A detailed study reveals that
3.8–4.0% of all deaths in the contaminated territories of Ukraine
and Russia from 1990 to 2004 were caused by the Chernobyl
catastrophe.… Since 1990, mortality among liquidators has exceeded
the mortality rate in corresponding population groups.
From 112,000 to 125,000 liquidators died before 2005—that
is, some 15% of the 830,000 members of the Chernobyl
cleanup teams. The calculations suggest that
the Chernobyl catastrophe has already killed several
hundred thousand human beings in a population of
several hundred million that was unfortunate enough
to live in territories affected by the fallout.
Much of the report is devoted to the jump in
incidence after Chernobyl of a huge range of diseases
induced by radiation: diseases of the endocrine,
blood, respiratory, nervous and lymphatic systems;
compromised immune systems; chromosomal aberrations; congenital
malformations in children; Down syndrome; urogenital
tract diseases; reproductive disorders.
Some of the statistical graphs in Chernobyl-related diseases
only recently began to rise, and will continue to do so. One 2007
study by M.V. Malko predicts an incidence of cancer caused by
Chernobyl in Europe, including Belarus, Ukraine and European
Russia, from 1986 to 2056, at 130,405 and fatalities at 89,851.