The Legacy of Chernobyl by Zhores A. Medvedev, Medvedev

From the Publisher

On the morning of April 26, 1986, a Soviet nuclear plant at Chernobyl (near Kiev) exploded, pouring radioactivity into the environment and setting off the worst disaster in the history of nuclear energy. Now a former Soviet scientist gives a comprehensive account of the catastrophe.

Publishers Weekly

The Chernobyl reactor disaster in April 1986 forced the permanent evacuation of some 100,000 people; more than half a million citizens in the Soviet Union and surrounding countries were showered with dangerous levels of radiation. Soviet biologist Medvedev forcefully argues that consumption of contaminated agricultural products, rather than the immediate fallout, will cause most of the health problems associated with this catastrophe, including a marked increase in cancer. He disputes the official version of the accident, which placed emphasis on human negligence while minimizing the reactor design flaws, which are pinpointed here. There were several previous nuclear accidents in the U.S.S.R.; the secrecy surrounding them was a major contributory factor in the runaway chain reaction at Chernobyl, Medvedev charges. The most comprehensive and revealing account of Chernobyl to date, this report gauges the political impact of the inflationary energy crisis precipitated by the 1986 meltdown. (June)

Library Journal

Noted scientist Medvedev makes the most comprehensive examination to date of the April 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power accident in the Soviet Union, also the subject of Robert Gale's Final Warning ( LJ 5/15/88) and Iurii Scherbak's Chernobyl: A Documentary Story ( LJ 8/89). Medvedev presents new information in a number of technical areas and addresses environmental, agricultural, technological, public health, and political repercussions of the accident. He also provides a history of accidents in the Soviet Union, and discusses the future of nuclear power in the Soviet Union and around the world. In a particularly interesting segment of the book, he argues that the Chernobyl catastrophe contributed to the implementation of perestroika. Despite its technical terminology, this book remains accessible to general readers and will be a valuable resource to those concerned with the future of nuclear power.-- Jennifer Scarlott, World Policy Inst., New York

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