COUNTRY STATUS REPORT BELARUS

Chernobyl

Belarus is the former Soviet Republic that is mainly known as the most affected country after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The radioactivity released in Chernobyl came down for 70 percent in Belarus especially in the southeast in the Gomel region. Parts of the south are within the totally evacuated 30 kilometer zone around the plant. At the moment 23 percent (46,430 square kilometers) of Belarussian territory is still contaminated above 1 Curie per square kilometer. In this area 2.2 million people are living under which 800.000 children. The radioactivity is partly down in the soil but still poses a threath to people. It comes into the groundwater, into agricultural weeds and the food-chain and is dispersed into the air by agricultural work.

After Chernobyl 20 percent of the agricultural area was excluded from further production alltough agriculture is 28.3 percent of the country's average annual income. In 1986 28,000 tons of meat exceded contamination norms. But this did not mean that is was destroyed. Only 4 tons were burried. The rest was manufactured to other products like butter (5 tons), exported (15 tons) or stored in cold stores. Direct decontamination work resulted in 73 temporary radwaste storage areas that are not properly equiped and pose a serious threat to the environment. The total damage was in 1989 estimated at 100 billion Roubles, equivalent to 8 times the annual budget of the country.

In 1986 24,700 people were evacuated from contaminated areas and in 1988 an extra 10.601. They lived in areas with a contamination higher than 40 Curie per square kilometer or could expect to receive a radiation dose above 35 Rem in 70 years. In 1989 the government started another evacuation plan that was voluntary for 100,000 people and costed 17 billion Roubles.

The higher radiation doses and the weak situation of agriculture led to different health effects, especially among children. Health effects are: cancer, leukemia, thyroid illness and cancer, immunity illness, etc. Secundary effects are psychological and a lack of food. In 1990 the radiological centre of Belarus registered 1937 thyroid illness patients, but these are only the official registered persons. In general the health effects are difficult to be measured. There are no registers for cancer tumors or causes of death. The total amount of affected people by Chernobyl will therefore never be known exact. But Belarus scientist fear for the future and the long-term effects of low dose radiation.

In the first years after the disaster Belarus was confronted with the negative aspects of the then existing communist system. Because there were officialy no health effects the amount of illnesses were secret. The president of the Belarus Academy of Sciences and the director of the Atomic Energy Institute were dismissed after speaking about the high level of contamination in some areas. In this time the possession of radiation meters was forbidden for private use.

But perestroika and glasnost politics had also its effects in Belarus. Main party in this was the Belarus National Front BNF. In 1989 they speak from genocide to the Belarus people and declares Belarus to a nuclear testing area. In this way Chernobyl became an accusation to the present political system. Demonstrations and strikes were organised. In september 1989 20,000 people demonstrated in the 'Chernobyl march' in Minsk and demand the publication of the evacuation plans and a democratic political system. In 1990 a strike with 43,000 workers was organised in the Gomel region demanding for financial compensation and the recognition as affected region. The BNF further demanded separation from the Soviet Union. The result was the recognition of Belarus as ecological emergency area and the declaration that the 26th of April will be a national day of memory.
 

Nuclear weapons

Belarus was Soviets first country to give up its nuclear weapons and sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The nuclear weapons are send back to Russia for dismantlement.
 

Nuclear power

In 1983 the Soviet Union decided to build two 1,000 MW nuclear power plants near Minsk and was planning for an extra 6,000 MW. The Chernobyl disater ended the old nuclear program. But it does not mean that there are no future plans for nuclear energy. Belarus has still two operating research reactors. A mobile reactor was closed after Chernobyl. Recently it accepted the join the Vienna Convention on nuclear liability. First it refused to do so because of fears that it, as part of the ex-Soviet Union, would assume liability for claims connected with Chernobyl. This was not true. The decision makes it possible to do some safety-upgrading work on the unsafe Litauenian Ignalina reactors by the Swedish ABB company. They would only start with work if the surrounding countries of Litauen would sign the Convention. But ABB will never be liable for future damage if it concerns ABB work done. The European Commission EC and the CIS agreed indemnity for Western companies doing work at CIS reactors under the EC-Tacis program. Otherwise companies would fear claims after an accident.

Belarus is quite dependent on other countries for its energy needs. Only 13 percent of the energy produced in 1990 is from its own recources like gas, oil and coal. 75 Percent of the electricity is produced in Belarus, the rest is imported from the Litauenian reactors Ignalina and the Russian Smolensk reactors. In 1992 a National Program for Power Development was accepted with the goal self-sufficiency in 2010. Nuclear energy is not excluded as option. Belarus choose, in coordination with the IAEA, 15 possible sites for future reactors. But in the country that was most affected by Chernobyl big resistance can be expected against nuclear power.
 
 

This Country Status Report was written by the LAKA Foundation.
August 1995, for the Steps for a nuclear-free world