The Chernobyl Forum is the name of a group of UN agencies, founded on 3–5 February 2003 at the

IAEA The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was established in 1957 ...

(International Atomic Energy Agency) Headquarters in Vienna, to scientifically assess the health effects and environmental consequences of the Chernobyl accident and to issue factual, authoritative reports on its environmental and health effects.

Participants

Eight UN organizations are involved in the Chernobyl Forum: * the

(International Atomic Energy Agency) * the

FAO The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations; . (FAO) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition ...

(Food and Agriculture Organization) * the OCHA (United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) * the

UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human development. The UNDP emphasizes on developing local capacity towar ...

(United Nations Development Programme) * the

UNEP The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

(United Nations Environment Programme) * the UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation) * the

WHO The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and has 6 regional offices and 15 ...

(World Health Organization) * the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

. The Chernobyl Forum also comprises the governments of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

and

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

Publications

The Chernobyl Forum released on 5 September 2005 a comprehensive scientific assessment report on the consequences of the Chernobyl accident titled: "Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts".Press release by IAEA, WHO and UND
"Chernobyl: The True Scale of the Accident"
/ref> A revised edition was released in March 2006 and is availabl
here
together with the Forum's report "Recommendations to the Governments of Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine". The report covers environmental radiation, human health and socio-economic aspects. About 100 recognized experts from many countries, including Belarus, Russia and Ukraine, have contributed. The report claims to be "the most comprehensive evaluation of the accident’s consequences to date" and to represents "a consensus view of the eight organizations of the UN family according to their competences and of the three affected countries". On the death toll of the accident, the report states that 28 emergency workers died from acute radiation syndrome and 15 patients died from

thyroid cancer Thyroid cancer is cancer that develops from the tissues of the thyroid gland. It is a disease in which cells grow abnormally and have the potential to spread to other parts of the body. Symptoms can include swelling or a lump in the neck, ...

. It roughly estimates that cancers deaths caused by the Chernobyl accident might eventually reach a total of up to 4,000 among the 600,000 cleanup workers or "liquidators" who received the greatest exposures. One paper estimates an additional 5,000 deaths from the Chernobyl accident among the exposed population of around 6 million living in the contaminated areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia However, the paper notes that no significant increased cancer risk apart from thyroid cancer has been scientifically demonstrated to date; this prediction is only an indication of the ''possible'' impact of the accident, and should not be taken at face value. The report quotes 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer resulting from the accident, mainly in children and adolescents at the time of the accident; however the survival rate is almost 99%. Since most emergency workers and people living in contaminated areas received relatively low radiation doses, comparable to natural background levels, no decrease in fertility or increase in congenital malformations have been observed. The report indicates that many people were traumatised by the accident and the rapid relocation that followed; they remain anxious about their health, perceiving themselves as helpless victims rather than survivors, mainly because of the lack of credible information about the effects of the accident. The Chernobyl Forum recommends that relocated people be helped to normalise their lives and better access social services and employment. The report also concluded that a greater risk than the long-term effects of radiation exposure, is the risk to mental health caused by exaggerated fears about the effects of radiation:

" ... The designation of the affected population as “victims” rather than “survivors” has led them to perceive themselves as helpless, weak and lacking control over their future. This, in turn, has led either to over cautious behavior and exaggerated health concerns, or to reckless conduct, such as consumption of mushrooms, berries and game from areas still designated as highly contaminated, overuse of alcohol and tobacco, and unprotected promiscuous sexual activity."International Atomic Energy Agency
What's the situation at Chernobyl?
iaea.org Retrieved 2008-02-14.

References

External links

Chernobyl Forum page on the IAEA website

Chernobyl Forum report "Chernobyl's legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts"
{{Authority control Scientific organizations established in 2003 Aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster Energy in Ukraine Health in Ukraine 1986 in the Soviet Union

Participants

Publications

See also

References

External links