UN SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION CONFIRMS EARLIER I"A ASSESSMENTS OF RADIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT

Press Release
IAEA/1343

UN SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION CONFIRMS EARLIER IAEA ASSESSMENTS OF RADIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF CHERNOBYL ACCIDENT

VIENNA, 13 June (IAEA) -- A new report by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) to the United Nations General Assembly contains an evaluation of the consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl accident which concludes that "there is no evidence of a major public health impact attributable to radiation exposure 14 years after the accident", apart from a high level of (treatable, non-fatal) thyroid cancers in children. According to UNSCEAR, there have been about 1,800 such cases in children exposed so far, and more can be expected. However, with this exception, the report states "there is no scientific evidence of increases in overall cancer incidence or mortality or in non-malignant disorders that could be related to radiation exposure".

The conclusions of the UNSCEAR report are similar to those arrived at by the International Conference "One Decade after Chernobyl: Summing Up the Consequences of the Accident" organized by the IAEA in Vienna in 1996. That Conference concluded, inter alia, that in addition to clinically observed health effects involving hundreds of occupationally exposed individuals, "a highly significant increase in the incidence of thyroid cancer among those persons in the affected areas who were children in 1986 is the only clear evidence to date of a public health impact of radiation exposure as a result of the Chernobyl accident". The Conference also concluded that reports of increases in the incidence of malignancies (other than thyroid cancers) in the general population "are not consistent…and the reported increases could reflect differences in the follow-up of exposed populations and increased ascertainment following the Chernobyl accident and which require further investigation".

UNSCEAR is a Committee of the United Nations General Assembly. It was established in 1955 and is composed of scientists from 21 nations. UNSCEAR has previously published 13 reports on the levels and health effects of radiation. Its estimates of the health effects of radiation provide the basis for the international standards on radiation protection established by the IAEA.

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