The Chernobyl disaster - ten years on

Large areas of Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine are contaminated with very high levels of radioactivity from the fallout of the Chernobyl reactor accident. The most affected areas are in the vicinity of Chernobyl, and east of Gomel (in Belarus), where much of the radioactive plume came down. The article describes the contamination with cesium 137 and iodine 131, as well as the immediate countermeasures taken after the accident, and the long-term action for decontamination of the polluted soil. Information is given on the radiation dose received by the population, in particular the thyroid doses, and prognostic data on thyroid cancer incidence. (orig.)