[en] Radiation damage to the skin has, apart from the Marshall Islanders' experience, received only limited attention by the medical scientific community. This is understandable as, in nuclear war conditions involving atomic bomb air detonations, depression of bone marrow activity as a result of total or near total body irradiation has been considered to be the primary limiting factor for the survival of affected persons. Under changing world and nuclear environments, however, other scenarios are possible: the terrorist use of nuclear weapons, violent demonstrations against nuclear power plants and ground contamination from stolen sources; in such cases exposures of the general public are more likely. There is a need to analyse all radiation accidents to enhance the knowledge base so that accidentally irradiated patients are accurately diagnosed and optimally treated. In many countries specific expertise is not readily available in the civilian sector for the handling of such situations, particularly where patients may be contaminated. The consequences of radiation accidents represent an important field where civilian and military cooperation could achieve a common humanitarian goal. This paper briefly reviews the therapeutic experience of 15 survivors of the Chernobyl accident who have been treated in Munich since September 1991. (UK)