CHERNOBYL disaster
Why are the consequences still observed? andWhy is the international assistance still critical?

Belarus Foreign Ministry www.mfa.gov.byApril 2009

QUICKLY and BRIEFLYнеобходимо?
A middle‐income country, Belarus allocates around $1 million daily to help overcome the consequencesof the Chernobyl disaster. Over the last two decades, with assistance of the international community,
Belarus has managed to settle the most pressing issues of emergency help to those who suffered fromthe accident. However, there are still a number of factors complicating a comprehensive conversion of
the affected regions to a normal life and encouraging the continuation of international cooperation in
overcoming the disaster’s heritage.

Damage caused by the Chernobyl disaster is estimated atsome $235 billion. However, the overall amount of moneythat Belarus and the international community invested into
the recovery amounts to just 8 per cent of the total damage.

Safe environment in the affected regions requires much time
to take hold. The eco‐system there will turn healthy after thesoil gets rid of radio nuclides. They have different periods ofhalf‐decay. Besides, to produce safe food in the affected
territories, agricultural lands and industrial manufactures
should start operating again. That requires time, too.

Recovery and sustainable growth of the affected regions ‐ akey aim for now and the near future – needs large
investments. This is a long‐term process. It bears on not justsuccessful economy but peoples’ socialization andpsychological stability.

Children’s recuperation abroad now fully depends on thewillingness of the hosting countries to sign a relevant
agreement with Belarus. The major purpose of thatagreement is to ensure that the Belarusian children are safe
and their rights are fully observed while going abroad forrecuperation.

 Knowledge and experience, gained over several years ofscientific activities in overcoming the consequences of theChernobyl catastrophe, are of great value as they may help
the international community to define actions needed toaddress emergency situations in different parts of the world.

Interestingthat the United Nations proclaimed the periodof 2006 to 2016 a Decade of Recovery andSustainable Development of the affectedregions.
There is an Action Plan for Chernobyl recovery
to guide the UN activities in this area under
the coordination of the United Nations
Development Programme.

'Our goal is to do what we can to ensure thatby the end of the third decade after theChernobyl incident, life in the affected regions
returns to normal, communities take controlof their fates, and the area at last overcomes
the stigma associated with the disaster’.
Kemal Dervis, UNDP Administrator

Read more on the following pages about the consequences of the Chernobyl accident and the international
cooperation in overcoming them.2

Located in Ukraine, the Chernobyl atomic station
exploded on 26 April 1986. This accident was theworld‐largest man‐made disaster ever.
The Chernobyl accident had a strong cross‐bordereffect on the eco‐system as the devastation of theradioactive fallout hit the far remote areas inEastern Europe and former Soviet Union.
International assistance in overcoming theChernobyl heritage is critical for successful recovery
and sustainable development of the affectedregions.
Extensive knowledge and experience gained overthe last two decades of scientific research may help
address emergencies in other parts of the world.

DamageMedical effects of the disaster saw a dramatic
growth of cancer, with thyroid cancer getting thebulk of all cancer cases. Among children, thyroid
cancer incidence went 40 times up since theexplosion, with 2.5 to 7 times up among adults.
Local population also went though complex socialand physiologic effects as due to residencechange and deterioration of healthy conditions
many inhabitants were set to unwillingly change
their life style and adapt to new realities.

Emergency measures
Long‐term and comprehensive recovery of theaffected areas in light of severe environmental
and economic damage requires a string of time‐and money‐consuming efforts.

As a result of the Chernobyl disaster, almost afourth part of Belarus was contaminated (some23 per cent of the territory). For comparison,radioactive fallout in Russia amounted to 1.5 percent and in Ukraine to 7 per cent of the country’sterritory.
There is no single version on what exactly triggered theexplosion. However, wrongdoing by the stations’ staff
and failure to follow safety regulations together with thereactor’s defects are most often tipped as the key cause.

Chernobyl tragedy dramatically affected people’slife, economy, science and culture of Belarus as it
both suffered from the radioactive devastationand lost historic and cultural values of theBelarusian Palesse, a distinctive natural area in
the South of the country.

Rehabilitation of affected areas is still ongoing.
Since 1986, Belarus has spent some $18 billion on
this purpose. Annually, public spending of Belarus
on rehabilitation totals around 5 per cent of theGDP.

Economic damage of the Chernobyl accident isestimated at $235 billion for 30 years on after theexplosion, making up 32 national budgets as of1985.

Belarus, with international support, has managed
to create favourable conditions needed for along‐term recovery of the affected territories.
These are:Chernobyl disaster vastly damaged theagricultural sector of the Belarusian economy,
which is worth over $700 million annually. Due toradioactive fallout, Belarus lost one fifth of all
agricultural lands.
It also led to contamination of around a quarterof the Belarusian forests, 132 deposits of mineral
resources and nearly 350 industrial enterprises.
Human damage of the accident was 2 million
people who suffered from its consequences, withover 1.3 million people, including almost half amillion of children and adolescents, still living in
the contaminated areas.
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Well‐developed legislation regulating all
aspects of the recovery work in Belarus.
Larger access to health care for around 1.6
million people to date.
Completed resettlement of people from themost contaminated areas: nearly 137.7
thousand people left their homes there.
Social protection system embracing all
categories of the population.
Radiation control and monitoring system of
the environment nationwide together withsafety measures in agriculture and woodindustry that help produce safe food.
Training and retraining programmes
encouraging larger employment, and3

awareness‐raising campaign on radiation
security.

International cooperation

and unanimously adopts resolutions initiated byBelarus containing relevant recommendations for
the UN Member States and UN specialized
agencies.

Chernobyl tragedy gave impetus to uniqueinternational cooperation that sees participationof not just governments and internationalorganizations but scientists, physicians andordinary people – all those seeking to help people
suffering from the accident.

On the initiative of Belarus, the UN General
Assembly proclaimed a Decade of Recovery andSustainable Development of the affected
territories to 2016. A UN Action Plan is now inplace to coordinate UN activities in overcoming
the Chernobyl’s consequences.

International cooperation in overcoming thedisaster’s consequences is crucial as theexperience of joint work may be used in othercountries facing devastation of natural or man‐made disasters, wars, conflicts, emergency
situations and other crises.
Chernobyl disaster caused a dramatic increase of thyroidcancer. Thyroid is vulnerable for radioactive iodine, andtherefore most exposed to thyroid cancer were children
and adolescents.

2003 saw the creation of the Chernobyl Forum toaccumulate existing and promote further
knowledge on all aspects of the Chernobyl
heritage. Two years into operation, the Chernobyl
Forum consisted of the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA), World Health Organization(WHO), United Nations Development Programme(UNDP) and other organizations.
Within the Chernobyl Forum, there were anumber of working groups with nearly 100
experts from Belarus, Russia, Ukraine andinternational organizations.
The Forum’s findings on medical, environmental,social and economic aspects of the Chernobyl
heritage are central to both the Government’sand international organizations’ approach
towards addressing the consequences of thetragedy.
Much work on accumulation of experience andelaboration of recommendations on the ways ofovercoming the consequences of the Chernobyl
disaster is performed within the United Nations
family, in particular the UN Scientific Committee
on the Effects of Atomic Radiation and the UN
Inter‐Agency Task Force on Chernobyl.
Belarus invests many efforts to keep up theworld’s attention to the need of continued workon mitigating the Chernobyl tragedy. To mobilize
international resources and efforts in this regard,
the United Nations General Assembly regularly
Belarus Foreign Ministry www.mfa.gov.byInternational assistanceInternational aid to Belarus is key to effectively
mitigate the consequences of Chernobyl andrehabilitate affected areas.
The UN system gives Belarus a major part of theinternational help. Since the radioactive
explosion, the UN system has spent over $50
million to help reduce the effects of Chernobyl.
Apart from that, around $50 million come toBelarus annually as assistance from charity
organizations and individuals.
However, these resources are not enough tocomplete the rehabilitation and ensuresustainable development of the affected
territories. All foreign aid coupled with Belarus’
own inputs (about $18 billion) make up just 8 percent of the total damage.

Children’s recuperation
Belarus has opportunities to provide
rehabilitation services for children domestically.
Rehabilitation locally is increasing year by year.

4In Belarus, there are 14 centres of children’srecuperation that work throughout the year, withmore than 120,000 kids rehabilitated thereannually.
Despite oncologic nature, thyroid cancer is easy totreat. And if detected early, a patient’s life in 99 percent of cases is safe.

Yet Belarus supports the several‐years practice ofchildren’s recuperation abroad. Most often, theBelarusian children visit for recuperation Italy,Germany, Ireland, Spain, US and Canada.
Undoubtedly, recuperation abroad positively
influences children’s health and their
psychological conditions. However, rehabilitation
in foreign countries has an important component,
which is to ensure that, while abroad, they aresafe, and their rights are fully observed.
Therefore, visits for rehabilitation are now
authorized only to countries that have a special
intergovernmental agreement with Belarus. It
sets out guarantees and rights of the Belarusianchildren and the list of measures that thegovernmental agencies of a hosting country needto take to protect the Belarusian kids inemergency situations.
For now, Belarus has such agreements with Italy,
Ireland and Germany. Negotiations are ongoingto sign the agreement with another 20 countries,
including the US and Canada.

Priorities of cooperation
A major goal of Belarus at this and later stages isto recover and rehabilitate the affected areas in asustainable fashion. Belarus believes thepriorities of international involvement should, ina way, fit the bill:
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Development of industrial and agriculturalproduction. Creation of woodworking
companies, output and processing capacities
for the agricultural produce.
Inward investment and SMEs. Creation ofnew jobs (various workshops, crafts stores,etc.). Development of infrastructure: shops,
sports facilities, etc.
Creation of green zones. Environment‐friendly
and clean zones, pools, respite areas, children
playgrounds.
Use of environment‐friendly fuel. Morealternative sources of energy andtechnologies due to be employed andBelarus Foreign Ministry www.mfa.gov.by

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commissioned to obtain such alternative typesof energy as biogas, biodiesel and bioethanol.
Encouraging scientific research in Polessky
Radiation‐and‐Ecology Reserve which is aunique test area for researches in radiobiology
and radioecology.
Raising awareness of what radiation is andhow to face up to it and live safely. Mitigating
the psychological vulnerability in thepopulation.
Promoting healthy way of life in children andyoung people. Creation of health promotion
schools for doing physical culture and sports.
Publishing instructional literature for children
and young people how to make their lives
safer in the affected areas.
Reinstating the cultural heritage in theaffected areas, safeguarding natural andcultural memorials, rare and endangered
species of flora and fauna. Development ofeco‐ and agrotourism.
Enhancing health care. Prevention ofdiseases, targeted medical assistance, re‐equipment of medical centres with modern
early diagnosis and therapy facilities forthyroid cancer and other diseases, early
diagnosis of oncological and non‐oncologicaldiseases.

Facts and Figures, 2008
The Belarus authorities have commissioned:
 130 residential apartments
 31.7 km. of water pipelines
 2 deironing stations
 5 health care facilities
 4 educational facilities.
709 residential buildings were gasified, 21.1 km gas
pipelines laid.
The spa and respite therapy was provided for 138.3
thousand people, including 128.7 thousandchildren.
The spa and respite outreach for children was over
65 per cent which is more than during the past tenyears.
Belarus spent over 85 billion Belarusian rubles onfree meals for school children in the affected areas.
352 households and 18 industrial buildings wereburied in the rehabilitated communities, 297
households and 76 industrial buildings in theresettlement areas.
Prepared with support of the Chernobyl Department of
the Ministry of Emergencies of the Republic of Belarus.