asked the Minister for Energy if he accepts as accurate and adequate the report given by the Soviet authorities on the effects in Western Europe of the disaster at Chernobyl; or if he has not yet assessed it, when he expects to do so.
Written Answers. - Chernobyl Disaster Report.
41.
I am aware of a number of reports issued by the Soviet authorities following the Chernobyl accident but I am not sure to which report the Deputy is referring.
I am aware that the Soviet authorities gave a detailed account of the accident at an IAEA meeting in Vienna in August 1986. That report did not deal with effects outside the Soviet Union. More recently in two separate press conferences held in Vienna in March and April 1987, the Soviet authorities indicated that a more accurate and up-to-date evaluation of the effects of Chernobyl would be reported shortly to the UN Scientific Committee on the effects of atomic radiation (UNSCEAR). The committee will in turn be publishing a report in 1988 of the effects of the accident.
Reports have been carried in the press of views attributed to the Soviet Union that the effects in Western Europe did not endanger the health of the population but it is clear from replies I have given to other questions that the Chernobyl accident caused widespread concern in Ireland and other Western European countries and gave rise to widespread precautionary measures in monitoring and controlling trade in foodstuffs.
When the UNSCEAR report is published, we may be in a better position to judge the accuracy of any views which have been hitherto expressed on the effects of Chernobyl.