Bellona nuclear digest. July 2024
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
News
Publish date: September 23, 2008
News
More than 20 years following the devastating explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986, a spike in thyroid disease is being noted in a number of regions in Russia.
According to Channel One’s “Health,” patients examined in the Tula and Orlov Regions, thyroid cancer has been observed 20 to 70 times above normal levels, the programme quoted Professor Vladimir Parshin as saying.
“We have already seen 36,000 patients in the Tula Region and 32,000 in the Orlov region,” the programme quoted Parshin as saying. Doctors are suggesting that anyone between the ages of 20 and 40 who lived in the Bryansk, Kaluga, Orlov nad Tula regions in 1986 to seek medical examinations.
The programme suggested that those who were between the ages of zero and 18 in 1986 should seek ultrasound examinations of their thyroid glands at local clinic, even if they feel healthy.
Channel One is also conducting a survey called “Echo of Chernobyl,” which purports to reveal how well informed viewers are about the Chernobyl disaster and its results, and whether there is appropriate medical care available where they live.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
Transport on the Northern Sea Route is not sustainable, and Kirkenes must not become a potential hub for transport along the Siberian coast. Bellona believes this is an important message Norway should deliver in connection with the Prime Minister's visit to China. In an open letter to Jonas Gahr Støre, Bellona asks the Prime Minister to make it clear that the Chinese must stop shipping traffic through the Northeast Passage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, with the agency’s director-general warning that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station remains “precarious and very fragile.”
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.