Chernobyl was one of the largest and most powerful nuclear reactors in the former Soviet Union. It was used to power the part of the U.S.S.R. now known as Ukraine. Also it was thought of as one of the safest nuclear reactors in the world. But on April 26, 1986 something went terribly wrong and it is now thought of as the worst nuclear disaster in history. It killed over 100,000 people with its radiation and is still expected to contribute to the deaths of over 300,000 people.

Many of the town's residents would die of illnesses related to the accident in the days, months, or years following. A new Greenpeace report has revealed that the Chernobyl disaster could be responsible for more than a quarter of a million cancer cases and nearly 100,000 cancer deaths.  The group requiring most help from this terrible accident includes people who continue to live in severely contaminated areas and who are unable to support themselves adequately, resettlers who are unemployed, and people whose health is most directly threatened, for instance by thyroid cancer. These 100 000 to 200 000 people are caught in a downward spiral of isolation, poor health and poverty; and need substantial material help to rebuild their lives.

Children are especially vulnerable

In Ukraine, more than a million children are considered affected by the 1986 nuclear disaster, which sent a radioactive cloud over much of Europe.Today, the dilemma of most of the 6 million people who live in or near contaminated areas is not considered terrible enough to permit evacuation. Although hundreds of towns and villages are considered livable, the surrounding fields, lake beds and forest floors that provide them with food and water remain polluted.

Nearly all Bryansk residents suffer health problems, to which children are especially vulnerable. The greatest source of anxiety, however, remains fear of the genetic defects that might affect future generations. Young people, especially those planning to have children, try to move as far away as possible. For economic reasons however, few have that option.“Adults think that 20 years have passed, and the problems are over,” said Lubov Olefirenko, head of the Russian Children's Fund in Bryansk. “So it's up to the children to keep the fight alive.”

Increased incidence of childhood thyroid cancer caused by radioactive fallout has been the most dramatic health impact of Chernobyl as there are over 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer affecting the children. Also, a whole generation of children are growing up potentially brain-damaged. http://www.unicef.org/health/ukraine_33604.html

Many children are seriously ill as a result of the Chernobyl disaster. Large tracts of farmland are unusable. Government welfare is nonexistent. Malnutrition is rife. There is huge unemployment. Those lucky enough to have jobs have not been paid for more than a year - or they receive payment in crates of vodka. Children take it in turns to attend school - because they share one pair of shoes.

The Catholic church is proving to be a lifeline, For 50 years the churches were closed and Catholics were not allowed to practice their faith, she said: 'People were overjoyed when churches began to reopen. Many broke down in tears when they were allowed to attend Mass for the first time. It was incredible that they managed to preserve their faith through so many years of oppression.' Besides bringing back the Mass, the Sacraments and running catachetical programmes, the church is also giving hope in the form of practical help.

Throughout the region, teams of dedicated, hard-working young priests and religious and lay workers are setting up voluntary welfare training schemes, soup kitchens and clothing banks - supplied by Friends of Poland. 'Conditions are appalling,' Julie Hykiel the organiser said. 'In order to be treated at a hospital, would-be patients must first bribe the doctors and nurses - who have not been paid for a year. Then they have to bring their own bedding, food, medicines, dressings, soap and all hospital disposables. It is an impossible situation. Pensioners also have not been paid for a year and have no way of purchasing medicine or care. '

Without the church, the plight of these people would be hopeless. We are doing what we can to support their work.' The charity has a warehouse in West London where they collect supplies. Four times a year they send out a 15 ton articulated truck filled with supplies to parishes in the Ukraine. Julie Hykiel said: 'We still need medicines of all kinds. We are also short of soap and toothpaste. Many people are suffering from skin problems as scurvy is rife and the water is only on for two hours a day. http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news.php?viewStory=10290

Psychological impact

The Chernobyl accident resulted in many people being traumatized by the rapid relocation, the breakdown in social contacts, fear and anxiety about what health effects might result. There persistent psychological or mental health problems still with the people as any traumatic accident or event can cause the incidence of stress symptoms, depression, anxiety (including post-

traumatic stress symptoms), and medically unexplained physical symptoms. Such effects have also been reported in Chernobyl-exposed populations. Three studies found that exposed populations had anxiety levels that were twice as high as every day people, and they were 3–4 times more likely to report multiple unexplained physical symptoms and subjective poor health than others.

In general, although the psychological consequences found in Chernobyl exposed populations are similar to those in atomic bombing survivors.Individuals in the affected populations were officially categorized as “sufferers”, and came to be known colloquially as “Chernobyl victims,” a term that was soon adopted by the mass media. This label, along with the extensive government benefits allocated for evacuees and residents of the contaminated territories, had the effect of encouraging individuals to think of themselves as invalids. It is known that people’s perceptions — even if false — can affect the way they feel and act. Thus, rather than perceiving themselves as “ survivors,” many of those people have come to think of themselves as helpless, weak and lacking control over their future.

The psychological distress caused by the accident and its consequences has affected the behaviour of individuals and whole communities. To date, the impact on mental health is the largest public health problem resulting from the accident.

The affected populations are very anxious about the effect of radiation on health and, through their behaviour, they may transfer that anxiety to their children. Many people believe that those exposed to radiation are inevitably condemned to a shorter life expectancy. Paradoxically, although they are worried about their health, many residents take risks such as eating food from

contaminated forests, smoking and drinking.

Rather than any radiation-related illnesses, the main causes of death in the Chernobyl-affected region are the same as in other regions: cardiovascular diseases, injuries and poisonings. The most pressing health concerns are poor diet, alcohol and tobacco use, as well as poverty and limited access to primary health care.

Added to exaggerated or misplaced health fears, a sense of victimization and dependency created by government benefit systems is widespread in the affected areas. This dependency culture is a major barrier to the region’s recovery. Therefore, affected individuals and communities need measures that give them control over their own lives.

This statement from the Catechism of the Catholic Church provides a moral context for the psychological issues that apply to nuclear energy and it’s destruction:

“Man must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things which would be in contempt of the Creator and would bring disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment" (§ 337).

The Poor and Relocated (refugees)

(OPTION FOR THE POOR is a Catholic Social Teaching)

Since the Chernobyl accident, more than 330 000 people have been relocated outside the most severely contaminated areas. This has reduced their exposure to radiation, but for many, it has been a deeply traumatic experience.

Today, many resettlers are unemployed and believe they have little control over their own lives and no place in society. Many resettlers would like to return to their native villages and some older people may never adjust.People who remained in their villages have coped better psychologically with the accident's aftermath than have those who were resettled to less contaminated areas. However, as a result of resettlement and voluntary migration, the percentage of elderly people in contaminated areas is abnormally high. The population is aging, which means that the number of deaths exceeds the number of births, and this has encouraged the belief that

the areas concerned were dangerous places to live. Moreover, because a large proportion of skilled, educated and entrepreneurial people have left the region, the chances for economic recovery are reduced and schools, hospitals and many other organisations are short of qualified specialists, even when pay is relatively high.

Although resettlement reduced the population’s radiation doses, it was for many a deeply traumatic experience. Even when resettlers were compensated for their losses, offered free houses and given a choice of resettlement location, many retained a deep sense of injustice about the process. Many are unemployed and believe they are without a place in society and have little control over their own lives. Some older resettlers may never adjust.

Opinion polls suggest that many resettlers wished to return to their native villages. Ironically, people who remained in their villages (and even more so the “ self-settlers,” those who were evacuated and then returned to their homes despite restrictions) have coped better psychologically with the accident’s aftermath than have those who were resettled to less affected areas.

Communities in the affected areas suffer from a highly distorted demographic structure. As a result of resettlement and voluntary migration, the percentage of elderly individuals in affected areas is abnormally high. In some districts, the population of pensioners equals or already exceeds the working-age population. In fact, the more contaminated a region, the older its population. A large proportion of skilled, educated and entrepreneurial people have also left the region, hampering the chances for economic recovery and raising the risk of poverty.

The departure of young people has also had psychological effects. An aging population naturally means that the number of deaths exceeds the number of births, yet this fact has encouraged the belief that the areas concerned were dangerous places to live. Schools, hospitals, agricultural cooperatives, utility companies and many other organisations are short of qualified specialists, even when pay is relatively high, so the delivery of social services is also threatened.

The agricultural sector is the area of the economy that was worst hit by the effects of the Chernobyl accident. Large areas of agricultural land were removed from service, and timber production was stopped in many forests. In addition, many farmers could not sell foodstuffs because they were contaminated.

“Clean food” production has remained possible in many areas thanks to remediation efforts, but this food was not only expensive to produce, but also difficult to sell. Many consumers refused to buy products from contaminated areas and this has particularly affected the food processing industry.

This environmental problem of nuclear destruction is closely connected to justice for the poor. "The goods of the earth, which in the divine plan should be a common patrimony," Pope John Paul II has reminded us, "often risk becoming the monopoly of a few who often spoil it and, sometimes destroy it, thereby creating a loss for all humanity" (October 25, 1991 Address at Conference Marking the Presentation of the Second Edition of the St. Francis "Canticle of the Creatures" International Award for the Environment).

The option for the poor embedded in the Gospel and the Church's teaching makes us aware that the poor suffer most directly from environmental decline and have the least access to relief from their suffering. Indigenous people die with their forests and grasslands. In Bhopal and Chernobyl, it was the urban poor and working people who suffered the most immediate and intense contamination. Nature will truly enjoy its second spring only when humanity has compassion for its own members.

In Pope Benedict's XVI encyclical, he teaches us that "the Church has a responsibility towards creation and she must assert this responsibility in the public sphere. In so doing, she must defend not only earth, water and air as gifts of creation that belong to everyone. She must above all protect mankind from self-destruction" (Caritas in Veritate § 51).

In assessing the value and the dangers of nuclear energy, the Catholic Church would very much like the environmental and ecological questions to be addressed. A potential nuclear disaster, tragic for human beings, also threatens the very environment in a way no other technology does. Chernobyl was an example of what a nuclear disaster can do. Therefore maximum care has to be taken that the environment, the very habitat of humankind, be kept safe actually and potentially. http://www.rk-world.org/dharmaworld/dw_2013octdec_nuclear-power-and-contemporary-religion.aspx

In 2001, Pope John Paul II said:

“Recalling the tragic effects provoked by the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident, thoughts turn to future generations. It is necessary to prepare for them a future of peace, free from fears and similar threats,” he said.

“May what we remember today with sadness never repeat itself.”

The pope made his remarks during a meeting with several hundred Ukrainian children and the Italian families hosting them for medical treatment related to the radiation leak.

POPE FRANCIS: ON CARE FOR OUR COMMON HOME

Pope Francis also has brought forward the issue of nuclear energy in Laudato Si’ – On Care for Our Common Home:

“Account must also be taken of the pollution produced by residue, including dangerous waste present in different areas. Each year hundreds of millions of tons of waste are generated, much of it non- biodegradable, highly toxic and radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and demolition sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources” (§ 21).

“Humanity has entered a new era in which our technical prowess has brought us to a crossroads (§102).... It must also be recognized that nuclear energy, biotechnology, information technology, knowledge of our DNA, and many other abilities which we have acquired, have given us tremendous power. More precisely, they have given those with the knowledge, and especially the economic resources to use them, an impressive dominance over the whole of humanity and the entire world. Never has humanity had such power over itself, yet nothing ensures that it will be used wisely, particularly when we consider how it is currently being used” (§104).

“Some projects, if insufficiently studied, can profoundly affect the quality of life of an area due to very different factors such as unforeseen noise pollution, the shrinking of visual horizons, the loss of cultural values, or the effects of nuclear energy use. The culture of consumerism, which prioritizes short-term gain and private interest, can make it easy to rubber-stamp authorizations or to conceal information” (§184).