30 Years After Chernobyl – comprehensive report

TORCH, Ian Fairlea, March 10, 2016 First of all, apologies to the many readers who have written complaining about the lack of new blogs/information on this website.

The explanation is that I’ve been busy for the past 5 months writing a new report on the health effects of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster -TORCH-2016. This is an update of the 2006 TORCH report. (TORCH means The Other Report on Chernobyl.)

The report (120 pages) was commissioned by Global 2000/Friends of the Earth Austria and funded by the Vienna City Council Environmental Ombuds Office.

The report updates the new health evidence which has been published in peer-reviewed journals during the 10 year period 2006-2016.

In a nutshell, the report finds

5 million people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia still live in highly contaminated areas
400 million people in less contaminated areas
37% of Chernobyl’s fallout deposited on western Europe; 42% of western Europe contaminated
40,000 fatal cancers predicted
6,000 thyroid cancer cases to date, 16,000 more expected
increased radiogenic thyroid cancers now seen in Austria
increased radiogenic leukemia, cardiovascular disease, breast cancers confirmed
new evidence of radiogenic birth defects, mental health effects and diabetes
new evidence that children in contaminated areas suffer radiogenic illnesses https://www.global2000.at/sites/global/files/TORCH%20-%20The%20other%20Report%20of%20Chernobyl.pdf