PRESS RELEASE

CHERNOBYL: 20 Years Later

April 24, 2006

On April 26, 1986 the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station was struck by an accident recognized by the United Nations to be the largest radiological catastrophe in the history of humankind. The world that for over forty years had faced the insanity of a nuclear military conflict about to unleash showed its sheer unfitness and vulnerability to the force of incontrollable atom.

The Republic of Belarus faced with after-effects of the accident in what may be called a tragedy on a national scale has the Chernobyl problem pushed to the top of its agenda. The radioactive nuclides contaminated 21 per cent of the country's total territory, the impact of radioactive iodine affected nearly every citizen. Following the disaster, the population of Belarus continued to be exposed to chronical external and internal irradiation from the long-term radioactive nuclides in the natural environment. The economy of the affected areas was damaged immensely. The agro-industrial sector and forestry that had made the whole region better off got into a particularly complicated situation. UN experts estimate the damage caused to Belarus at $235 billion.

Overcoming the consequences of the catastrophe and ensuring safety of people have been primary policies of the Belarus government for two decades. Despite difficulties arising from the transition period, the efforts of the Republic of Belarus have been mainly focused on mitigating the after-effects of the disaster.

Many efforts taken over the past years, were successful. Legislation was enacted to lay the basis to almost every necessary area of work. It included Laws of the Republic of Belarus “On social protection of people who suffered from the Chernobyl disaster”, “On the legal status of the areas affected by the radioactive contamination resulting from the Chernobyl disaster”, “On radiation safety of the population”.

The Government of Belarus spent over $17 billion to address the whole range of post-Chernobyl problems, resettlement of 140,000 people included. Nearly $2 billion will be allocated to implement the third national programme for 2006-2010 to mitigate the after-effects. However, it is clear that Belarus does not have enough resources to handle all problems in place.

Unheard amplitude of the tragedy, integrated and unique nature of its consequences put this disaster on a global scale. Obviously, at this point, that is two decades later, not a single country, be it even a super power or a group of countries, would find itself in a position to settle on its own the problems of a manmade catastrophe of this calibre.

Clearly, efficient and coordinated international co-operation should be in place to mitigate the consequences of this kind of disaster.

In a way, Chernobyl resolutions of the UN General Assembly serve as a mirror and, importantly enough, are instrumental to the international co-operation.

In this context you can hardly overestimate the resolution of the UN General Assembly 60^th session "Strengthening of international cooperation and coordination of efforts to study, mitigate and minimize the consequence of the Chernobyl disaster" of November 14, 2005. This resolution reflects dynamism of the international Chernobyl cooperation and a transition to the strategy of integrated rehabilitation of the contaminated areas which consists in the recovery of socio-economic activities and the provision of safe conditions of living.

The fact that 69 UN member states decided to co-author the resolution is a clear evidence that influential members of the international community appreciate the endeavours of the affected countries to address the post-Chernobyl problems and support the appeal to enhance the work of the interested UN agencies and organisations aimed at funding the medical, social, economic and ecological programs.

The UN coordinating mechanisms, Quadrilateral Coordination Committee on International Chernobyl Co-operation and the Ad Hoc Inter-agency Task Force on Chernobyl, enjoy a significant potential in ensuring the implementation of the resolution.

The accident at the Chernobyl NPS was a conspicuous example of how insufficient the knowledge of nuclear and radiation disasters was scientifically. The first years in the wake of the accident saw every decision to safeguard the population taken against the backdrop of a lack of time, without scientific substantiation based on existing theories and practices, since the Chernobyl disaster was unparalleled by any other nuclear incident. Hence, the focus shifted drastically to the coordination of research and the practical implementation of recommendations.

The development of a unified scientific picture of the Chernobyl consequences proved successful at the UN International Scientific Forum on Chernobyl in 2003-2005, the idea of which was conceived during a visit by IAEA Director General, Mohammed El-Baradei, to Belarus in August of 2001. An important objective of the Forum was also to define the most likely trends of the situation and create a scientific base for coordinated international efforts to rehabilitate the affected areas in a medium term.

The outcome of the Forum presented at the final conference in Vienna on 6-7 September 2005 creates a political and expert platform to continue and develop international Chernobyl co-operation. The report of the Forum recognizes the need to go ahead with studying the medical and ecological problems of the catastrophe since the impact on people and environment is long-standing and problems caused by the disaster are far from being completely investigated. Further, an important outcome of the Forum is the recognition of a need to transform to a new strategy of the rehabilitation aimed at the sustainable development of the affected areas.

The international conference “Chernobyl 20 years later. The strategy of rehabilitation and sustainable development of the affected areas” held 19-21 April in Minsk was a high-profile international event. The conference drew conclusions from the 20-year efforts of the international community in overcoming the Chernobyl consequences, recommended the long-term rehabilitation and socioeconomic development of the affected areas, pinpointed the ways of how to enhance the international Chernobyl co-operation.

Belarus is ready to actively co-operate with UN agencies and organisations on Chernobyl issues. We call on donor countries to render all necessary financial assistance in handling complicated issues of today.

However, seeing the Chernobyl issue as part of the economic recovery and sustainable development, Belarus has always paid special attention to the overcoming of long-term medical and ecological after-effects of the disaster. The Republic of Belarus is grateful to donor countries and international organisations that assist in studying and overcoming these after-effects. Particular attention should be paid to diagnosing and detecting an early stage of oncological or cardiac diseases, especially, in children, and this requires modern medical equipment.

The Chernobyl disaster became the largest nuclear accident in the history of humankind to determine the destiny of many countries. The 20^th Anniversary put newer tasks on our agenda that would require the enhancement of our shared efforts in Chernobyl area for the good of those who suffered.