The accident at the
Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 was a tragic event
for its victims, and those most affected suffered major
hardship. Some of the people who dealt with the
emergency lost their lives. Although those exposed as
children and the emergency and recovery workers are at
increased risk of radiation-induced effects, the vast
majority of the population need not live in fear of
serious health consequences due to the radiation from
the Chernobyl accident. For the most part, they were
exposed to radiation levels comparable to or a few times
higher than the natural background levels, and future
exposures continue to slowly diminish as the radio
nuclides decay. Lives have been seriously disrupted by
the Chernobyl accident, but from the radiological point
of view, generally positive prospects for the future
health of most individuals should prevail.
UNSCEAR has been involved
from early on in the assessment of radiation exposures
and health effects.
