More on the U.N. Chernobyl Report

In a post over at Facts and Fears, Dr. Gilbert Ross takes a closer look at the most profound long-term impact on public health due to the accident at Chernobyl:

The UN report emphasizes a factor that the anti-nuclear and other activist groups always ignore: the greatest threat from the Chernobyl accident, and even more so in the case of Three Mile Island earlier, was the fear factor, the "mental health impact," as the report terms it. Somewhere between 200,000 and 350,000 people were evacuated from the area over the subsequent years, although three out of four of the reactors resumed operation before the end of 1986. The earth and water near the facility were heavily contaminated, but again, the report noted that, for the overwhelming majority, stress and anxiety -- the fear of radiation effects, the loss of homes and livelihoods -- were more serious problems than the actual radiation.

"Fear of radiation is a far greater threat to the affected individuals than radiation itself," UN Assistant Secretary General Kalman Mizsei told a conference on Chernobyl. Those relocated went through "a deeply traumatic experience."

Sounds like something FEMA needs to remember during the relocation of evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. For our original post on the report from earlier this week, click here.

Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy Environment Energy Politics Technology Economics Chernobyl Public Health

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