Chernobyl health effects

On 26 April 1986, a few short minutes were not enough to destroy one of the four nuclear reactors at Chernobyl and cause, over the next few weeks, the deaths of 31 people from among the staff, rescuers and firefighters who had dealt with the accident and prevented the spread of the catastrophe to the other three reactors on the site. The experts and the authorities soon recognized that the consequences of this event for the environment and for the surrounding populations would last several decades. Forecast estimates from very diverse sources of the nature and extent of these consequences came thick and fast, particularly in the years 1986 and 1987. Unfortunately, they differed so greatly in both time and space that they lacked all credibility. As the news spread through the public, it could only worsen a social climate which was already seriously upset by the effects of the catastrophe itself. 55 refs