UN Chornobyl Programme Project Document

• SECTION I – NATIONAL PROGRAMME
• SECTION II - STRATEGY AND OBJECTIVES FOR UNDP SUPPORT

SECTION I – NATIONAL PROGRAMME

A. Analysis of the problem

A (a) The national development problems that are being addressed

The accident at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant that took place on April 26, 1986 became one of the gravest tragedies in the 20^th c. whose aftermath will affect the lives of several generations to come.

It has led to the emission of about 300 mln Ci of radionuclides from the plant’s active zone into the environment and resulted in radioactive contamination of 53.4 thousand sq.m of Ukrainian territory with 2,293 populated centers and over 2.6 mln people, including about one million children. 189 thousand Ha of arable land and 157 thousands Ha of forests have been withdrawn from active use due to high contamination levels. Direct losses alone, including the costs of main production assets and operation funds, as well as infrastructure facilities and natural resources that have been withdrawn from use, amount to approximately $ 10 billion.

The disaster has resulted in about 7% of the population, that is 3.4 mln. people, including 1,3 million children, receiving additional radiation. 700 thousand children residing in the contaminated areas, since then removed and resettled, whose thyroid glands were subjected to iodine radiation, shall be the first medical priority.

Over 1.6 million individuals have been resettled between 1986 and 1999 due to the Chornobyl disaster.

For many years to come coping with the consequences of the Chornobyl disaster will remain among the top priorities in Ukraine’s Government policy, as required by Article 16 of the Constitution of Ukraine. The need to enhance the role and involvement of the international community in protecting people affected by the disaster was once again highlighted in the UN General Secretary’s report to the 54^th Session of the UN General Assembly in November 1999.

The nature and the scope of the disaster have confronted Ukraine with the need to address new and extremely complicated issues. They include, among others, the assessment of the nature and levels of radioactive environmental contamination and its impact upon ecosystems and human health; population removal from the most strongly contaminated areas and providing them with lodging; providing health care for people affected by the disaster; ensuring stable condition of the “Shelter” (remains of the destroyed reactor), maintaining its safety and transforming it into an environmentally safe system; decontaminating contaminated areas and water sources; supplying safe food products to population, etc.

Territories of Ukraine were divided into four zones depending on levels of radio-nuclide contamination: alienation (exclusion) zone; zone of obligatory settling out; zone with the right for settling out; zone of residing with strict radiation control. (For more information on the zones` characteristics see the Annexes.)

The alienation zone contains over 20 mln Ci of the accident emission radioactivity. This large accumulation of radionuclides in the alienation zone technogenic/natural complex causes the problem of radionuclides getting outside. Under high floods, the water reaches highly contaminated areas and washes out from the surface ground levels considerable amounts of radionuclides that are taken into the Dnieper. The Dnieper, complete with its water reservoirs, is the water supply source for about 30 mln residents of Ukraine, thus becoming a potential source of radiation doses for them.

This zone also has within its borders the so-called “Shelter” that is a potentially hazardous facility. The major hazard factors imply: (a) possible radioactive dust emission beyond the Shelter boundaries in case of such events as an earthquake, hurricanes, construction collapse, beginning of a self-sustained nuclear reaction, etc.; (b) radioactivity leakage (in liquid state) beyond the Shelter boundaries with its getting first into the Pripyat flow, and then into the Dnieper.

The Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster aftermath aggravated by political, economic and social changes has resulted in deteriorated living standards and human health.

Medical examination of the affected population showed that 80% of them have health problems; the corresponding figure for liquidators is 89%. Over 82 thousand persons have become disabled.

Analysing statistical data describing the affected population’s health parameters, it is noteworthy that their health has been gradually deteriorating over the years following the disaster. The tendency is towards increase in the morbidity rate on an annual basis - on the whole, morbidity has grown 3.4 times between 1987 and 1998. For liquidators the corresponding figure is 1.8 times higher, for resettled population – 1.6 times, and for residents in contaminated areas – 9.7 %.

According to the Ministry of Health, morbidity rates among adults and adolescents affected by the Chornobyl disaster in 1998 exceeded the relevant rates among non-affected population by 7.2%. The resettled population demonstrates the highest morbidity rates, liquidators rank second, and the residents in contaminated areas rank third. (For more information on morbidity of the affected population see Annexes.)

Countermeasures taken over the period elapsed since the disaster and natural auto rehabilitation processes under way in the contamination zone have improved the radiation status – currently over 90% of the radiation dose received by the population results from internal irradiation caused by consuming contaminated food products.

Natural, technological and social crises and disasters are usually followed by deep psychological crises of individuals affected by them. Characteristic features of the Chornobyl crisis are: abrupt changes of living conditions; break of traditional, habitual, social, and sometimes family links; change of residence and social environment; the need to adapt to new living conditions; necessity to change the means and ways of solving the existential problems; breakdown of habitual living values. The individual faces the crisis of losing belief in his/her potential. Pessimism, victim syndrome, followed by social withdrawal and unwillingness to be responsible for one’s own life are also prevalent. For example, in 1999 the portion of affected population that demonstrates victim syndrome increased two times compared with 1992 - if in 1992 it amounted to 18-20%, in 1999 it reached 35%. The majority of individuals with victim syndrome - 80% - are the relocated, the rest – residents of contaminated areas.

The most evident negative behavioral reactions of the individuals are the so-called non-constructive forms of coping with the stress associated with the crisis, namely alcoholism, drug addiction, criminal behavior (especially among adolescents) and suicides. E.g. approximately 29% of the adult population and about 15% of adolescents in Slavutych have drinking problems. People appear to be unprepared to manage complicated life situations.

In addition to the stress factors that emerged after the catastrophe there are some specific psychological features that are characteristic for people in post-totalitarian countries, namely personal and social inactivity, paternalism. The crisis gave rise to risks covering all major human activity spheres and breaking links between them.

The disaster-related developments, such as resettlement, restrictions in the production and consumption of agricultural produce, controversial information and assessments of possible consequences have resulted in drastic changes in traditional life styles. This especially applies to rural population. Lack of knowledge in radiology and radiological protection caused them to distrust information distributed by mass media and results in subjective and unrealistic evaluation of the consequences e.g. research data manifest that 45% of people residing in the contaminated zone, and 30% of those living in the clean zone, believe that their ill health is related to radiation.

Despite the fact that the Chernobyl catastrophe happened more than 14 years ago, it remains an actual source of negative feelings in the affected population, including feelings of helplessness and despair, and loss of hope for the future. A survey conducted in March 1998 in the affected settlements illustrates this fact - among adults 52,4% questioned answered that they strongly feel the consequences of the Chornobyl catastrophe, 31,6% feel them to a certain extent. 19,3% children also strongly feel these aftereffects.

A (b) Measurable indicators of the problems

Criteria that are supposed to indicate positive developments in solving the problem could be put as follows:

• Safety of the alienation zone per se and the facilities within it;
• Safety level of residing in the contaminated areas;
• Morbidity and mortality levels among affected population:
• Level of employment in relocated settlement and in contaminated areas;
• Level of psychosocial problems among the affected population;
• Level of social tension in the Chornobyl affected areas;

The National Operations Program for Minimizing the Chornobyl Disaster Aftermath defined specific indicators of the Programme implementation efficiency in health care and social protection areas: medical support and medical check-ups of the affected population; introducing new treatment and diagnostics methods for thyroid gland diseases, early diagnostics for blood diseases, nervous and mental dysfunctions, rehabilitation and assessing its efficiency, diagnostics for endocrines, immune and blood generating systems diseases; developing new medications with radio protective properties; expanding the data base on morbidity dynamics in affected population; reducing morbidity rates in affected population; setting up a data base of behavioural patterns in different population groups; monitoring people’s socio-psychological status; designing technologies for information support; efficient management decisions regarding the improvement of people’s mental status and socio-psychological rehabilitation.

The following efficient implementation indicators applied specifically to activities conducted in the alienation zone are supposed to reinforce the zone’s barrier functions, to make it possible to partly resume economic activities in contaminated areas and to create conditions for safe residence in these areas. The Operations Programme is also concerned with using scientifically valid countermeasures aimed at minimizing individual and collective human irradiation doses; developing guides regarding agricultural activities in contaminated areas; reducing radioactive contamination levels in agricultural land and retrieving it for economic use; manufacturing products for curative and preventive nutrition; setting up an alimentary protection system for individuals working in contaminated areas; designing a new Chernobyl-related Population Protection Concept, providing recommendations for specific activities aimed at reducing external and internal irradiation doses; providing software for the Inform-Chernobyl organisational/technical system on the central and regional levels; putting in place a unified national computer network for the collective use of information.

A (c) The population group affected

In line with national regulations the number of Chornobyl affected Ukrainian population as of January 1, 2000 constituted of 3,361,870 persons. The affected population falls into the following categories:

• liquidators who have been directly involved in the accident liquidation – 86,775 individuals;
• people resettled from contaminated areas, including adults, children and adolescents – 307,982 individuals;
• people still residing in strict radiation control areas - 549,649 individuals;
• children– 1,264,329 individuals.

The amount of affected population is expected to grow further due to the increase in the number of children acknowledged as affected because of receiving an increased thyroid gland irradiation dose and those born from liquidators and resettled parents.

A steady trend has been recorded towards a growing number of disabled persons among the affected population. Their disability is linked to the Chornobyl disaster mainly due to people residing in strict radiological control areas. They numbered about two thousand in 1991, with the corresponding indicator as of January 1, 2000 amounting to 86.8 thousand.

Besides, there is a possibility of secondary contamination of the areas adjoining the Dnieper, as well as of population residing in these areas and using water from the Dnieper water reservoirs that could be receiving an additional internal irradiation dose.

A (d) Gender and environmental aspects of the problem

The population of Ukraine constituted of 50.500 mln persons as of January 1, 2000, including 53.5% women and 46.5% men.

Among people affected by the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster women account for 49.3%, men for 50.7%, 91.3% of liquidators are men.

The portion of women among resettled persons and those residing in radiological control areas is significantly larger than men - they account for 55.7% and 44.3% respectively. Among children born from liquidators, resettled parents and parents residing in contaminated areas 49,1% are female and 50.9% male.

No gender specificity regarding attitude to the relocation was revealed by the studies. On the other hand, women express substantially higher level of anxiety (about 1,5 times more) than men and apply for psychosocial assistance more often – about 65% of psychosocial centres’ clients are women.

The whole issue of Chornobyl aftermath in all its aspects is inseparably linked to the environmental consequences of the catastrophe. One of the subprograms of the UN Chornobyl Programme is directly focused on the minimisation of the disaster after-effects on the environment.

A (e) Previous experiences and lessons learned

Within 14 years that passed since the Chornobyl catastrophe significant efforts have been undertaken to minimize its consequences both from the national side and by the international community.

The issue of mitigation of the Chornobyl impact upon the health condition of the citizens continues to be an urgent national issue. Considerable changes have been observed in the social and psychological conditions and aggravation of health conditions of persons (especially children) residing in the polluted areas and the persons that had been evicted thereof. The shift in the priorities of this issue, necessity to improve the situation of human rights in Ukraine, including new generations, call for a new Concept of protection of population in connection with the Chornobyl accident. Currently the revised Concept is developed. It is based on: (a) new scientific data on the impact of ionizing radiation upon the human organism, disclosed in the publications of International Commission for Radio Protection, the Scientific Committee of UNO on the effects of atomic radiation, World Health Organization basic standards of radiological safety compiled by the International Agency for Atomic Power, in the principles of radiological protection; (b) experience and knowledge of Ukrainian and foreign experts, accumulated during the years of study and elimination of the Chornobyl impact in Ukraine, Russia, Byelorussia and other states.

Psychosocial area

“One Decade After Chernobyl” International Conference recommended that socio-psychological consequences must be given as much consideration as the impact of the dose received by the population, since psychological distress is contributing not only to population morbidity, especially psychosomatic illnesses, but also to mortality levels. Besides, the psychosocial effects are the most widespread and long-lasting.

In the area of mitigation of psychosocial Chornobyl consequences prior assistance was delivered to the affected countries in the framework of the UNESCO-Chornobyl Programme through creation of Centres for social and psychological rehabilitation for the population that suffered from the catastrophe in the affected countries. Since 1994 nine Centres have been opened in Ukraine, Russia and Belarus – tree in each country. In 1997 one more Centre was opened in Russia. The Centres were created in settlements which are in various ways affected by the consequences of the Chornobyl catastrophe. Centres work along the concept which bridges social work, community psychology and clinical psychology. The Centres were staffed by professionals trained for that purpose. They were in fact the first to start community social work in the countries of the former Soviet Union.

Centres for social and psychological rehabilitation proved to be an efficient tool in promoting and sustaining mental health of the Chornobyl area population. These institutions deliver social and psychological support to the population, provide relevant information on radiological risks and healthy lifestyles, support community development mechanisms through different training programmes, private initiative, small business development etc. At the same time the Centres provide a significant part of the population with cultural and leisure services.

An important area of the Centres’ attention is community development and community work aimed at developing interaction and mutual support mechanisms within the community. In a post-catastrophic community the most important factors of mental health improvement are the renovation of social links that have been destroyed.

Goals and objectives set for the Centres were transformed in the course of their functioning since 1994 with regard to the changing community needs. Initial objectives that referred exclusively to Chornobyl aftereffects were broadened to meet the needs to the overall crisis situation both created by Chornobyl consequences and the socioeconomic crisis. The necessity to meet the needs of the affected population resulted in expansion of the spheres of community life where the Centres are operating. These institutions have become a part of the social and cultural infrastructure and have a significant impact on the community life. A survey conducted in 1998 on the issue manifested that both the people and the local authorities are highly satisfied with the Centres’ activities and interested in their future development.

The psychosocial Centres have developed a successful model of social work in a post catastrophic period under conditions of the social and economic system’s destruction. This type of social services which is based on development community action and empowerment of individual initiative may be applied to different crisis situations in communities, especially in the countries of the former USSR. Based on this model it is also possible to develop social services and foster democratic development in these countries.

The Evaluation Mission on UNESCO-Chornobyl Programme activities that worked in September 1997 made an estimation of the Centres for Psychosocial Rehabilitation functioning. “The UNESCO Community Development Centres for psycho-social rehabilitation seem to be a unique combination of resources badly needed in the former Soviet Union – not just in areas affected by the Chornobyl disaster. The social and economic conditions have changed so rapidly that people need a place to go, someone to talk to, in order to gather forces. The Programme has been geared towards helping the Chornobyl victims. It is natural development that, once a Centre is functioning, it cater not only for specific needs resulting from the Chornobyl disaster, but also for general social and psychological needs of the population.”

The need for psychosocial assistance to the affected population was expressed be the Governments of Ukraine and Belarus in May 1997 in the course of an UN Inter-Agency Mission on assessment of the need for international assistance to Chornobyl consequences. Ukraine and Belarus submitted proposals for the creation of new psychosocial Centres for the affected population. A programme component aimed at delivering psychosocial assistance to affected population through the USAID “Health to Chornobyl children” programme that operates in the affected areas of Ukraine since 1998 and is focused on detecting children with thyroid pathology.

(More information on the functioning of the Centres for psychosocial rehabilitation of the affected population is given in Annexes.)

Environmental area

Within the framework of the European Collaboration Program (ECP) 10 projects in the environmental area have been implemented. One of these projects targeted water-resource protection and among its objectives was the assessment of the efficiency of counter-measures on water protection in the Chornobyl contaminated areas, which was carried out.

The flood plain area in the Chornobyl exclusion zone was contaminated by radioactive fallout right after the accident. “Fuel” composition, e.g. “hot” particles, were the main part of the fallout onto this territory and have been estimated as 90-98 per cent of the total amount of deposits. The soil’s surface contamination in this area now is in the range of 2-20 MBq/sq.m (about 50 to 500 Ch/sq.km) of Cs-137 and Sr-90. The presence of hot particles and the slow leaking processes caused this territory to become the long-term source of secondary water contamination and the main source of it within the exclusion zone. The exclusion zone itself provides now from 10 to 50 per cent of the Cs-137 and from 30 to 70 per sent of the Sr-90 coming to the Kyivske reservoir, the upper one in Dnieper cascade, with Pripyat waters. The rest of the radionuclides come from catchments contained outside the exclusion zone.

With respect to variations in hydrological conditions radionuclide concentration in Pripyat waters vary with time. Each flooding of the flood plain in the exclusion zone is followed by an increase in radionuclide concentration in water. Usually this happens in the spring, but sometimes in the summer (1988, 1993). However, the highest concentrations of Sr-90 were observed during the winter floodings, caused by ice-jams in the main channel of the Pripyat river (1991 and 1994). This can be understood taking into account that in winter Pripyat has the lowest water discharge of the year. The Dnieper reservoirs (Kyivske, Kanivske, Kremenchutske, Dniprodzerzhynske, Zaporizke and Kakhovske) stretch about 800 km from Chornobyl to the Black Sea. They are extensively used for recreation, commercial sea production, industrial and drinking water supply, irrigation. About 35 million people use Dnieper water and consume agricultural products from 1.8 million hectares of irrigated fields. It should be mentioned that in some southern regions the Dnieper River is the only source of fresh water. That is why the Ukrainian population is very sensitive to any contamination of Dnieper water.

The water quality management activity has been carried out in the exclusion zone of the ChNPP since the accident. It has been the main sources of secondary water radioactive contamination due to washout, surface and groundwater run-off from different places inside the Chornobyl exclusion zone including contaminated catchments, flood-plain areas, cooling pond of ChNPP and waste disposal sites. The plan for water protecting arrangements in the Chornobyl site was developed and, as a part of its implementation, a flood protecting dyke with a special drainage system for controlling the surface and ground water level inside the dyke territory was constructed on the left bank of the Pripyat river in 1993. This provided a reduction of 500-600 man*Sv of the collective dose to the population for an average living period (70 years), as compared to the “if we do nothing” scenario.

In order to complete the environmental subprogramme, Bonnard & Gardel Consulting Engineers Ltd, Switzerland, has been hired already by the United Nations Office in Geneva (OCHA). This was conducted in close cooperation with the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine, Ukrainian Institute of Hydrology and Meteorology, and CEPN, Paris.

Bonnard & Gardel Consulting Engineers Ltd has submitted a series of reports to UN OCHA, Geneva. The “Site Visit and Data Analysis” report describes the first step of the mission. The “Hydraulic washout study” report presents the hydraulic computations necessary to assess the efficiency of the right bank dyke in terms of contamination reduction due to floods. The “Dyke design and cost analysis” report describes technical options and analizes the impacts of the dyke as well as the costs of its construction, operation and maintenance. The “Collective dose reduction and cost-benefit analysis” report gives the necessary information that will lead to the computation of the collective dose and radiological impact on the population. The costs of construction, operation and maintenance are compared with the cost of the man.sievert saved. These reports should become the basis for the dyke design revision and development of the final construction.

Health area

The European Commission has been actively involved in the radiological aftermath of Chornobyl for many years. Projects on health affects started in 1992 and are continuing today with a total of 15 different contracts. During the first phase (1991-1996) and Agreement between the Commission and the Chornobyl Ministries of Belarus, Ukraine and Russian Federation was established. 16 EC-CIS experimental collaborative projects and joint study projects were carried out. These projects have contributed to a better understanding of the aftermath of the accident and some important results for radiation protection have been obtained.

As far the health consequences are concerned, attention was given to new treatment methods and drugs following overexposure. Two research projects on childhood thyroid cancer in Children living near Chornobyl in 1986 started in 1992. One concerned the diagnostic characterization of thyroid cancer and the other the improvement of treatment and follow-up of children.

Ukrainian Research Centre of Radiation Medicine and Institute of Endocrinology of the Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine carried out a number of projects financed by donors outside of the UN system – European Commission, US government. They were provided with equipment required for project activities - echocardiographs, densiometers, etc. and necessary reagents and medications.

In context of the Chornobyl catastrophe the pathology of thyroid gland has turned into the most urgent problem of contemporary medicine. The above conclusion was unanimously voiced during numerous scientific forums dedicated to the 10^th anniversary of Chornobyl, including the international conferences held by World Health Organization, European Union, International Agency for Atomic Power (1996), European Union (1998). The results of 14-years-long observations of the condition of the thyroid gland of children and adolescents that suffered due to the Chornobyl accident convincingly testify to the existing scientific forecast of the expansion of malignant tumors of the gland. This is proved, first of all, by the dynamics of the above pathology: if during 1981-1985 just 4-5 cases of the disease were registered among children in Ukraine, currently there are 40-50 cases of the gland cancer registered. If, per 100 thousand Ukrainian children, in 1981-85 the disease constituted on the average 0.05 cases, during the last years (1996-98) the above indicator went up to 0.47, i.e. grew almost ten times. During 1986-98, because of the gland cancer 1354 patients have been operated whose age as of the moment of the catastrophe was 0-18 years, of them 918 were children (0-14 years) and 436 adolescents (15-18years). Another proof – geographic distribution of the cases among the children in Ukraine reveal that more than 60% of the cancer-stricken children as of the moment of the disaster were residing in the most polluted northern territories of the country, first of all in Kyiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr regions. Desease incidence in the above oblasts in post-Chornobyl years is 10 times higher than in other regions of Ukraine. The relation between the Chornobyl disaster and the increase of the disease incidence is also proved by the fact that among children born after the disaster (in 1987 and afterwards) when there was no effects of the radioactive iodine, during 1992-1998 only 13 cases of thyroid cancer were registered. The radiation factor of the Chornobyl catastrophe causes an increase in the formation of genetic and carcinogenic effects, in particular, increase in the frequency of leukemia and lymphoms expansion. The immensity of the Chornobyl disaster, which harmed a lot of children, and specific radiation sensitivity of blood generating tissues attest relevance of the problem of child radiation leukozology.

The results of surveys done after the catastrophe have proved that the number of children and adolescents with malignant forms of leukemia has increased. Currently intensive multi-component chemotherapy is the only effective method of care of those diseased with such pathology. Between 40 and 60 patients, victims of the catastrophe at Chornobyl NPS with oncogematologic pathology for cancer, are currently undergoing treatment at Child Age Radiation Gematology Department of NCRM. Treatment of 15 children with leukemia costs USD 50 thousand. In this process standard treatment schemes are applied which include using cytostatic medicine (vincristin, doxarubicinum, metotrekstat, endoxan, cytozar, mitoxantron, vepezid, natulan, L-asparaginaza, 6-mercaptopurin, tioguanin), glukokorticoids (prednizalon, dexazon, hydrocortizon), antibacterial and antimycotic therapy.

Application of modern methods of treatment, such as a complex of cytostatic medicine, preconditions recovery from the disease or facilitates a significant increase of lifespan and the improvement of the quality of life of patients.

Information about the increased rate of thyroid gland cancer, in comparison with the spontaneous level, among children whose thyroid gland exposure dose during disaster exceeded 1 Gröntgen, testifies of radiation genesis of the said pathology.

According to existing scientific forecasts, the peak of thyroid gland cancer disease is yet to come. In the future one may also expect such possible consequences of radiation as hypothyroz and autoimmune thyroidit that so far have not manifested themselves.

Beginning in 1998, the USAID programme “Health of Chornobyl Children” works in the affected areas of Ukraine. It is focused on detecting children with thyroid pathology and also has a psychosocial component.

In UNICEF pipeline there is a programme on mitigation of health consequences of the Chornobyl catastrophe through improvement of primarily health care in the affected areas.

B. Outline of National Operations Programme

B (a) The development objective: the overall goals set by the government

The National Operations Programme for Eliminating the Chornobyl Disaster Aftermath and Population Social Protection for the Period until Year 2000 has been developed based upon the National Concept for Population Residence in Territories of Ukraine with Increased Radioactive Contamination Levels due to the Chornobyl Disaster (Verhovna Rada Decree of February 27, 1991 #791-XII) and taking into account relevant laws and resolutions adopted by the Government of Ukraine, oblast (regional) programs and results in minimizing the disaster consequences achieved over the past years. The National Operations Programme was developed in accordance with the Cabinet of Ministers Decree of November 15, 1995 #911 “On First Priority Steps towards the Implementation of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Activities Programme”.

The Programme to Minimize the Chornobyl disaster consequences in 1997-2000 has as its main goal reducing the overall risk of human health deterioration, as well as environmental, economic and socio-psychological aftermath of the Chornobyl disaster.

The National Operations Programme envisages the whole package of activities to be implemented.

Major objectives to be achieved by the Programme are as follows:

• assessing the overall environmental situation in relation to the Chornobyl disaster and living conditions in radioactively contaminated areas taking into account the whole spectrum of environmental and hygienic factors
• creating special conditions for high risk groups to ensure that their physical, psychological and social status is normal
• studying, analysing, and forecasting human health status for people affected by the Chornobyl disaster, completing thyreodosimetric certification of populated centres located in contaminated areas
• putting in place the required network of medical establishments to provide specialized care to affected people, equipping specialized medical establishments with up-to-date equipment, using advanced research and development results and modern technologies for diagnosing, treating and rehabilitating purposes, optimising the infrastructure in populated centres where resettled population resides, improving living conditions for people residing in contaminated areas
• reorienting agriculture in the most contaminated areas to manufacture produce with the least possible radio nuclides contents
• eventual aforrestation of agricultural land withdrawn from economic use
• setting up a single national accounting system, inventories of burial sites and temporary storage sites for radioactive waste, putting in place adequate storage facilities
• compiling a ramified network of regional data bases using geoinformation technologies under environmental radiation control programs
• developing Inform-Chornobyl information system
• preventing radio nuclides from proliferating beyond the alienation zone boundaries, continuing work on treating and burying radioactive waste
• ensuring stabilisation of the Shelter, maintaining its adequate safety level and providing technological support for transforming it into an ecologically safe system
• further decontamination of the terrain, structures, materials and equipment, partial land rehabilitation and retrieval for economic uses in the alienation zone
• conducting research in applied radioecology, radiobiology, medical/biological aspects, radio hydrology and hydrochemistry in the field of agricultural and forest radiology aimed at studying the dynamics of radio nuclides proliferation and forecasting radio ecological situation in the Exclusion zone
• setting up a production complex for the treatment and storage low, medium and high active radioactive waste.

B (b) Strategy for achievement of the national development objective

1. The major routes towards accomplishing the objective identified in the National Operations Programme are as follows:

• reviewing legislative and normative Ukrainian framework as related to Chornobyl issues;
• providing scientific support for activities aimed at minimizing the disaster aftermath;
• improving environmental radiation control and ecological rehabilitation system;
• providing health care and medical protection for affected population;
• carrying out a series of activities in the alienation zone;
• conducting agricultural production and land use in radioactively contaminated areas;
• providing for food products manufacture with curative and preventive additives;
• decontaminating populated centres and managing radioactive waste;
• engaging in forestry;
• international collaboration and public information on activities aimed at minimizing the Chornobyl disaster aftermath;
• training and upgrading national experts and raising public awareness in radiation protection issues;
• setting up an information system.

Implementing the Programme will make it possible to reduce the impact of the Chornobyl disaster aftermath upon public health, to improve living conditions, to identify priorities in addressing Chornobyl-related issues and to amass expertise in averting similar technogenic accidents in future.

B (c) Beneficiaries

Under the National Operations Programme for Minimizing the Chornobyl Disaster Aftermath for 1997-2000, the activities are aimed at assisting the population affected by the Chornobyl disaster (population categories are defined in Section A (c)). A substantial package of activities conducted in the alienation zone is aimed at population not directly affected by the accident. At present, however, due to remaining considerable amounts of radionuclides in the Chornobyl zone (upper Dnieper) this population can receive an additional dose of internal irradiation when radionuclides proliferate outside the zone by water.

B (d) Major subprogrammes of the National Operations Programme

The National Operations Programme for Minimizing the Chornobyl Disaster Aftermath has the following major subprogrammes:

• Medical protection and rehabilitation for affected individuals;
• Social protection for the affected individuals;
• Activities carried out in the alienation zone;
• Scientific support for activities aimed at minimizing the Chornobyl aftermath;
• Introducing advanced information technologies to address the Chornobyl issues.

Under the Programme, the main tasks in public health care include:

• studying and forecasting the affected population’s health condition, providing treatment and rehabilitation for them;
• carrying out activities aimed at psychological protection of the affected individual through mobilizing the organism’s reserve capacities to achieve the best possible physical and social adaptation to new social and economic conditions based on raising the awareness of the actual situation and on more active individual participation in all activities aimed at reducing the risk of residing in contaminated areas;
• supplying additional specialized equipment to medical establishments that are involved in providing medical care on an ongoing basis;
• introducing research and development results, advanced means and technologies in manufacturing medications and food products with radio protective properties.

The National Operations Programme envisages social protection for the affected population as one of its priorities.

The next Programme component has to do with conducting activities in the alienation zone aimed at improving the radio ecological situation, preventing radionuclides from proliferation beyond the zone boundaries.

Scientific support for activities aimed at minimizing the Chornobyl aftermath needed in implementing work in all areas is the next National Operations Programme component. Among major tasks in this field the following should be mentioned: ongoing coordination of research including modifications in strategy and tactics of scientific support, control over the quality of performance in implementing major tasks, improving the forecast system, as well as the scientific development system, forecasts, instruments, methods etc. It is also concerned with verifying the realisation of these tasks and correcting them.

The Programme components, including the introduction of advanced information technologies, will enable us to carry out:

• operational control over funding and implementation of activities aimed at minimizing the Chornobyl aftermath;
• processing of information coming from regional and branch administrative levels
• applying the principle of inter-agency information integration;
• accessibility of data on the National Inventory basis on individual irradiation doses and evaluations of health condition for individuals subjected to Chornobyl-related ionizing irradiation, their children and generations to come;
• information support for implementing international cooperation programs;
• developing up-to-date methods and technologies in information analysis concerning the disaster aftermath and designing training and expert systems.

B (e) Institutional arrangements

The Chornobyl aftermath has a long term nature that calls for coordinating the activities of numerous ministries and agencies, as well as National Governments. It requires considerable funding for implementing government policies regarding the liquidation of the Chornobyl disaster aftermath and population protection from its impact. This fact considered, in order to comply with the Verhovna Rada Decree of September 25, 1990 # 95, in accordance with the Council of Ministers Decree of September 25, 1990 #284 the State Committee for population Protection from the Chornobyl Disaster Aftermath was set up. It was restricted as a Ministry under the law of Ukraine of May 13, 1991 #1030-б. Based on this Ministry and the Civil Defence headquarters, in accordance with the Decree by President of Ukraine of October 28, 1996 #1005, the Ministry for Emergency Situations and for Population Protection from the Chornobyl Disaster Aftermath was set up. Terms of reference approve of the Ministry as the central executive body guaranteeing the implementation of the government policies in the field of civil defence, population and territory protection from emergencies, averting these emergencies and responding to them, eliminating their consequences, and the Chornobyl disaster aftermath. The Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine in its activities is guided by the Constitution of Ukraine, laws of Ukraine, acts by President of Ukraine and cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, as well as the Ministry’s terms of reference.

At the same time the Verhovna Rada of Ukraine has formed, within the State budget for 1992, a Foundation for implementing activities regarding the liquidation of the Chornobyl disaster and social protection of the population.

Following documents have been adopted concerning the liquidation of the Chornobyl consequences:

• the National Concept of Population Residence in the Areas of Ukraine with Increased Radioactive Contamination Levels Due to the Chornobyl Disaster (Verhovna Rada Decree of February 27, 1991, # 791 – XII);
• Laws of Ukraine “On the Status and Social Protection of Individuals Affected by the Chornobyl Disaster of April 13, 1999 and “On Legal Status of the territory Subjected to Radioactive Contamination due to the Chornobyl Disaster” of February 27, 1991.

Time has elapsed since the approval of the Concept above. The analysis of the issues that arose as the result of the disaster and the experience gained during elimination of the impact testify that the above Concept did not address all aspects of residing in radioactively polluted areas, and that it failed to become the basis for establishment of the system for all-sided protection of the victims.

В (f) Funding

Over the past seven years that Ukraine has been funding the expenses for liquidating the disaster consequences on her own, the share of these expenses does not diminish and accounts for about 7% of Ukraine’s state budget expenses. During the period between 1991 and 1999 alone about $5 billion was used for these purposes. On the whole, Ukraine’s disaster-related overall economic losses will reach about $130 billion in 20 years following the accident.

Due to lack of funds and delays in their reception the Ministry of Emergencies of Ukraine as the principal funds administrator has taken a decision on financing only urgent activities and first-priority measures related to implementing the provisions of the Laws of Ukraine “ On the Status and Social Protection of Individuals Affected by the Chornobyl Disaster” and “On Legal Status of the territory Subjected to Radioactive Contamination due to the Chornobyl Disaster”, in accordance with priority list established by the Collegiums. This measure made it possible to provide for fuller implementation of set major tasks in 1999 and somewhat lessened social tension among affected population. Because of a lack of balance between the demand for funding and budget expenditures and failure to comply with the schedule of repaying the debt for Chornobyl programmes implementation this debt grows annually. As of January 1, 2000 it amounted to 931.5 mln UAH, including the debt in social protection sphere equal to 837.5 mln UAH.

Table. Funding of the national programme in 1999 (ths of UAH)

С. Capacity requirements and assessment

In the light of the lessons learned from Chornobyl at national and international levels, it is necessary to develop a comprehensive cross section system of measures aimed at minimizing the remaining consequences of the accident. The main elements of such a system should be:

• strengthening of training and awareness among government officials, members of legislative organs, the mass media, students, schoolchildren and the general public, concerning different types of accidents and disasters, as well as measures and methods of collective and individual protection;
• developing a system of emergency response planning for decision-making and models for optimal action by government and legislative structures, different departments, services, state and public organizations and the mass media in pre-accident, accident and post-accident periods;
• developing and implementing a strategy of economic, social and environmental rehabilitation in contaminated areas:
• developing community-based programmes for the psychological rehabilitation of the affected population, in particular children.

Considering the lessons learned Ukraine should develop a complex comprehensive system of approaches to minimize both objective and subjective factors of the disaster. The system should consist of the following components:

• providing more information on the radiology aspects to public authorities officers, law makers, mass media and population representatives regarding various types of accidents and the means of individual and collective protection;

• development of the decision making system and the optimal models for procedures to be used by administrative and legislative structures, Ministries, services , state and civil organizations and mass media during an emergency and afterwards;

• special study of the logic behind forming public opinion regarding the results of exposure to radiation, how to influence this process and to mitigate its negative impact upon the health condition of humans.

The above system, if created for Chornobyl conditions, may be subsequently adapted for any other potential accidents – natural or industrial - that the country should be ready to address.

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