NEWS AND VIEWS: Conference at United Nations keeps Chornobyl in the spotlight (06/26/05)

NEWS AND VIEWS

Conference at United Nations keeps Chornobyl in the spotlight

by Walter Bodnar

UNITED NATIONS - Although April 26 marked the 19th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster at Chornobyl, this cataclysm has been all but forgotten by the international community. The damaged and unstable nuclear power plant at Chornobyl was in operation for 14 years after the 1986 disaster and closed on December 15, 2000.

An all-day conference, held in a large auditorium at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 28, not only highlighted the lingering effects of the Chornobyl disaster but other ecological and health issues as well.

It took a long time to close this dangerous nuclear power plant because Ukraine needed power desperately. The G-7 nations that pledged money and help with this closing project did not come through on all their promises. The health and safety of the people in Ukraine and the rest of the world - which should have been of primary concern to all of the people in the world - in reality, are almost forgotten. This attests to the short memory, apathy and lack of responsible action of the people from the former Soviet Union and the rest of the world.

The reasons for this irresponsible lack of action were: lack of money, lack of power, lack of information, a cover up of mistakes and blunders that were swept under a rug, to name just a few.

Americans for Human Rights in Ukraine (AHRU) collected signatures on petitions to presidents of the G-7 countries for many years and sent them on anniversaries of the Chornobyl disaster with a plea to immediately close down the Chornobyl nuclear power plant.

The 2005 conference at the United Nations, named "Bridging Policies for Solutions on Millennium Developmental Goals" (MDG), was organized and executed by Dr. Chrystyna Durbak, head of World Information Transfer (WIT), an environmental organization at the U.N. She noted that some of the U.N.-sponsored goals are to: 1) reduce the mortality rate among children under 5 (MDG4); 2) reduce the maternal mortality ratio (MDG5); 3) reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS, malaria and other major diseases (MDG6); and 4) reduce by half the number of people without access to safe drinking water (MDG7).

Dr. Durbak also mentioned that, in order to achieve this, we must overcome fear; that is, overcome fear of change, fear of exposure, fear of uncertain consequences, fear of loss of control. The prevalence of corruption and lack of transparency on the part of governments, industry and civil society activists foster this fear and lead to the breakdown of political will to construct bridges between projected goals and long-term humane actions.

In addition to Dr. Durbak, welcoming and opening remarks were given by Ambassadors Valeriy Kuchinsky of Ukraine and Kenzo Oshima of Japan. Croatia was another main organizer and sponsor of the event. Other member-states of the U.N. that also supported this conference were: the Bahamas, Fiji, Lithuania, Serbia and Montenegro, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Thailand and Uganda.

A very respectable and influential roster of speakers and participants made the conference informative and stimulating. In addition to representatives of U.N. member-states, organizations such as the World Bank, Rotary International, Johns Hopkins University, "60 Minutes," ABC News, Johnson and Johnson, Zagreb Medical School, Pfizer, Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Pan American Health Organization also participated.

The Chornobyl nuclear disaster exemplifies the long-lasting consequences of fear based on decisions by leaders of the former Soviet Union - in this case, Mikhail Gorbachev, who knowingly withheld the facts about the explosion and 10-day fire at nuclear reactor No. 4. By hiding this information, which was critical not only to the people of Prypiat but also to the entire population of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia and much of Europe, it is estimated that 4.9 million individuals were unnecessarily exposed to increased radiation. Long-term ramifications for the people and the environment will continue to affect the health of many future generations.

Was Mr. Gorbachev accused of crimes against humanity for his ill-advised decision to keep the Chornobyl disaster a secret? Absolutely not. In fact, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, was befriended by Western heads of state and ended his presidency only upon the dissolution of the "evil empire" in 1991. He now travels widely, speaks to rapt audiences (including last month at Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.) and gives advice to Americans on how to promote democracy in the world. Perhaps the "unkindest cut of all" is the fact that he also is the founder and president of Green Cross, an organization that purports to promote (of all things) ecology.

The second part of this conference was devoted exclusively to the problem of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the world. Despite serious attempts to check the spread of AIDS by various international organizations created for this purpose, the incidence of new infections is increasing. Among the nations affected by this scourge is Ukraine.

A live teleconference bridge also took place between the Chornobyl conference at the United Nations and a group of activists gathered in Slavutych, Ukraine, which was moderated by David Wright of ABC News. Men and women of Slavutych talked about the serious aftereffects of Chornobyl and the poor economy in Ukraine and asked Americans to invest in the future of Ukraine. Despite the problems they face, they were motivated and enthusiastic about the future.

| Home Page |