1990
Collaboration between Western scientists and experts from Belarus,
Ukraine and Russia begins. A delegation of German scientists visits the
Chernobyl nuclear power station and the affected regions.
April: According to Yuri Shtcherbak, vice-chairman of the Supreme
Soviet Commission on Environment & Nuclear Energy said some US320 billion
will be needed to handle the consequences of Chernobyl in the next 10 years.
14 April: A serious case of radiophobia: In a dutch village
a woman was found who lived wrapped in large amounts of plastics in a plastic
tent inside the living-room since the accident. The woman lived in her
parents house and had not leave the house since April 1986
26 April: a marathon broadcast of 24 hours to raise awareness
and money for Chernobyl victims. On soviet national televison Telethon
Chernobyl on Channel 3 collects about US$100 million.
19 August: IAEA claims the sarcophagus is due to high temperatures
and radiation no longer reliable. A new catastrophe cannot be ruled out
September. Computer data stolen in Minsk and destroyed about
health situation and radiation levels from over 670,000 people living in
the eastern part of Belarus. Also contamination details from 20,000 settlements
were on the disks.
21 September. The IAEA and the Governments of the Soviet Union,
the Belarussian and Ukrainian SSR sign a framework agreement on the international
consequences of the accident. “The Chernobyl area affords” according to
the IAEA press release, “unique possibilities for carrying out scientific
research under post-accident conditions, including some areas where radiation
levels have subsides but are still above normal background levels.”