Chernobyl Radiation Consequences : The Facts International Conference Planned for April 1996 in Vienna

The health and environmental effects attributed to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine on 26 April 1986 have been subject to extensive scientific examination; however, there still remain widely differing perspectives of the radiological consequences. Ten years after the accident, the European Commission (EC), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Health Organization (WHO) will jointly sponsor, from 8 to 12 April 1996, an International Conference to seek a common and conclusive understanding of the nature and magnitude of the accident's consequences. The Conference, "One Decade after Chernobyl: Summing Up the Radiological Consequences of the Accident", will be organized in co-operation with the United Nations through the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs (UNDHA), as well as with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and will take place in the Austria Center Vienna, Austria. A senior advisory committee of scientists from Belarus, Russia and Ukraine will monitor the organization of the conference.

This Joint Conference will collate international findings on the consequences of the accident, taking particular account of the outcome of two prior Conferences. One will be the WHO International Conference on the "Health Consequences of the Chernobyl and other Radiological Accidents" to be held in Geneva, 20-23 November 1995, and the second will be the "First International Conference of the European Union, Belarus, Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Consequences of the Chernobyl Accident" to be held in Minsk, 18-23 March 1996.

The Joint Conference in Vienna will address the accident's health and environmental effects as well as the social, economic and political impacts. Important objectives of the Conference will be to establish clearly the scientific facts of the accident's consequences and to quantify its radiological and long term health effects as well as to review its social, economic and political consequences.

Other international organizations and multilateral, bilateral and national projects are expected to contribute to the programme of the Conference, which will be open to representatives nominated by governments and accredited media.