Facts about the parts of Russia affected by the accident.

No. 5: The rural Bryansk region is the most severely contaminated territory in Russia. © Itartass Sources (2.2)  UNDP/UNICEF: The Human Consequences of the Chernobyl Nuclear Accident. A Strategy for Recovery, January, 2002, p. 35 (4.4)  Gabriele Mraz, Antonia Wenisch: Der Reaktorunfall in Tschernobyl. Darstellung der Folgen für Umwelt und Gesundheit aus der Sicht verschiedener Interessengruppen, Austrian Institute for Applied Ecology, Wien, 1986/87, p. 9 (29.1)  Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defense Affairs, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters (EMERCOM of Russia): Chernobyl Accident, Results and Problems in Eliminating the Consequences in Russia 1986 - 2001, Moscow, 2001, p. 3 (36.1)  www:Medicine Worldwide, Tschernobyl, p. 2 www.onmeda.de (78.1)  United Nations, General Assembly, New York, Oktober 2001, p. 4 Links Russian linklist on the Chernobyl disaster (en) http://www.ibrae.ac.ru... Chernobyl Union of Russia http://www.souzchernobyl.ru... Russian National Chernobyl Report 1986-2001 (en) http://www.ibrae.ac.ru... Glossary Reactor Radiation and radioactivity

Information on the affected parts of Russia
Of the total area of 17 million km2 comprised by the Russian Federation (the state that succeeded the Soviet Union), 1.5 per cent is contaminated by radiation from the Chernobyl accident. 19 regions were affected, especially the areas around the cities of Bryansk, Kaluga, Tula and Orel. These lie in the westernmost part of the Russian Federation, close to the border with Belarus. At the time of the accident, about 2.7 million people lived in these areas. Today, about 2 million men, women and children continue to live there (78.1).

These figures, however, depict only part of Russia's Chernobyl problem. 200 000 of the 800 000 "liquidators" (soldiers deployed to clean up the reactor compound) came from Russia. According to official reports from the three former Soviet states affected, 25 000 of these liquidators have since died (36.1).

Costs incurred by the Russian state as a result of the nuclear disaster totalled about USD 3.8 billion between 1992 and 1998. Of this sum, USD 3 billion was paid in compensation to the helpers and victims (2.2; 4.4; 29.1).