30-40%. It
should be noted that a new tendency began to appear in

General view of the situation in Russia after the
ChAPS accident
The Chernobyl APS accident was the greatest
technogenic catastrophe. According to the latest data of
the Ministry of Russian Federation for Civil Defence,
Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of
Natural Disasters (EMERCOM of Russia), over 30
million people living in the territory of 19 subjects of
the Russian Federation are undergoing radioactive
pollution [7].
Large-scale consequences of the accident
profoundly affected the policy, economy and social lifeof the country. Several principal factors arehighlighted:! Radiation effects on man and the environment;! Problems of information about the accident and its
consequences - real and imaginary;! Psychological impact on population, conditioned byinformation about the accident, implemented
countermeasures, social privileges, compensations
and so on;! Social-economic impact on the whole country andthe affected territories.
Regretfully, the processes which took place in the
USSR and, later on, in Russia did not promote thesuccessful liquidation of negative effects of thementioned factors. Moreover, during 11 years after theaccident, an increase of negative consequences has
been observed.
As a result of the Chernobyl APS accident, the areaof territories in Russia polluted with 137Cs of higher
than 37 kBq/m2 (1 Ci/km2) amounted to 57,000 km2.
Nearly 3 million people are living there. The territoriesof the Bryansk, the Kaluga, the Tula and the Orelregions suffered most, where nearly 1.8 million people
are living. Almost 300 km2 of territories with levels
over 1,480 kBq/m2 (40 Ci/km2) were put out of
economic use. All inhabitants there were resettled.
Nearly 30,000 km2 of agricultural land, including 1,710
km2 with 555 kBq/m2 (15 Ci/km2) or higher, and nearly
5,900 km2 of forest were covered with radioactive
pollution [6].
Within the affected territories, a series of protective
activities were carried out in different terms after thecatastrophe. In the first years after the accident, theradiation-hygienic situation was urgent. High level
pollution of local agricultural products was observed:

157

situation in the region for the first time on 26.12.1990.
17 districts and Donsk city entered the zone ofradiocontamination (>1 Ci/km2 with 137Cs) as a resultof the Chernobyl APS accident. These are districts ofArsenievsk, Belevsk, Bogoroditsk, Venevsk, Volovsk,
Efremov, Kamensk, Kimovsk, Kireevsk, Kurkinsk,
Novomoskovsk, Odoevsk, Plavsk, Teplo-Ogarevsk,
Uzlovsk, Chernsk and Shchekino. In total: 2,048
settlements with 930 thousand population (including
750.6 thousand adults and 165.6 thousand children). At
present, the number of population constitutes near
916,000 including 159,689 children. Various districtsof the Tula region are situated at 500-600 km from the
Chernobyl APS. The total area of radioactive pollution
constitutes 14.5 thousand km2, i. e. 56% of the region
area (Table 1).
By 01.01.1997, 16 settlements were excluded fromthe category of radiocontaminated as compared with
1991; 3 of them - in the zone of 5-15 Ci/km2, and 11 - inthe zone of 1-5 Ci/km2. The number of residents of theabove mentioned districts decreased for the observed
period by 23,667: 340 of them - in the zone of 5-15
Ci/km2, and 23,324 - in the zone of 1-5 Ci/km2 [1].
It is also noted that, within separate settlements,
there are spots which are not representative for all thearea of the given settlement and show high levels ofpollution areas even from one to several square meters.
As a rule, such increased pollution are observed underdrains from roofs, in places of storage of manure orashes, in low parts of earth etc.
The area of agricultural land in the region, polluted
with radionuclides is 8,950.77 km2, details of which are
as follows.
1) 1-5 Ci/km2 - 7,685.55 km2 of agricultural land
(50.1% of total area) including 6,269.23 km2 ofploughland, 185.87 km2 of hayfield, 1,230.45 km2
of fodder land.
2) 5-15 Ci/km2 - 1,260.82 km2 of agricultural land
(8.2% of total area) including 1,044.92 km2 ofploughland, 32.31 km2 of hayfield, 183.59 km2 of
fodder land.
3) 15-40 Ci/km2 - 4.40 km2 of agricultural land
(0.003% of total area), all of which belong toploughland. The districts with the largest polluted
areas are the next: Plavsk (2.20 km2), Uzlovsk (2.20km2).
The radioactive pollution of forest (State Forest
Fund) in the Tula region amounts to 707.13 km2, over aquarter of the total forest (2,706.14 km2) of the region.
Out of them, 109.31 km2 and 597.82 km2 are situated in
the zones of 1-5 Ci/km2 and 5-15 Ci/km2, respectively.
According to the data of Committee for Liquidationof Radiation Catastrophes Consequences of the Tularegion, the pollution of forests is something higher thanthat of open places and adjacent settlements. This is
attributed to lesser migration of radionuclides due tothe existence of leaf litter in the forest.

early 90’s, and since 1994 it become clear. A stable
increase of population in rural districts in the polluted
regions is observed. In the Bryansk region the
migration-related increase is already over 2 times ashigh as the natural decrease of population. The cause ofthis phenomenon is related with social processes which
are taking place in Russia and CIS countries. Objective
causes exist; people are immigrating from northern andeastern territories of Russia, and from zones of racial
and military conflicts both inside Russia and in the
republics of the former USSR. This considerable
influx of population into the radiocontaminatedterritories can cause new problems including
increase of social tension.
It used to be considered that medical consequencesof the accident are dominating factors. In fact, morethan 100 cases of thyroid cancer were discovered in
Russia among those who had been children andadolescents at the time of the Chernobyl accident. This
index exceeds by tens of times the average. However,
the health state is determined not only by radiation
exposure or the ecological situation, but also by the
totality of social-economic factors and tendencies of
their changes. All these factors determine the observed
multiple health disturbances of the population living on
the polluted territories. Perspectives of liquidation of
the accident consequences are indissolubly
connected with perspectives overcoming thecurrent economic crisis in Russia. An optimistic
forecast says that the medico-demographic after-effectsof the accident can be overcome in 10-15 years on all
polluted territories. A pessimistic forecast says that the
medico-demographic situation in the polluted districts
will get worse far more quickly than in Russia on thewhole.
It is necessary to mention that a substantial loss ofthe health of the people was caused not only as a resultof irradiation, but also due to the absence (in the firststage after the ChAPS accident) of information about
radiation pollution and, later on, its imperfection anddistortion. Consequently, psychological disadaptation
is observed in the overwhelming majority of adults
living on polluted areas. The insufficient and imperfect
information to the public and to medical personnel
about irradiation effects on organism and prophylactic
methods also worsened the harmful consequences of
the ChAPS accident .
These can be seen through the analysis of the healthstate of residents in the Tula region, significant part ofwhich is polluted with radiostrontium and radiocesium
from Chernobyl.

TULA REGIONRadioactive pollution in the Tula region
The Inter-institutional Commission on radiation
control of the environment at the USSR
Goskomgidromet approved the map of radiation
158

Table 1 Radioactive contamination in 17 districts and Donsk city of the Tula region by the Chernobyl accident (01.01.1991) [1].
Number of settlement
Zone of contamination
District

District
total

Total

Arsenievsk

106

106

94

Belevsk177

151

Bogoroditsk

80

Venevsk

Area (1000 km2)

Population (persons)
Zone of contamination
District
total

Total

12

13015

13015

6799

50

101

30200

28999

80

13

67

68558

201

33

-

33

Volovsk

125

125

-

Efremov

205

147

Kamensk

100

Kimovsk

Zone of contamination
District
total

Total

6216

1.099

1.099

0.993

0.106

3730

25269

1.19

1.078

0.295

0.783

68558

5089

63469

0.94

0.94

0.095

0.845

39100

9789

-

9789

1.88

0.063

-

0.063

125

18550

18550

-

18550

1.07

1.07

-

1.07

-

147

81900

75587

-

75587

1.6

0.785

-

0.785

66

-

66

11100

7518

-

7518

0.934

0.327

-

0.327

152

147

-

147

59100

58754

-

58754

1.45

1.23

-

1.23

Kireevsk

176

176

39

137

93619

93619

12624

80995

0.930

0.930

0.072

0.858

Kurkinsk

119

61

-

61

15600

10975

-

10975

0.95

0.482

-

0.482

Novomoskovsk

99

65

-

65

172300169355-169355

0.69

0.357

-

0.357

Odoevsk

135

88

-

88

15500

5185

-

5185

1.18

0.637

-

0.637

Plavsk

108

108

54

54

29418

29418

23553

5865

1.02

1.021

0.624

0.397

T-Ogarevsk

116

116

-

116

15628

15628

-

15628

1.01

1.01

-

1.01

Uzlovsk

103

103

22

81

102400102400

84081

18319

0.617

0.617

0.122

0.495

Chernsk

270

270

21

249

22283

22283

3129

19154

1.62

1.62

0.027

1.593

Shchekino

239

198

18

180

1296001229501484

121466

1.39

1.181

0.23

0.951

Donsk (city)

8

8

-

8

77200

77200

-

77200

0.03

0.03

-

0.03

2519

2048

311

1737

995071

92978314048978929419.6

14.4772.458

12.019Total

Cs-137 level
5-15
1-5
Ci/km2
Ci/km2

159

Cs-137 level
5-15
1-5
Ci/km2
Ci/km2

Cs-137 level
5-15
1-5
Ci/km2
Ci/km2

Novomoskovsk, the Uzlovsk and the Shchekino
districts does not exceed the level of preceding years
and is lower than the admissible levels (122.1 kBq for
adults). The average and the maximum values ofcesium content in the organisms of adults were 0.96 k
Bq and 9.3 kBq, respectively. For children, they were0.74 kBq and 4.4 kBq, respectively.
A group of persons (machine-operators,
cattle-breeders, plant cultivation workers) has been
examined with direct measurements of external
irradiation doses with thermoluminescent dosimetry in
the Plavsk, the Arsenievsk, the Uzlovsk, the Chernsk
districts and Donsk city. The mean external dosage ofthe examined people, including the contribution fromthe natural background (2.2 mSv/year), was 2.32
mSv/year. The maximum was 3.66 mSv/year.
According to calculation of the St. Petersburg
Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene and theRegional Centre of Gossanepidnadzor, the averageannual effective dose of population in 1996 (in 2,041
settlements of the radiocontaminated zone) was nothigher than the admissible level of 1 mSv/year. The
maximum value of the average annual effective dose
(0.71 mSv/year) was registered in Rozhdestveno-1
village of Samozvanovsk rural administration of the
Plavsk district.

In 1996, the pollution of agricultural land decreased
something as compared with preceding years, and it
decreased by more than 100 times as compared with thesituation in 1986 (for ten years). Radiocesium transfer
to agricultural crops decreased notably both for accountof natural decay of radioactivity and due toagrochemical activities (soil liming, introduction ofphosphoric and potash fertilizers). According to thedata of radiation surveillance of food products andanimal fodder on 01.01.1997, the maximum
concentrations of cesium radionuclides in milk, meat,
vegetables and fruits were 38.4, 22.6, 17.0 and 6
Bq/l(kg), respectively. All of them did not exceed
values of TAL-93 (Temporarily Admissible Level) for
milk (370 Bq/l) and for meat, vegetables and fruits (600
Bq/kg). By the spectrometric data, the maximum
concentration of strontium radionuclides in foodproducts was 0.4 Bq/l(kg) against admissible levels
from 37 to 100 Bq/l(kg).
Last year, however, an increase of cesium
radionuclides was registered in 5 out of 26 samples
of mushrooms collected in autumn inneighborhoods of the following settlements:! village Krasnopolskoe of the Kimovsk district,! village Lugovoe of the Kimovsk district,! village Bogoroditsk (Dachi station);! farm Beloozero of the Kimovsk district.
Two-times excess over TAL-93 was observed insamples.
In this connection, further and permanentlaboratory studies are necessary for samples ofmushrooms that are now the principal path of internal
exposure of the population in radiocontaminated areas,
as well as development of recommendations on theirconsumption.

Health statistics of population
Large-scale industrial centers are situated on thepolluted territories of the Tula region, including
chemical ones. These are as follows: “Tula-Chermet”
company,
Kasacharsk
MetallurgicalGroup,“Novomoskovskij Bytkhim” company, Aleksinsk
Chemical Group, “Azot” (Novomoskovsk andShchekino), Efremov Chemical Group, Efremov
Synthetic Rubber Plant, and others. These enterprises
pollute the environment with heavy metals, dioxins,
oxides of nitrogen, sulfur, carbon, aromatichydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds,
cyanides, pesticides, herbicides etc. [3].
It was noted in the State Report “On the State of the
Natural Environment of the Russian Federation” of
1994-1996: “...Moscow and Tula regions arecharacterized by the largest releases of pollutants into
the atmosphere. Their contribution constitutes
respectively 24% and 21% of the total release in central
regions of the Russian Federation”, “...from thesubstances polluting the natural water resources in the
Tula region the followings can be noted: nitrogen andphosphorus compounds, iron (8.5% of total release in
the RF), aromatic hydrocarbon (26% of total release in
the RF)...”. “Azot” company (Novomoskovsk) was
noted as the biggest enterprise polluting the surface
reservoirs; 51.4 mln m3 of polluted waste waters werereleased by it [3].”Dosimetric surveillance of population
The results of radiation surveillance of theenvironment on 01.01.1997 show that the level ofgamma-background has stabilized in last years and iswithin the limits of fluctuations of natural characteristic
in middle latitudes of the Russian Federation (15-25µR/h). Exceptions are some settlements of theArsenievsk, the Uzlovsk, and the Plavsk districts where
the average level of gamma-background is up to 30-40µR/h (the temporarily admissible value: 60 µR/h).
There are also separate local spots in these districts
where the level of gamma-background exceeds 60µR/h, reaching up to 260 µR/h.
Regretfully, the specification of radiation situationin 118 settlements planned in 1996 by the Tula Center
on Hydrometeorology and Monitoring of Environment
was not implemented due to the lack of finance fromthe Federal budget.
According to the data of the State
Sanitarian-Epidemiologic Inspectors, cesium content inorganisms of residents in the Arsenievsk, the160

the age structure is considered emigration of young
people from the contaminated areas. This trend is
influencing indices of various diseases.

All the above mentioned factors undoubtedly havebeen influencing the health state of the population anddemographic indices, together with radiation factors
due to the Chernobyl accident

Neoplasm in adults
Morbidity of neoplasm in adult population is shownin Fig. 2. In addition to the data of two groups (18contaminated areas and 7 clean districts), separate datain 4 districts are plotted. Districts of the Plavsk and the
Uzlovsk are chosen from the most contaminateddistricts, while the Venevsk has the least level ofcontamination within the 18 contaminated areas (Table1). The Novomoskovsk is the district where heavy
industries are located. All data in Fig. 2 have a slight
trend of increase of neoplasm morbidity. The morbidity
in the 7 clean districts is somewhat larger than in the 18
contaminated areas. Within the 4 districts, the data of
the Novomoskovsk tends to show a higher value.

Annual rate per 1000 persons

Birth rate and death rate in the Tula region
In Fig. 1 are shown the dynamics of birth rate (thicklines) and death rate (thin lines) observed during 1985 1995. The data are divided into three groups: the whole
region, 18 contaminated areas (17 districts + Donskcity), and 7 clean districts. In this case, ′clean′ merelymeans that the level of contamination is below 1 Ci/km2
of 137Cs
As can be seen from Fig. 1, there are observed
continuous opposite trends of increase of death rate anddecrease of birth rate in all three groups. Natural
increase of population in the region turned to minus
since 1988 and the minus trend continues to becomelarger with time. At first, this trend can be explained by
the change in the age structure of population. The Tularegion is becoming “older”: nearly 30% of inhabitants
are now over 60. One of the reasons for such change of25

Alldistricts in the Tura region
18 contam inated areas
7 clean districts

20
15

Death rate

10Birth rate
5
0
1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

Fig. 1 Birth rate and death rate in the Tula region (1985-1995): all districts, 18 contaminatedareas and 7 clean districts [5].
Annual rate per 1000 persons

60
18 contam .areas
7 clean dist.
PlavskUzlovsk
Novom oskovsk
Venevsk

50

40

30

20

10
1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

Fig. 2 Morbidity of neoplasm in adults in the Tula region (1988-1996): 18 contaminated areas, 7clean districts and 4 districts (Plavsk, Uzlovsk, Novomoskovsk, Venevsk) [4].
161

Annual rate per 1000 children

600

18 contam. areas
7 clean dist.
PlavskUzlovsk
Novomoskovsk
Venevsk

500
400
300
200
100

0
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Annual rate per 1000 children

Fig. 3 Total morbidity of children in the Tula region (1985-1996): 18 contaminated areas, 7clean districts and 4 districts (Plavsk, Uzlovsk, Novomoskovsk, Venevsk) [5].
20
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

18 contam. areas
7 clean dist.
PlavskUzlovsk
Novomoskovsk
Venevsk

1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Annual rate per 1000 newborns

Fig. 4 Morbidity of anemia in children in the Tula region (1985-1996): 18 contaminatedareas, 7 clean districts and 4 districts (Plavsk, Uzlovsk, Novomoskovsk, Venevsk) [5].

30
25
20

18 contam. areas
7 clean dist.
PlavskUzlovsk
Novomoskovsk
Venevsk

15
10
501988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Fig. 5 Incidence rate on congenital anomaly of newborns in the Tula region (1988-1996): 18
contaminated areas, 7 clean districts and 4 districts (Plavsk, Uzlovsk, Novomoskovsk, Venevsk)[5].
the Novomoskovsk and the Uzlovsk are at the highest
Total morbidity in children
level.
Total morbidity in children is shown in Fig. 3. There
are also seen apparent trends of increase. The averages
Anemia in children
Fig. 4 shows morbidity of anemia in children. The
both in the 18 areas and the 7 districts show a similar
increase in the Uzlovsk after the Chernobyl accident istrend of increase, while the values in 4 districts are at
remarkable as compared with increases in other data.
different levels. As a whole, the statistical data
On the other hand, the level in the Plavsk decreased
indicates that the number of ill children has doubled
after the accident. The difference between the Uzlovsk
over 11 years. The Venevsk keeps the least level, and
162

and the Plavsk is about ten times in 1994-1996
although both districts are heavily contaminated.

Table 2 Death causes of liquidators in the Tularegion (1986-1995) [5].
Cause of death
Cases%
Injury and poisoning
54
43
Disease of respiratory organ
11
8.7
Malignant neoplasm
17
13
Disease of urine system
3
2.4
Disease of blood circulating
35
28
systemDisease of nervous system
10.8
Disease of ingestion system
2
1.6
Disease of endocrine system
1
0.8
Others
3
2.4
Total
127
100

Congenital anomaly in newborns
Incidence of congenital anomaly in newborns isshown in Fog. 5. Remarkable and stable increases areobserved in the Uzlovsk and the Novomoskovsk after
1991. Until 1991, the average in the 18 contaminatedareas was the same level as in the 7 clean districts, thenthe former showed a departure from the latter. It is also
noted that values in the Plavsk and the Venevsk remain
at the stable levels.
All data shown above about the health statistics in
the Tula region are telling us that the health state of thepeople are worsening, including the health of children
and newborns. It is difficult at present to prove thecauses of these deteriorating trends because, as
described before, there are a lot of factors that are
influencing the health state of the people. Besides, thequality of the data for health statistics should be also
reviewed; some statistics among ordinary diseases
show unbelievable difference of morbidity between
districts, sometimes reaching several tens of times.

are the following: diseases of blood circulation organs(38.4%),
functional
encephalopathy (37.7%),
neurocirculatory dystonia with mental disorders(10.2%), neoplasm (2.5%).
Long-term psychological stress caused rise both ofpsychological, somatic diseases and of physicaldisadaptation. This led to the formation of syndromes
such as headache, giddiness, lowering of memory andquickness of wit, depression, obtrusive disorders,phobias, pain in muscles, bones, metallic smack inmouth, and absence of ability to work in the second halfof day.
Structural changes in thyroid appeared after 4-6
years. They are manifested by latent hypothyroidism
without changes in thyroid hormones. The autoimmune
thyroidites are the earliest consequences of Chernobyl
accident.
Out of 2,240 liquidators registered in the Tularegion, 127 persons had died until the end of 1995,
including 19 deaths 1995. Causes of their deaths areshown in Table 2. The percentage of suicides andaccidents connected with abuse of alcohol is high andconstitutes 50% of these deaths.
By the end of 1995, 1,176 liquidators (53 % of thetotal) were recognized as disabled persons. In Fig. 6 are

Liquidators
A large number of specialists from the Tula region
participated in the liquidation of the ChAPS accident,
including groups of volunteers - miners who worked indrifting tunnel under the 4th reactor of the ChAPS.
The total of 2,240 persons are registered asliquidators in the Tula region. The data of external
exposure dose established with 1,826 liquidators
indicates the following distribution of external
exposure (cGy): 732 men (0-5), 224 men (5-10), 170
men (15-20), 702 men (over 20) [1].
According to the data of the State Report “About
the State of Health of Population of the RussianFederation”, morbidity among the liquidators is 2-3
times as high as that in ordinary population [2]. The
most frequent diseases among this category of citizens

Number of disables

500
369

400
319

302

300
200
74

100
1

4

3

2

90

12

0
1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995

Fig. 6 The number of liquidators recognized as the disabled in the Tula region [5]1636. Implementation of educational programs on
problems of environmental and radioecologicalsafety, and introduction of ecological knowledge andskills which promote self-adaptation of different age
groups to stress factors.
7. All above mentioned recommendations will nothave positive results without improvements ofsocial, ecological and economic situations in the
country.

seen the dynamics of their registration. Drastic increaseof the number of the disabled is observed since 1990. It
can be said that all liquidators may soon fall into thecategory of the disabled.

Conclusion
Long-term programs are necessary in order tominimize the medical consequences and to increase theefficiency of medical assistance to those who haveundergone radiation action as a result of the Chernobyl
catastrophe. It is also necessary to evaluate objectively
the state of health of the sufferers, to obtain
scientifically grounded conclusions on effects of “low”
radiation doses on human organism, and to estimate thegenetic consequences for future generations. These
programs must foresee the implementation of various
activities, including:
1. Provision of further monitoring of persons attributed
to the groups of risk, especially:! those whose thyroid was irradiated when they werechildren and adolescents;! children born by mothers whose thyroid wasirradiated in their children-adolescent age;! children whose thyroid was irradiated in pre-natal
period;! pregnant women;! liquidators of 1986-1987 and their children bornafter 1986.
2. Provision of medical-prophylactic institutions on thepolluted territories (of district and regional levels)and clinics of research centers with modern
medico-diagnostic equipment, as well as regularsupply of necessary reagents and medicines tohospitals and clinics.
3. Development of system of rehabilitation medical
activities and sanatorium bases for the Chernobyl
sufferers, especially for children.
4. Supply of food products with radioprotective
properties; fresh vegetables, fruits etc., especially forchildren in the polluted territories.
5. Scientific study of radiation action combined withaction of other carcinogens including chemical
pollutants.

References
1. Reports about countermeasures to mitigate theconsequences of the Chernobyl APS accident in the
territory of the Tula region in 1991, 1992, 1993,
1994, 1995, 1996. Tula region administration.
Committee for mitigation of radiation catastrophe (inRussian).
2. Government report, ″Health status of the populationin the Russian Federation in 1995 and 1996 (inRussian).
3. Government report, ″Current situation of theenvironment in the Russian Federation”, 1994, 1995,
1996 (in Russian).
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Emercom of Russia. Final report. Moscow. 1997ã.

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