http://ecocentric.blogs.time.com/2011/04/22/how-many-did-chernobyl-kill-more-than-4000/How many did Chernobyl kill? More than 4,000....
Posted by Eben Harrell Friday, April 22, 2011 at 11:28 am
April 26 will mark the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident. I'll be publishing a story on the day that, with the help of TIME's Kiev-based stringer James Marson, will show how the effects of the meltdown continue to be felt in the region. Nuclear accidents require the work of generations to clean-up. That's a troubling lesson for Japan.
One piece of information both James and I have found almost impossible to ascertain is the number of people actually killed by the release of radiation during the disaster. The authoritative figure often cited comes from a UN's World Health Organization's press release dated Sept. 5, 2005 that states that "A total of up to 4000 people could eventually die of radiation exposure from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) accident nearly 20 years ago."
Turns out, however, that this figure was never meant to be the definitive estimate. WHO's spokesman Gregory Härtl says it's a partial figure selected by the public relations company that put together the press release; it only refers to deaths in the most heavily affected regions near the plant.