RE: [cdn-nucl-l] 20 years later, memories of Chernobyl run deep

["Jaro" <jaro-10kbq@sympatico.ca>]

Hey Adam, they published your letter -- see
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Artic
le_Type1&c=Article&cid=1144619553137&call_pageid=970599119419

 Jaro
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^



-----Original Message-----
From: cdn-nucl-l-admin@mailman1.cis.McMaster.CA
[mailto:cdn-nucl-l-admin@mailman1.cis.McMaster.CA]On Behalf Of Adam Mclean
Sent: Saturday, April 08, 2006 1:32 AM
To: Canadian Nuclear Discussion List
Subject: [cdn-nucl-l] 20 years later, memories of Chernobyl run deep


Posted in the Toronto Star on April 7, 2006 and at:
www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type
1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1144318868442
340,000 dead?!  My letter to the editor follows the article below...

Adam

-------------------
<SNIP>


April 8, 2006
Toronto Star, Letter to the Editor

Dear Sir/Madam:

In the letter "20 years later, memories of Chernobyl run deep", the author
states that there is "no hard data" on how many people were affected by
radiation from Chernobyl.  Quite the contrary, there has been an intense
global effort to monitor and quantify health, environmental and
socio-economic impacts as a consequence of the accident.

This effort has been led by the Chernobyl Forum, a group made up of hundreds
of scientists from over 20 countries, composing 8 specialized agencies of
the United Nations, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Development Program
(UNDP), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations
Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), and the United Nations Scientific
Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR).

The article also suggests that 340,000 people were killed as a result of
radiation from the accident.  This figure is completely without credibility
and simply untrue.  Major studies by the Chernobyl Forum and UNSCEAR in 2000
and 2005 (available at www.unscear.org) have concluded that to date fewer
than 50 deaths have been attributable to radiation from the disaster, and
estimate that a total of up to 4,000 people could eventually die prematurely
due to radiation exposure.

Adam McLean
PhD Candidate
University of Toronto

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