April 9, 2006

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Over 4,000 Russian Villages Remain in Chernobyl-Polluted Zone
ITAR/TASS, Russia
April 4, 2006

MOSCOW, April 4 (Itar-Tass) -- Some 4,343 towns and villages in 14 Russian regions with the total population of 1.4 million lie within the radioactive contamination zone 20 years after the Chernobyl nuclear accident, Russian Chief Public Health Official and member of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences Gennady Onishchenko said on Tuesday.

He said the Chernobyl accident had mostly affected the Bryansk region, whose four villages are situated in the alienation zone. One hundred and ninety-four towns with the population of 78,000 were announced a zone of resettlement. The Tula, Oryol and Kaluga regions were polluted less.

The yearly radiation dose does not exceed the permissible level in ten out of the fourteen regions, Onishchenko said. “The so-called internal contamination with radio-nuclides from food is the main source of radiation,” he said. “Right after the accident dairy products were the most dangerous, and now these are mushrooms and berries from polluted areas.”

The 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident will be marked on April 26, 2006

© ITAR-TASS.