30 years later, Chernobyl disaster could trigger more cancer, deaths

Luke Skywalker · Apr 26, 2016

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GOMEL, Belarus*— Three decades after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded and sent a plume of radiation as far away as the United Kingdom, fears remain*that the world's worst nuclear disaster could still trigger*cancer, illness*and more deaths.
The initial accident on April 26, 1986,*killed at least 28*people when an explosion during a routine test destroyed reactor No. 4 at the*plant in Pripyat,*Ukraine, then part of*the former Soviet Union. The reactor*was later entombed in*a sarcophagus of steel and*concrete to contain the radiation,*but it*started leaking. A*new cover for*the reactor is due to be completed in 2017.
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USA TODAY's Kim Hjelmgaard takes us inside of Chernobyl Exclusion Zones for a closer look at the impact of the disaster decades later. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

The total death toll from cancer from the accident is projected to reach 4,000 for people exposed to high doses of radiation, and another 5,000 deaths among those who had less radiation exposure,*according to*the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations and the World Health Organization.
At the same time, those organizations*say there is no evidence of higher rates of death or illness for the 5 million people still living*on contaminated lands in Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
Some doctors,*scientists and health workers*who live and work in the*region insist the death toll*will be far*higher*—*up to 1 million under*a worst-case scenario study published by the*New York Academy of Sciences in 2011. They acknowledge it's*difficult*to separate natural*rates of cancer and illness in the general population from cases that could be*attributed to Chernobyl, but they say the clinical*evidence on the ground is overwhelming.
"The government in Ukraine speaks very openly about the fact that it thinks the problem of Chernobyl is firmly*in the past —*that the majority of deaths have already been accounted for,*and that with each*passing anniversary things will only get better," said*Liudmyla Zakrevska, president of*Children of Chernobyl,*a group based in Kiev, Ukraine,*that raises money to treat*children connected to the accident. "We are constantly trying to show the authorities that in reality this problem is*not going anywhere."
Zakrevska said there are*"thousands upon thousands*of Chernobyl children who have severely*compromised immune systems."

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLThe Chernobyl disaster 30 years later | 01:16USA TODAY's Kim Hjelmgaard takes us inside of Chernobyl Exclusion Zones for a closer look at the impact of the disaster decades later. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLChernobyl: Timeline of a nuclear catastrophe | 00:56On April 26, 1986, an explosion destroyed reactor No. 4 at Chernobyl's nuclear power station in the former Soviet Union. See what happened next. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLInside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone | 02:34USA TODAY's Kim Hjelmgaard takes us inside Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone and explains that what looks rather ordinary on the surface is far from it in reality. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLChernobyl liquidator still trying to rebuild life | 01:18Sergey Krasilnikov is known as a liquidator, when everyone was leaving the area, he was going in to rescue and evacuate people. He says if faced with the same situation, he'd go in again. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLSee the deserted city of Pripyat | 01:28Built in 1970 the city Pripyat housed many of the workers of the Chernobyl nuclear facility. The town is now completely abandoned. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLBabushka endures isolation, contaminated land | 01:15Ganay Zavorotnya is determined not to leave her home. Zavorotnya is living in Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone and is at daily risk for radiation exposure. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLChildren ravaged by Chernobyl disaster still dream | 01:04The children of Chernobyl have had children of their own who experience the effects of radiation exposure. It has not deterred Daryna Bizilya who hopes to be a singer. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLChernobyl's ripple effect, the border towns | 01:11The border town of Belarus may have suffered the worst when nearly 70 percent of the radioactive fallout landed there. KIm Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLDevelopmental abnormalities abound in wildlife after Chernobyl | 00:55Wildlife is returning in Chernobyl's Exclusion Zone decades after the nuclear disaster, but that does not mean it is thriving. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLWhat the science of radiation tells us | 01:24The site of the Chernobyl disaster still has active radiation and precautions are taken for the workers who are building a cover over the No. 4 reactor where the explosion occurred. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

LITTLE REMAINS 30 YEARS AFTER CHERNOBYLChernobyl through the eyes of an artist | 01:36See Chernobyl through the eyes of an artist as Mariya Kobylynska interprets the disaster through her beautiful paintings. Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY

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Not all experts consider the current situation so dire.
"The biggest health danger from Chernobyl is from panic and stress caused by very inaccurate reporting by the news media,"*said Michael*Fox, a radiation biologist at Colorado State University. *"We are constantly exposed to both internal and external sources of radiation with no problem unless it is very high."
Fox said the consensus of "the mainstream scientific community is that Chernobyl was not as bad as we feared."
Yury Bandazhevsky, a scientist from Belarus who specializes in*Chernobyl’s impact on children,*was jailed for his criticism*of the country's*public health policies after the disaster. He said there are no healthy children*in*some*areas of*Ukraine, where he now works, and illness*rates have increased for all age groups.
"I don't like the term 'low dose' (radiation) because it is made up by advocates of nuclear energy,"*Bandazhevsky said.*"If any amount of radiation*gets inside the human body, it decays there, and so the dose is never 'low.'" he said.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, a Washington-based pro-nuclear energy lobby group, said*studies have "found no evidence of increases in solid cancers, decreased fertility or congenital malformations" because of Chernobyl.
Keith Baverstock, a former radiation adviser for the World Health Organization and now with*the University of Eastern Finland, believes Chernobyl will kill between 30,000 and 60,000 people.

A cemetery of radioactive highly contaminated vehicles is seen near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant on Nov. 10, 2000. Some 1,350 Soviet military helicopters, buses, bulldozers, tankers, transporters, fire engines and ambulances were used while fighting against the April 26, 1986, nuclear accident at Chernobyl. All were irradiated during the clean-up operation.*(Photo: Efrem Lukatsky, AP)

Valentin Maslyuk, 59, undergoes his dialysis treatment at home. He was one of the 600,000 'likwitators' who were sent to Chernobyl to clean up after the disaster. Soon after he had high blood pressure, a stroke, diabetes and disabling bone pains that make sleep impossible. Radiation specialists expected nearly 1 million people to develop cancer as a direct result of the accident. In Belarus, next door to Ukraine, almost 400,000 people were forced to leave their homes and become environmental refugees as a result of the contamination left by the explosion. Around 2,000 towns and villages have been abandoned and become a radioactive desert, overgrown with poisoned vegetation and fenced off by barbed wire. Twenty years after the disaster, 99% of the land in Belarus was contaminated; 25% of Belarusan farmland was a nuclear wasteland. Thyroid cancer has increased by 2,400%. Congenital birth defects have increased by 250% and there was a 1,000% increase in suicides in the contaminated areas.*(Photo: Tom Stoddart, Getty Images)

Rosa Tsaryevna, 60, recovers from surgery to her thyroid at the oncology clinic on April 6, 2016, in Gomel, Belarus. While the link between radiation contamination from Chernobyl and many health conditions in the region remains controversial, scientists agree that a dramatic rise in thyroid cancer cases since 1986 is due largely to exposure toradioactive iodine inpeopleyounger than 18 at the time. Radioactive iodine was among the cocktail of radioactive isotopes the Chernobyl blast spewed into the atmosphere. However, the head of the Gomel clinic, Vladimir Tatchykhin, said thyroid cancer rates in the Gomel region are continuing to rise even though most of the afflicted under-18 generation has already undergone treatment. Gomel, the biggest city in southeastern Belarus, lies in a zone still contaminated with low levels of radioactive fallout and lies directly between two exclusion zones where authorities deem radiation levels too hazardous for people to return. Tatchykhin said he has also observed a steady increase in other types of cancer, including cancer to the tongue, larynx, breast, skin, prostate, colon and rectum. Rosa said she also underwent surgery for breast cancer several years ago.*(Photo: Sean Gallup, Getty Images)

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"There are doctors and scientists in*Ukraine*who don't think we have the whole story and it*needs to be investigated, but it hasn't,"*said Baverstock, whose research focuses on how radiation impacts human health.*"It could be that we need to change the way we think about biology to understand this effect."
Ukraine's health ministry said*contaminated parts of the country*outside the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone*— a restricted 20-mile radius from the power plant*— show*lower*levels of harmful radioactive elements, such as cesium-137 and strontium-90.
Data provided to USA TODAY by*the health ministry also*said*more than 2*million people continue to receive ongoing medical observation,*treatment or support*because of the accident 30 years ago. Of these, 453,391 are*children.
In Belarus, where 70% of the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl landed, little information is*available and it*is a criminal offense to criticize the government. More than a dozen people*USA TODAY interviewed*who do*not work for the government*said*they know someone who is ill from Chernobyl, and that authorities downplay*or ignore*the ongoing impact. The Belarus*health ministry did not reply to repeated*requests for public health data.
In Russia, where much information about Chernobyl*remains classified,*the health ministry said more than 900,000 people undergo annual medical examinations associated with the nuclear accident, including 240,000 children. The ministry said the*public's health related to Chernobyl is "not getting worse."
Nadiya Gudz, a doctor at Ukraine's largest Chernobyl-related*medical clinic*outside Kiev, said the accident's second generation*— the children of those who were youngsters in 1986*— now suffer the most.*She said they*have digestive disorders, birth defects, genetic abnormalities, respiratory problems, cancer and other conditions.
Daria Rudnick, 20, of Kiev worries about her older sister*who was born in 1986 and has a cancerous tumor pressing*on her optic nerve. She said*their*mother died of cancer linked to Chernobyl.
"Right now I am not that interested in what caused all this, I just need my sister to get better," Rudnik said.
You can follow USA TODAY's Kim Hjelmgaard on Twitter —*@khjelmgaard

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30 years later, Chernobyl disaster could trigger more cancer, deaths

Luke Skywalker

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