CHERNOBYL, HIDDEN DEATHS

An interview with Virginio Bettini

reported by Ivan Berni

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The following interview was delivered by Virginio Bettini to the Italian daily "La Repubblica" on his return from the Soviet Union, where he visited the scene of the catastrophe with a delegation of the European Parliament. Bettini is a Green member of the European Parliament, and a member of the Radical Party. In 1978, when he wrote a pamphlet "Against nuclear energy", he was accused of being an irresponsible scaremonger; today he is forced to recognize that his forecasts back then had been naive and optimistic.

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Ivan Berni: Were you able to visit the nuclear plant?

Virginio Bettini: Yes, we went inside the damaged facility. They took us until the wall that shields the area where the explosion occurred. We were allowed to remain in that room one a half minutes only. I was wearing a dosimeter to measure radiations: in 35 second's time, I absorbed a quantity of gamma rays which is the equivalent of 10 X rays. The reactor is covered on the outside by a sarcophagus of cement and lead, one metre thick. Inside there are 120 tons of nuclear combustible which is still reacting. The sarcophagus is not hermetically sealed: infra-red photographs taken from airplanes have shown 1500 square metres of cracks and flaws. The collapse of this shell could cause a huge catastrophe, of even greater proportions compared to 1986.

I.B.: For what reasons?

V.B.: First of all because of the emission of radioactive powder. There would be a cloud of uncontrollable proportions. Secondarily, because of the reactions it could trigger on the combustible. It was previously a common opinion that the material had "cooled down": this is not true. The combustible is still reacting and penetrating in depth, albeit slowly. Compared to 1986, the radioactive mass, a mixture of graphite, burnt bars of uranium, strontium, plutonium, caesium and americium, has sunk nine metres. A massive contamination of water tables would have apocalyptic consequences. The cooling waters used by the plant are the same that feed Lake Pryapat, where Kiev lies. A second sarcophagus would need to be built around the first one, but USSR and Ucraine cannot achieve this alone, as they are practically starving.

I.B.: Your mission aimed at gathering data for an epidemiological research on the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Can you give us a picture of the situation?

V.B.: There is a tragedy inside the tragedy, in this horrible story, and it concerns information. We were faced with two different versions: the official one, that still talks about 34 victims and modest consequences on the health of the populations of the area; and plain truth, which only the members of the Supreme Soviet are informed of: there have been thousands of victims, as many people condemned to a horrible death, and millions of people are contaminated.

I.B.: Are you saying that Gorbachev is not telling the truth about the proportions of the tragedy?

V.B.: It is not just my opinion. The same has been said by a member of the Supreme Soviet, Alla Jaroscinskaya, member of the special committee for Chernobyl. Jaroshinskaya, whom we met, openly speaks of a "tolerated genocide", quoting official documents until yesterday covered by top secret. This is not an accusation coming from of an enemy of Gorbachev: Alla Jaroshinskaya is a member of the Pcus. If this were not enough, there are the data we collected in hospitals. We visited 4 centres in Kiev and Kharlov, another city massively struck by the disaster of Chernobyl. Two of these hospitals are specialized in the treatment of children. The hospital of Kharlov is responsible for health controls on 70.000 "liquidators", about 10 per cent of an army of 700.000 men who decontaminated the territory around the plant and built the sarcophagus from May '86 to August '87. In Kharlov it has been possible, to this moment, to "monitor" only 12.000 "liquidators", all between 18 and 35 years of age. Of these, 229 are alrea

dy dead, 1500 are seriously disabled, 64 per cent suffer from diseases such as premature aging, arteriosclerosis, serious heart and respiratory problems. If we project these figures on the total of people who are working on the decontamination we can formulate a plausible estimate of 7000 victims. As for children, the situation id even worse: in addition to the cases of leukemia, 20 of which reported in the hospital of Kiev alone, there are increasing signs of blocks in growth and of phenomenons of mental regression.

I.B.: According to you, what is the role Europe should play faced to the consequences of this tragedy?

V.B.: First of all, for reasons relating to humanitarian support and development model, Chernobyl is a tragedy that concerns all of us. If anything because the territory of the European Community is strewn with nuclear plants, and no one can rule out a similar accident in France, Germany or Belgium. A massive program must be launched at once for health prevention and epidemiological research. Moreover, European research must concentrate efforts to defuse the ticking nuclear bomb of Chernobyl. Clearly, this will require a lot of money. The Soviets estimate that $400 billion will be necessary to cancel the effects of the disaster.