Script of the documentary "Atomic Lies" in which a former director of the World Health Organization (WHO) admits that the IAEA "command" what information the WHO is allowed to release about the effects of the Chernobyl disaster.
See also the following article by Dr Rosalie Bertell on the WHO- IAEA agreement and also an article on the WHO conference on Chernobyl whose proceedings were not released
This file is also available as a pdf version [57 kB]
ATOMIC LIES
Script
subtitled english version
Fernex french
I worked with the WHO as a tropical physician during 15 years. I worked in research committees for malaria and filariasis. I respect very much the WHO. Since 1986 I am very sorry because of the absence of the WHO during 5 years in Chernobyl. During 5 years we didn’t see the WHO. Only the International Atomic Agency did research. It's a pity.
title: M. Fernex - physician
Comment
Dr. Michel Fernex, retired, Medical Faculty University of Basle, is part of a campaign denouncing the conflict of interests between two organizations of the UN: the IAEA, (International Agency for Atomic Energy), promoter of nuclear industry, and the WHO (World Health Organization). An agreement was signed in 1959 between those organizations: the WHO is prevented from undertaking independent medical research on the health effects of radiation, and of informing populations on the consequences of accidents like Chernobyl, when the atomic lobby does not agree.
Here a letter is being delivered for Kofi Annan and Dr. Brundtland, Director General of the WHO, asking for an amendment of this agreement and freedom for the WHO to work freely on the health effects of radiation.
Delegate WHO french
We already got a letter from you, with your demands. We responded to it saying that your concern in our opinion was unfounded. We promise to look in the letter you delivered today. Dr. Brundtland will answer it before the end of this week. Thank you all for coming joining us today. Thanks.
title: UN - Geneva 12 February 2001
Comment
Six years ago, the Director General of WHO, Dr. Hiroshi Nakajima, tried to inform on Chernobyl, by organizing in Geneva an international conference, with 700 experts and physicians. This tentative was blocked. The International Agency for Atomic Energy blocked the proceedings, which were never published. The truth on the consequences of Chernobyl would have been a disaster for the promotion of the atomic industry.
Fernex
The interdiction to publish which fell on the WHO conference will maybe be lifted for the next WHO congress. But the IAEA will also be there, don’t worry : UNSCEAR, IAEA, with fantastic money. To buy scientists in poor countries doesn’t cost a lot. With 10.000 dollars you can buy many persons.
title: - ATOMIC LIES -
by
Emanuela Andreoli
Romano Cavazzoni
Wladimir Tschertkoff
title: Kiev - 4 June 2001
Conversation Fernex-Nakajima french
F - Why were the proceedings we had ordered, not published ?
N - Because it was a Conference organized jointly with the IAEA. This was the problem.
F - Is this WHO conference, here more free than in Geneva?
N - Here, I am no more Director General. I am a private person.
title: Hiroshi Nakajima - former Director General WHO
Comment
For this international conference on the medical consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe, organized with the WHO in Kiev in June 2001, the Physicians of Chernobyl asked Dr. Nakajima to be Honorary President.
Question
Don't you think that the link between WHO and IAEA impaired the liberty of WHO ?
Nakajima
I was Director General and I was responsible. But it’s mainly my legal department… Because the IAEA reports directly to the Security Council of the UN. And we, all specialized agencies, report to the Economic and Social Development Council. The Organisation which reports to the Security Council, - not hierarchically we are all equal - but for atomic affairs... military use and...
Fernex
civil use..
Nakajima
peaceful or civil use... they have the authority.
W
They command.
Comment
Never before, had such an authority admitted, that health institutions are subordinate to the promoters of the atom. The WHO and the IAEA, two UN agencies, when working together, should be free to fulfil their institutional tasks, for peace and the world¹s well being.
Contradictions, tensions and conflicts which exist in the UN system, were expressed during this conference, by the protagonists of the 1995 WHO Conference and the physicians and scientists of the civil society.
Zupka english
The consequences of Chernobyl do not fade away, but actually grow increasingly uncertain, and in many ways more intense. The United Nations Secretary General, Mister Kofi Annan, put it very clear when he said that: "The legacy of Chernobyl will be with us and our descendents for generations to come".
title: D. Zupka - OCHA UN
Comment
The representative of the UN Office for Humanitarian Affairs shares the view of Kofi Annan, who estimates at 9 million the number of victims, and says that tragedy of Chernobyl is only beginning.
Zupka
Given the magnitude of the disaster, its long lasting consequences, international implication, the international community has a humanitarian obligation to assist 9 million people affected by the Chernobyl accident.
Gonzales english
What do we know today ? Really not too much new.
title: A. Gonzales - IAEA UN
Comment
The representative of the International Agency for Atomic Energy, maintains that the Chernobyl catastrophe caused 31 deaths, a few hundred highly irradiated individuals and 2000 thyroid cancers in children. This UN agency recognizes only validated data, validated by the laboratories of Los Alamos and the French Atomic Energy Commissariat (CEA), two atomic bomb makers.
Gonzales
Now, the question of the 1 million dollar is the following: are these predicted effects, -which are not detectable,- are not detectable but real ? This is what people ask you permanently. My answer to that is the following: this is an epistemological insoluble problem. There are no grounds for direct knowledge at this stage. We don't know. In conclusion, our conclusion at least, Chernobyl produced: around 30 deaths by 200 Sievert injuries, clinically attributed to radiation exposure. 2000 avoidable thyroid cancers in children.
Until now, no internationally confirmed evidence of the public health impact, did attributed it to Chernobyl exposure, and I underline: radiation exposure. If you need more information, these are my address and with pleasure, the Agency will send you all the reports I mentioned. Thank you for your attention.
Gentner english
We said that the risk of leukaemia does not appear to be elevated, even among recovery operation workers, and that there is no scientific evidence for increases either of overall cancer incidence or of other non malignant disorders that could be related to the accident.
title: N. Gentner - UNSCEAR UN
Comment
The representative of the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, agrees with the IAEA that from a radiological point of view, positive perspectives exist for the future health of most persons in the Chernobyl region. The reports of this Committee are used as scientific basis by governments, when adopting norms for security and radioprotection.
Gentner The great majority of the population and you saw it from Dr. Gonzales presentation, need not fear serious health consequences as a result of the Chernobyl accident. This closing slide is one I use for almost any topic. It says : “For those who believe, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible”. That can apply to every situation, each way. But we hope in the committee to rely on scientific ground, not using emotions but using the most rigorous possible data, so that the people and decision makers, get the right information.
Yablokov russian
Shocking ! Shocking !
W
Why ?
Yablokov
An impudent presentation of non-objective data. They want to spend less money to alleviate the consequences. This is why all research showing that consequences are worse, that what they believed, is rejected, they label it not serious. What scares me, is that it’s said openly, presented as scientific conclusions. In reality, such claims and conclusions are not scientific.
Old farmer russian
I have goats... for the moment I keep them.
W - Is radioactivity not a problem ?
F - Oh, we do not see it, it is invisible.
W - Some could even say that it is good for health.
F - For older people maybe. They say that it is more the young, the middle aged who die presently.
The older ones, they survive.
W - What about the health of children ?
F - Here is one who gets visits.
W - Does he have complaints ?
F - Yes, he has something here. In this street, there were about ten children. The street was
loud. This was before radiation. But now... the neighbours have 8 children, they are so... sleepy. No
more like the children before. They were running about, were sledging here, on the ice. Now they are
lying around sleeping, or just sitting.
Yablokov
We did not see the IAEA, immediately after Chernobyl, working positively for Chernobyl victims. We know why. I met Director Blix. He declared immediately after Chernobyl : "The atomic industry can take catastrophes like Chernobyl every year". This is the ideology of the IAEA regarding Chernobyl. This is a political conclusion. The conclusion of government’s representatives, who refuse to consider the obvious effects of Chernobyl.
title: A. Yablokov - ecologist
Comment
Alexey Yablokov, President of the Centre for Political Ecology of the Russian Federation at the Academy of Sciences, opposes the policy of Putin, who wants to welcome to Russian territory, radioactive waste from the International atomic industry.
Yablokov
There were irremediable falsifications of official data. Don’t you know that leaders of the State Committee for Statistics were arrested two years ago, for falsifying data? UNSCEAR knows it. They know that the data were falsified. They use them to declare that the consequences of Chernobyl are not so serious. They say there are no genetic effects in Chernobyl. But genetic effects will actually be the worst. Tens of serious scientific data, published in serious journals, show that genetic effects are serious. And another interesting example : today Prof. Bandazhevsky is tried. The prosecutor required 9 years of imprisonment. I think that our conference should send a message to the Court on his behalf. Bandazhevsky shows that unexpected deaths, sudden deaths are correlated to the amount of incorporated radio nuclides. If this is confirmed it is an essential source of data that we must add to the consequences of this catastrophe.
Bandazhevsky russian
I am sitting on a powder barrel which can explode any moment. In a situation that is absolutely unpredictable, in a time which is absolutely unpredictable.
title: Y. Bandazhevsky – pathologist Rector of the Medical Institute of Gomel.
Comment
After nine years of research in Chernobyl contaminated territories, Yuri Bandazhevsky, pathologist, discovered that Cs137 incorporation with food, at low doses, leads to the destruction of those vital organs where Cs137 concentrates at higher levels than the average body level. With his wife Galina, paediatric cardiologist, Bandazhevsky described the "Caesium
cardiomyopathy", which according to several scientists, will bear his name. The cardiac damage becomes irreversible at a certain level and duration of the Caesium intoxication. Sudden death may occur at any age, even in children. After publishing these results and denouncing the non-intervention policy of the government, Bandazhevsky was jailed for alleged corruption and held under house arrest, pending his trial.
Galina russian
When we discovered a correlation between cardiac lesions and incorporation of radiocesium, we had a violent family conflict. I did not accept those alterations, it was a discovery. We had discovered something new which was unknown before. Simply, I was scared because of this discovery.
W
But this represents an achievement for a scientist !
Galina
Yes, an achievement, but here one does not speak so much about the effects of radiation...
Bandazhevsky russian
Science is when one finds a constant correlation. Whatever the parameters. Following a logic.
W
Looking for causes ?
Yuri
The link between causes and effects, that's it. Some parameters may be known, but their combination a correlation, this is science. It was extremely important for me... - I lived for this until I was arrested - that people should know! Whoever tells them: Bandazhevsky, Bandazhevskaya, Sidorov or Petrov. Our children are dying !
Yablokov russian
Increase in spontaneous abortion Increase in mortality, in the number of ill and feeble newborns, in genetic defects, in congenital malformations. Increase in incidence of cancers. Impaired mental development. Increase in psychiatric diseases. Alterations of the immune system and of the hormonal balance. Diseases of the cardiovascular system… Abnormally slow growth of children, abnormally exhaustion. Delayed convalescence and premature ageing. At least, accept this list, at least! Bandazhevsky. The same professor Yuri Bandazhevsky : "Long term incorporated radio nuclides syndrome". A totally new syndrome. This is real. How is it possible to reject this ? It's science ! Silencing these facts seems to me incorrect.
Yarmonenko russian
In the name of the radiological Community in Russia, I want to apologize to the International Organizations. Numerous presentations showed the importance of their aid for the alleviation of the health effects of Chernobyl. I want to respond to the absolutely unprofessional declarations of Mr. Yablokov being neither radiologist, nor radiobiologist He lacks every competence We appreciate the work…
Preobrazhenskaya
Who paid you to say this ?
Yarmonenko
We appreciate the work of the International Organizations and hope that in the future it will continue with great success.
Yablokov
I must answer this. I am not opposed to International Organizations. I want them to take into account what I said here, and not close their eyes to the actual consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe.
title: S. Yarmonenko - radiobiologist
Comment
Author of a handbook for human and animal radiobiology, Professor Yarmonenko belongs to the team of Professor Iliine, who blocked the evacuation of a major part of the contaminated territories, by formulating the famous theory of the 35 Rem, as an acceptable radiation level for everybody, children, pregnant women, old and ill persons. In reality, the norms allowed by international radioprotection authorities for non professionals, are 5 times lower.
Gontcharova russian
Certainly, nobody will deny to the estimated Professor Yarmonenko the intangibility of certain postulates and bases of a certain science. This concerns also the radiobiology. But there is also the other side of the coin which is the acquisition of new knowledge. Here are absolutely new data, published recently by Japanese scientists of the Research Foundation on effects of Radiation in Japan. The first publication in 1999, shows that a somatic morbidity is induced by radiation.
Oxana Garnets
Please! we are discussing socio-psychological consequences ....
Gontcharova
I am precisely addressing socio-psychological aspects of the acquisition of new knowledge, and how they are understood by scientists. So...
Yarmonenko
Shame !
Oxana
Be so kind !...
Gontcharova
I am closing, allow me, do not disturb me.
Oxana
I am not disturbing you ! I ask you...
Voices in the audience
Let her continue, let her speak!
Gontcharova
Estimated Oxana Garnets I finish, it¹s my last sentence. I believe that Yarmonenko and all the others, sooner or later, we will accept this new information which we have, and we will use it to draw new conclusions. Thank you for your attention.
Yarmonenko
This is not a new information! Are you not ashamed? This is absolute nonsense !
title: R. Gontcharova - biologist geneticist
Comment
Member of the Genetic Institute of the Academy of Science of Belarus, Professor Rose Gontcharova studied genetic defects in fish and rodents. Those are worsening from year to year, in territories with low Cs137 contamination, 200 km from Chernobyl.
Nesterenko
Good morning, young man...
Comment
Radioactivity is measured in Becquerels : 50 Bq/kg bodyweight in the human organism, means that in a child weighing 10 kg, 500 artificial radioactive atoms disintegrate every second ?. Normal levels should be O Bq of Cs137/kg in the organism. 10.000 Bq were measured in this child.
Nesterenko russian
Every kilo of this bodyweight contains 1250 Becquerels. If his weight is 8 kilo, every second ten thousand gamma rays irradiate his cells from within, reaching the cardiac muscle, the eyes, impairing his mental development. This must stop.
title: V. Nesterenko - physicist
Comment
Professor V. Nesterenko experienced Chernobyl as a shock, which disrupted his life. Member of the Academy of Sciences of Belarus, this internationally renowned physicist had access, during soviet times, to the forbidden military cities. He understood immediately the seriousness of the accident and asked the Supreme Soviet for an immediate evacuation in an 100 km radius. Labelled as "fear monger", he lost his office as Director of the Atomic Energy Institute in Minsk. The KGB put him under pressure and he escaped 2 murder attempts.
With a group of experts and technicians, Nesterenko founded an Independent Institute, supported by international foundations. He measures the radioactivity in children, and informs families how to reduce the radio nuclide concentration in foodstuffs. He distributes to the most contaminated children a food additive : apple¹s pectin, a natural absorbent, which accelerates the excretion of radio nuclides from the organism.
Nesterenko
78 Bq/kg bodyweight! This is too much.
W - How much ?
N - 78, it's too much for this height, for this age! It is too much.
Comment
Nesterenko is the only scientist who systematically measures the internal artificial radioactivity. His measures show that contamination is 8 times higher than that published by the Minister of Health (Belarus), who tried to stop him. Nesterenko's work being legal, he did not succeed. According to Professor Bandazhevsky, over 50 Bq/kg bodyweight lead to irreversible lesions in vital organs.
Conversation Fernex-Gentner english
F - Don't you believe that for 15 years, the main part of Cs137 is internal ?
G - No. It's not internal. Are you talking about the external exposure that people receive ?
F - I am talking of the internal one, which they receive through food in very large population.
G - I refuse to consider whether an irradiation dose is internal or external, what counts is the dose
received by whatever mechanism and to prey on people's consciousness to say that somehow, because
it's internal, it's worse, doesn't do service to the people.
F - There are cardiac diseases found in humans, even in little children, which may lead to sudden
death.
G - OK, we know these complications, these things are happening. But to simply say that these things
have occurred following the accident, and to infer from that a blind acceptance that they are radiation
related, doesn't allow the public health officials of these countries to serve their people.
F - There are such correlations in children.
G - I have not seen any information on that.
F - There are universities in Belarus which have been working on this topic for nine years. You
never had any interest in their work ?
Nesterenko russian
I want to say that for 15 years new children were born who, thanks to God, did not experience the first radioactive shock. For 15 years, they have eaten contaminated food. Children receive the highest doses, because the dose coefficients in a 3 year old child, are 5 times higher than in adults. Contaminate food spreads like locusts In the whole Republic. It is not surprising to find in Minsk, children with a dose load of 700 900 Bq. I want to draw your attention on the research of Prof. Bandazhevsky. We worked with him. He came to the conclusion that 50 Bq/kg bodyweight in children, represent a threshold where pathologies appear in vital organs like kidneys, liver, heart and others. I want to say that today the health of children is such that if we do not take urgent measures, I cannot see good prospects for our children. Thank you.
Savkin russian
You said that your data show that children Represent the most irradiated population compared to adults. Official spectrometric data, presented by the Minister of Health, show that the critical groups are adult professional groups. You find that it is children. How do you explain in Belarus this fundamental contradiction: children representing the critical group for internal irradiation by Caesium?
Nesterenko
We measure the whole population then we isolate the critical group. We isolate the 10 - 15 most contaminated individuals. Eight out of ten are children. Also tractor drivers and forest workers, sometimes retired persons who gather great quantities of berries and mushroom in forests. This is what our measurements show. We have 110.000 results. We always thought that children with a high metabolism should not concentrate much. But, I repeat, we find the highest concentrations in the children.
title: M. Savkin - radiobiologist
Comment
Vice-Director of the Scientific Centre for Biophysics in Moscow, Dr. Savkin is a member of the International Commission for Radiation Protection (ICRP). He believes that the internal irradiation is marginal, compared to the external irradiation.
Guskova russian
I think that, the normalisation of the situation in the society should not come by lowering the radiation doses which are already very low, but by reconstructing the structure of the society, jobs, health assistance, treating illnesses, which are not caused by radioactivity but appear in those persons.
title: A. Guskova - radiobiologist
Comment
In 86, Dr. Guskova was the chief physician of the Hospital No 6 of the Kurciatov Nuclear Research Institute in Moscow. She belongs to the group of soviet scientists, who, in accordance with the IAEA, minimized the radiological component, by psychiatrizing the health problems, using the diagnosis of radio phobia and stress .
Busby english
I myself presented a paper with Molly Scott, relating to an increase in infant leukaemia in 5 different countries of Europe and also in the United States, and this was certainly, and unambiguously, an effect of Chernobyl.
Yarmonenko russian
Today, fifteen years after the accident, It is perfectly clear that the radiological factor is not predominant. What caused acute effects is finished. It remains a factor, not a sole cause, but in combination with an enormous range of social factors. Now that all is finished, one must not believe that it is necessary to eliminate who knows what isotope, struggle against who knows what radio-induced chronic pathology... No.
Preobrazhenskaya russian
We are not ill because we have no bread. We are ill precisely because of the radiological factor. Thank you.
Boy 1
I have a high blood pressure, head ache when the pressure is high. In 1998, I had a stroke and remained
3 months in the hospital.
W - What happened after the stroke ?
B1 - Paralysis of the left leg, arm and here, the left side of my face.
Boy 2
I have a congenital heart defect.
W - How are you feeling ?
B2 - I am feeling... normal.
W - Does your heart hurt you ?
B2 - It hurts.
Boy 3
When I run, I feel a pain.
W - Where exactly ?
B3 - Here.
Boy 4
When I was 3 months old they discovered a heart defect. I am always coming here.
Girl
W - Can you play ? Run ?
G - No.
W - Why ?
G - Breathlessness, difficulty running... Black before the eyes.
Physician russian
W - Statistically speaking, is this normal in children ?
P - No. Quantitatively the incidence is increasing among children.
W - It continues to grow ?
P - Yes, and the ecology is certainly playing a role.
W - Does that mean Chernobyl ?
P - Of course.
W - Has it worsened ?
P - Yes it has not improved the health, neither of children neither of the population at large.
Boy 5
I had already three infarctions... cardiac crisis.
W - Three crisis ?
B5 - Yes, and a gastritis.
W - When did you have those crisis ?
B5 - When I was younger, still at primary school.
W - How old are you ?
B5 - 12 year old.
Physician
W
Is it normal to have adult illnesses at this age ?
P
No, one can say that the concept of age of appearance of such diseases has changed very much. Many
illnesses which formerly occurred only in adults, we now see them In our children.
Oletchka
I have been ill since I was 7 years old.
W - How old are you now ?
O - Already 14.
W - What is your illness ?
O - Systemic collagenosis.
P - What is hurting you ?
O - My heart is hurting.
Physician
W
Are you measuring them with spectrometers to find out if their body is contaminated ?
P
This is not possible in our hospital, but for children living in territories under strict control, mobile laboratories are going there, and the children are measured. But all our regions do not fall into this category.
Comment
Health ministries in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia do not establish a link between internal contamination in children and the diseases treated in hospitals. If they did, and if the correlation found by Bandazhevsky, between the Cs137 concentration and lesions in vital organs, were systematically checked, an effective prevention policy would become possible, regarding the worrisome increase of new disease, in children living in contaminated regions.
Conversation Zupka-Nesterenko russian
Zupka
Your problem is that in the UN we cannot get those statistics. None of the governments are sending them to us.
Nesterenko
We will give them to you !
Zupka
Without official statistics we can do nothing. We get no information neither from Ukraine, nor Belarus, nor Russia.
Nesterenko
I will give you the presentation by Professor Bandazhevsky. You know that he faces now a trial.
Zupka
I know, I know very well.
Comment
On June 18, Yuri Bandazhevsky, author of more than 400 scientific publications and eight monographs, owner of seven patents, member of five academies, recipient of five International Awards, was condemned by the Military Court of the Supreme Court of Belarus, to eight years in a working camp, for alleged corruption. One year of enquiry could produce no proof against him.
Prosecutor russian
Look at the testimony by Yankelevich, he declared : "Yes, I gave 7.000 dollars to Bandazhevsky for admitting two students in his Institute". Is this no proof ?
Comment
Amnesty International adopted Bandazhevsky as a prisoner of conscience. The European Parliament gave him the Passport for Liberty, demanding that he be allowed to resume his research. The European Union called for a revision of the trial, stained by 8 violations of the Belarussian Criminal Code.
TV Moscow
Are you guilty ?
Bandazhevsky
No !
TV
Is your sentence justified ?
Bandazhevsky
No ! I fully reject the accusation !
Comment
The importance of the conference lies in the adoption of a final resolution. The recommendations will be the founding basis of the governments decisions on radioprotection. Every word will be weighed and discussed, because the future health of millions of people, and also the good reputation of the nuclear industry, depend on them.
Conversation Yarmonenko-Nyagu russian
Y
It is a catastrophe undoubtedly. But not a radiological one !
N
Please, calm yourself. You are like Dr. Guskova, a worried soul.
Y
How can I be calm, I am working on the next edition of my book, my handbook, and here everything ends in chaos.
N
There will be a great turmoil over the draft of the resolution. We will work on it with you, this evening.
Y
With pleasure...
N
Even the IAEA understands that they must turn around difficulties, but you, you are shooting right away.
Y
This is true : one needs diplomacy. Accepting only competence.
W
Do you think that it is not a radiological accident ?
Y
The radiological factor exists among others, but it is the smallest.
W
Very well.
Y - Who is this ?
N - The Swiss television.
Y - What ? Television ?
N - Swiss television.
Y - Oh ! the Swiss TV is like ours.
Comment
According to the line maintained by the three UN Agencies, the authors of the final resolution do not mention in its text the new scientific evidence presented at the conference, concerning the health effects of Cs137, incorporated in the body.
Today, 16 years after the Chernobyl catastrophe, out of 100 children, only 20 are declared healthy. Before 1986, they were 80.
The IAEA, the UNSCEAR and the WHO, who do not study the effects of the internal contamination by incorporated radio nuclides, have no explanation for the increased incidence of somatic pathologies in those children.
sound: Romano Cavazzoni; Olga Kirichenko
editing: Emanuela Andreoli
direction: Wladimir Tchertkoff
production: FALO'; Aldo Sofia - Mario Casella
copyright; TSI Swiss Television 2002
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