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Publicatie Laka-bibliotheek:
State Responsibility in Environmental Law. "Chernobyl - A Case Study in Nuclear Law" (1994)

Auteur	Kristin L. Peterson
Datum	december 1994
Classificatie	6.01.0.30/17 (AANSPRAKELIJKHEID/VERZEKERINGEN/WETGEVING)
Voorkant

Introduction

''The odds of a meltdown are one in 10,000 years" (1)

On April 26, 1986, residents next to the Chernobyl Atomic Power Station had 
the odds in their favour and witnessed an event that was catastrophic to the 
environment. (2) In the control room, the engineers reduced power to below 25% 
while conducting a test on the emergency system. Reducing the power to such a 
degree resulted in an explosion and a meltdown of reactor #4. The explosion 
produced a fire that burned for twelve days and released highly dangerous 
radioactive chemicals, such as, iodine and caesium.

Initially, the Soviet Union denied the accusations that a nuclear accident had 
occurred. (3) Six hours later they admitted the accident but gave no details on the 
extent of the damage. (4) This silence caused outrage throughout the international 
community and also raised questions on state responsibility in nuclear accidents. 
During the time of the accident, The Secretary of State of the United States, 
George Shultz, expressed the view that international law requires States to promptly 
inform other States when incidents with transboundary pollution occur. (5)

The health impact of Chernobyl still remains unclear; the effects of exposure to 
radiation may not manifest themselves for years. The town of Pripat, a surrounding 
town, felt the strongest effects of the explosion. The town was in fact too 
radioactive to live for several weeks after the explosion. Water supplies and 
agriculture were severely infected with radiation. It has been predicted by the 
United Nations nuclear agency that related cancer deaths could reach 24,000 
within the next 70 years. (6) Not only was the Soviet Union damaged from the
nuclear explosion, but also neighbouring countries (7).

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