International Conference

20 Years of Living with Chernobyl –
Experiences and Lessons for the Future

Chairman: Dr. Herbert Sausgruber, Provincial Governor of Vorarlberg/Austria

9–12 March 2006 Montforthaus, Feldkirch, Vorarlberg/Austria

Aims of the Conference

Immediately after the Chernobyl disaster the Soviet secret service (KGB) classified a long list of issues as “top secret”. There was no truthful reporting on the radiation damage among the population and among the emergency workers, no truthful documentation of the radioactive contamination of the affected areas. 20 years ago, efforts to conceal the disaster and its consequences prevented important measures which could have been taken to protect the population. And since 1990, major industrial countries have participated in trivializing these consequences. Until today, institutions influenced and controlled by powerful nuclear interests produce the majority of reports on the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. Internationally prominent committees still speak of only 31 radiation deaths after Chernobyl. Almost every health defect attributed to Chernobyl is disclaimed –except for thyroid cancer among children. There are, however, more and more scientists in both the east and the west struggling to discover the real truth and to help the people affected in the Chernobyl region. The aim of the conference is therefore to provide experts with the necessary platform to openly report on the situation of these people, the lives they are now forced to lead, to expose the lies and strategies to cover up what happened, and to draw conclusions. We invite physicians, scientists and other experts to present and discuss their ‚inopportune‘ research and experiences in connection with Chernobyl. We also invite all interested citizens, Chernobyl Initiatives, politicians, physicians, energy scientists and representatives of institutions to listen, study, pose questions and seek realistic measures, whose priority is the well-being of the Chernobyl victims and the lessons learned from the disaster rather than the support of senseless specialist nuclear technology projects.

Program committee

Conference topics

Medical problems in Belarus, Ukraine, Russia

How has data for illnesses, for instance of the thyroid, breast cancer, leukaemia, eye diseases, teratogene damage and for the general state of health changed? Have new results for the evaluation of the radiation effects been found?

Medical problems in Western Europe

Has people‘s state of health in other European countries also been affected (e.g. changes in the occurrence of infant mortality, abnormalities, Down syndrome, cancer and leukaemia)?

Socio-economic aspects

What are the socio-economic consequences for the affected population, for the job situaton, for people‘s health and general well-being, for the population development? Examples of national measures and aid projects (e.g. by NGOs)

Questions related to disaster management

Is the expensive building of a second sarcophagus necessary? Which dangers still emanate from the Chernobyl site? Is there new information about the cause of the disaster? What happens in the prohibited areas? Which lessons result from Chernobyl for the disaster control and the risk evaluation of nuclear power plants in the west?

International organizations and information policy

What are international committees such as ICRP, WHO, IAEA, EURATOM, UNSCEAR and others contributing towards the evaluation and overcoming of the Chernobyl consequences, and what are they not doing? The goals and effectiveness of international programs, e.g. of the CORE program?

Program coordination and registration for all countries except Switzerland

Prof. Dr. Edmund Lengfelder
Strahlenbiologisches Institut der LMU
Schillerstraße 42
D-80336 München
Tel. 0049-89-218075-833/834
Fax 0049-89-218075-835
Email: lengfelder@lrz.uni-muenchen.de

Conference office and registration in Switzerland

Tschernobyl 2006 Feldkirch
Postfach
CH-8501 Frauenfeld
Tel: 0041 71 931 51 56
Email: tschernobyl2006@gmx.net

Dates

1 September 2005: Submissions deadline for presentations and posters (abstracts!).

30 September 2005: Notifications for presentations and posters.

January 2006: Mailing of conference programme.

15 February 2006: Registration deadline for participation. After the deadline, registration will be available at conference reception desk.

9 March 2006: Registration and public evening event.

9-12 March 2006: Conference in Feldkirch, Austria