Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant CIA Files - Paperless Archives

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loss of health professionals to permanent relocation
has created shortages in this sector in the Ukraine and
Belorussia, according to the Kiev Oblast officials.
Opposition in the Republics
The most significant long-term cost of the accident
may be the exacerbation of longstanding tensions and
resentments among the non-Russian minorities. This
is particularly true in western non-Russian republics
of the USSR-the Baltic, Belorussia, and the
Ukraine.
L
t"illlUe 5. Radiation burns on a c.;Jrernobyl /lUman.
one qfthe 500.000 persons now being
monitored for long-tum d[ects qf radiation.
v't
~jt is not clear which organization is
handling llie program, what data the Soviets have
collected, or what they are planning to do. This
suggests that i .ne program has little direction from
Soviet leadersliip, and that the prospects for adCquate
long-term care for the Soviet citizens who were put at
risk by the nuclear accident-mostly Ukrainians and
Belorussians-are not guaranteed.
The cost of the nuclear accident is likely to be
reflected not only in impaired health of evacuees but
also in poorer health care provided to areas losing
health care personnel as a result of the exodus of
people from the Chernobyl' area. Although the initial
transfer of Ukrainian and Belorussian medical teams
to deal with Chernobyl'-related patients had only a
short-term impact on the health delivery systems. the
Tk Bilitic. Moscow's requisitioning of food, housing,
and summer places for the Chernobyl' evacuees and
the conscription of reservists for decontamination
aroused great resentment among ethnic nationals in
the Baltic republics and led to active protests:
. C ;J some 300 Estonian
conscripts, who were sent to help decontamina~ the
Chernobyl' 30-lcilometer zone, conducted a work
stoppage when they were told in lune 1986 that
their tour had been extended from two to six
months. c.. ,:::l a demonstration was
held in Tallinn in support of the work stoppage and
to protest the forcible use of military reservists for
decontamination work.
c
. ~_il demonstration
ala Soviet military base in' Estonia over perceived
ethnic discrimination in the conscription of non­
Russians for military duty at Chernobyl'.
• In Latvia and Estonia, where ethnic populations
constitute only a bare majority, citizenS reportedly
protested the resettlement of Ukrainian and Belorussian
Chernobyl' refugees because they viewed
these Slavic "immigrants" as further evidence "f
Moscow's desire to dilute Baltic nationalities.
• In LithuaniaC J 'L _ reported active demonstrations
in lune 1986 against the construction there
of another reactor similar to the one at Chernobyl'.
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