The urgent medical, technical and food aid to the victims of

Chernobyl in Byelarus, the Ukraine and Russia

The European Parliament,

A. having regard to its resolution of 17 May 1990,

B. having regard to the new information received by members of

the Parliament's delegation for relations with the

Commonwealth of Independent States on the direct, indirect

and growing consequences of the Chernobyl disaster in

Byelarus, Ukraine and Russia,

C. drawing attention to the utter inadequacy of safety

measures at nuclear plants in the CIS Republics, such as

the absence of advanced warning systems for the civilian

population and of adequately trained and equipped fire

emergency services,

D. alarmed by the evidence of increasing pollution of water by

nuclear waste which is being carried to the Arctic Ocean,

the Baltic and Black Seas, while for other reasons both the

Aral and Caspian Seas are also gravely polluted,

E. whereas because of inadequate medical action, failure to

evacuate the people living in contaminated areas and the

difficulty of obtaining healthy food, the health situation

is becoming worse in the three republics concerned,

F. whereas the indirect consequences of the Chernobyl disaster

are only now becoming apparent, as evidenced by the

multiple increases in cancers, malignant tumours and birth

defects, coupled with evidence of the concealment of the

extent of the contamination of the food chain until August

1991,

G. whereas medical and socio-economic consequences, in terms

of unusable agricultural land, health care and

resettlement, far exceed the resources of the Republics'

budget,

H. whereas a large part of the population has been adversely

affected by the catastrophe, the full extent of which was

kept secret by the authorities until August 1991,

I. whereas in Russia nearly one million people live on

contaminated territory, which can only be decontaminated at

an estimated cost of US$ 5 billion,

J. whereas medical and humanitarian aid to date has been

scattered, episodic and has not corresponded to real needs,

1. Regrets that its earlier abovementioned resolution has not

been fully implemented;

2. Instructs its Committee on the Environment, Public Health

and Consumer Protection to organize a hearing on the

delayed effects of the Chernobyl accident;

3. Insists that any EC-supported policy must take into account

the true record of the nuclear industry in the former

Soviet Union and its implications for the environment as

well as for energy supplies;

4. Calls on the Commission to propose as a matter of urgency,

and at any event before the end of 1992, a comprehensive

long-term programme of assistance to the victims of the

Chernobyl disaster to cover:

(i) monitoring of environmental contamination

(ii) a permanent system of radiation control of food

products and water supplies

(iii) economic and social help for resettlement

(iv) technical and economic assistance for land

decontamination

(v) technical assistance for local production of

essential medical supplies and equipment;

5. Calls for medical assistance to be directed as a matter of

priority to the many rescue workers who took part in the

decontamination work after the accident and to the 150 000

people (including 60 000 children) exposed to high doses of

radiation to the thyroid gland;

6. Believes that the European Space Agency's project

'Collection and distribution of environmental data by

satellite' (CDEDS) would play an active role in detecting

and monitoring the local and global impact of the

radioactive releases from such power plants;

7. Calls on the Commission and the Member Sates to consider

whether twinning between nuclear power and fire services

stations in Member States and in CIS Republics could help

to improve rapidly the safety standards in CIS nuclear

power stations capable of reaching the level of safety of

power stations in Western Europe;

8. Calls for the shutdown of the clearly unsafe nuclear power

plants and those more than 20 years old;

9. Calls for a large-scale epidemiological study to be carried

out jointly by teams of scientists from the European

Community, the three republics concerned and the

International Atomic Energy Agency;

10. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the

Commission, the Council, the governments of the Member

States, the Presidents and Parliaments of the Republics of

Byelarus, Ukraine and Russia and the IAEA.