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Surviving Chernobyl

Surviving Chernobyl
HAARETZ.com By Lily Galili 3 August 09
For 1,200 people living in Israel, the concept of a nuclear threat is not an abstract idea. They were there – inside the Chernobyl nuclear reactor – immediately after the April 1986 explosion. They can confirm that while you can’t smell radiation, you can taste it. Even today, after having made a new life in Israel, the metallic taste remains in their mouths, which, in many cases, are toothless.

Their teeth fell out in Chernobyl, while other serious problems began developing during the months they spent trying to “neutralize” the nuclear power plant, although they were unprepared and defenseless. They were called liquidators, a term embracing a variety of professionals – engineers, electricians, physicians and nurses – sent to neutralize the seething nuclear reactor. ……………..
……….what really worries them is not lifespan, but quality of life. They suffer from various ailments – damaged thyroid glands, eaten-away livers, twisted bones – and they are all afraid. Some of them decided not to have children after taking into consideration the genetic implications of what they had undergone.

…………..“I oppose nuclear armament and war with Iran,” Kalantirsky says angrily. “All those who underwent the Chernobyl experience think like me.”

……….Around 19,000 people exposed to radiation in childhood are registered in SPECTR’s database, and another 6,000 have been born to parents from radiation-contaminated areas. “There are problems in this group,” notes Shapiro, “but not exceptional ones.” Today he is mainly worried about the third generation: the children of those exposed to radiation as children. “Although we do not have figures yet, we are still concerned,” he says. “The genetic results appear only in the third generation.”

According to research conducted by SPECTR, the morbidity rate for hereditary diseases will continue to grow. The more disturbing news, Shapiro says, is that radiation-induced cancer will peak 50 years after Chernobyl.

Surviving Chernobyl – Haaretz – Israel News

August 3, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1