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- <text id=89TT2092>
- <title>
- Aug. 14, 1989: World Notes:Soviet Union
- </title>
- <history>
- TIME--The Weekly Newsmagazine--1989
- Aug. 14, 1989 The Hostage Agony
- </history>
- <article>
- <source>Time Magazine</source>
- <hdr>
- WORLD, Page 42
- World Notes
- SOVIET UNION
- A Dose of Nuclear Fallout
- </hdr><body>
- <p> When the nuclear-power plant at Chernobyl blew, lethal
- contamination forced the evacuation of 100,000 citizens. But
- 600 residents told Izvestiya last week that they had not been
- moved until a week after the accident, after even the livestock
- had been led to safety. Now, three years later, the Supreme
- Soviet of the Byelorussian Republic has suggested that an
- additional 106,000 people be relocated. If approved by Moscow,
- this evacuation would confirm suspicions that Soviet officials
- downplayed the severity of the mishap and grossly underestimated
- the risk it posed to human life.
- </p>
- <p> Residents of the accident zone have grown increasingly
- concerned about the health of their children, who are
- developing respiratory infections and vision problems. They say
- their children have been eating contaminated food from local
- stores and contend that government limits for radiation are too
- high. In an article titled "Mysterious Medicine: People with
- Chernobyl Experience Have No Faith in Doctors' Diagnoses,"
- Moscow News reported that Soviet doctors refuse to attribute any
- health problem in the region to radiation. Dependent on Moscow
- for funding, local officials hope some support will come from
- Premier Nikolai Ryzhkov, who has reportedly "listened
- attentively" to their complaints.
- </p>
-
- </body></article>
- </text>
-
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