International Co-operation to Promote Nuclear-Reactor Safety in the Former USSR and Eastern Europe

The urgency of the problem in the former USSR and Eastern Europe was highlighted by the serious accident at the Chernobyl Unit 4 nuclear-power plant in 1986. Major deficiencies in design and poor safety management practices led to catastrophic releases of radioactive material. Large areas have been contaminated around the site, but also far away. More than 60,000 people had to be evacuated initially. Since then more than 200,000 people have been removed from their homes due to contamination by long-lived radio-isotopes like Caesium. Areas encompassing more than 3,000 square kilometres will remain uninhabitable for decades to come. The emergency response to the Chernobyl accident suffered from major deficiencies, some of which became known only years later: local, regional, and central decision-making failed in important tasks. On-site fire-fighting, while heroic, was led without proper organization, equipment, or management to confront high radiation doses an