Twenty years ago the nuclear power station Chernobyl exploded. Millions of people were completely unprepared for the catastrophe. The attempt to hush up the disaster prevented important measures from being taken to protect the population. Important data concerning the details of the accident and about the damage caused by radiation were not documented, kept secret or fabricated.

Until today, the effects have not been properly registered and described. Important international committees have submitted to the practice of covering up. In 1991, the “Chernobyl Project”, directed by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, came to the conclusion that there were no health problems which could be related directly to the radiation dose people were exposed to. The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) explained in 2000 that apart from thyroid cancer among children there was no proof of an increase in cancer illnesses related to the radiation dose. In addition, since 2003, the organizations of the United Nations (UN), in the so-called “Chernobyl Forum”, have been working on the formulation of appeasing terminology. The manager of the radiation program at the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. M. Repacholi, declared in September 2005 in Vienna: “The main message of the Chernobyl Forum is: there is no call for unease.”

There are, however, a large number of physicians and scientists from the affected countries, like the Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, as well as from other European countries farther away from Chernobyl, who have come to completely different results. As a result, the aim of the conference at the Charité Hospital from 3rd - 5th April is to present the research and results of these people, and ensure their circulation. The organizers are the German Society for Radiation Protection and the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR), supported by the German section of the IPPNW (International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War) and the specialized news service Strahlentelex (Radiation telex). The conference committee hopes to be able to help the people affected in a more effective manner and to make sure that their health problems are correctly registered. We invite physicians, scientists and technicians to also present and discuss previously unconsidered research results, and results difficult to publish from the Chernobyl context. The conference aims primarily at the further education of physicians, experts and specialized journalists. However, interested citizens, representatives of Chernobyl initiatives and politicians interested in informing themselves about the scientific foundations of their radiation protection efforts are invited. Congress languages will be German, Russian and English, with simultaneous interpreting.

For further information and contact:
Gesellschaft für Strahlenschutz e.V. (GSS),
Dr. Sebastian Pflugbeil, President
Gormannstrasse 17,
D-10119 Berlin, Germany,
fax: +49 30 44342834
E-Mail: Pflugbeil.KvT@t online.de

Organization and coordination:
GSS c/o Thomas Dersee,
Waldstr. 49,
D-15566 Schöneiche bei Berlin, Germany,
fax: +49 30 64329167
E-Mail: thomasdersee@strahlentelex.de