HL Deb 09 January 1995 vol 560 cc7-8WA
Lord Jenkins of Putney

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have seen a report in Global Security, the Journal of Medical Action, that 8,000 people in the Kiev area have died as a result of the Chernobyl explosion and 250,000 are disabled or seriously ill, that 25 per cent. of children are being born with defects and that two-thirds of Ukraine has been contaminated; and if these reports are factual, whether international action is being taken to assist in endeavouring to mitigate the consequences of the disaster and, if so, what part they are playing in such action.

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

Precise details of the effects of the Chernobyl accident are difficult to verify, and the claims in the Winter 1994 edition ofGlobal Security are considerably higher than international estimates, particularly that of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the most widely accepted.

We have financed bilateral Chernobyl-related projects and support international activities in the region funded by the IAEA, the WHO and the European Union.