Chernobyl: consequences of the catastrophe for people and the environment

Abstract

In the few weeks before I was asked to review this book there was media coverage of two diametrically opposed views regarding the magnitude of health effects associated with the Chernobyl reactor accident. One is expressed in the book under review and the other came from Zbigniew Jaworowski (former chair of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, UNSCEAR).The opposing positions are placed either side of the ‘middle ground’ as expressed by organisations such as International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), UNSCEAR and WHO. In the context of the Chernobyl accident Jaworowski(1) criticises publications, which use a linear-no threshold (LNT) dose response to evaluate cancer risks at very low doses and contrasts predictions of thousands of late cancer deaths with deficits (compared with Russian national statistics) of solid cancers in Russian emergency workers and the populations of most contaminated areas. He claims that the...