Chornobyl conference slated for Columbia and Yale (03/17/96)

Chornobyl conference slated for Columbia and Yale

NEW YORK - On April 8-9, the Harriman Institute at Columbia University and the Center for Russian and East European Studies at Yale will co-host a two-day conference to examine the long-term impact of the Chornobyl nuclear accident and to address the broad spectrum of environmental and medical crises that continue to plague Ukraine, Belarus and neighboring countries.

The conference will bring together some of the leading international experts on Chornobyl's aftermath. Among these will be Prof. David Marples of the University of Alberta, Dr. Alexander Sich of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and Dr. Murray Feshbach, author of the groundbreaking treatise titled "Ecocide in the USSR."

The opening panel will also include Alla Yaroshinska, the award-winning journalist who uncovered secret internal memos from the Soviet Politburo which proved that the government covered up the widespread incidence of acute radiation sickness among thousands of Chornobyl victims. The "secret protocols" were published in Izvestiya and provided conclusive evidence that then President Mikhail Gorbachev was fully informed of the scope of the accident and that he deliberately tried to mislead the public and the Western news media about the severity of the threat to public health and safety.

The first day of the conference, from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., will be held at the Luce Center for International Studies at 32 Hillhouse Ave., on the Yale Campus in New Haven, Conn.

On April 9 the conference will reconvene at 9 a.m. at Altschul Auditorium at the School for International and Public Affairs, 420 W. 118th St. (ground floor) at Columbia University.

"We hope that this will be much more than a retrospective on the events of 1986," said Prof. Mark Von Hagen, director of the Harriman Institute and a leading scholar on Ukrainian affairs. "The legacy of Chornobyl continues, and this conference is planned as a constructive step in the quest for solutions to the many problems still affecting the contaminated regions."

Titled "Chornobyl Challenge '96" the conference is part of the nationwide campaign being mobilized under the same name to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Chornobyl accident.

"Chornobyl is one of the most daunting challenges confronting the scientific community and global policy-makers," said Alex Kuzma, coordinator of the Chornobyl Challenge '96 coalition and director of development for the Children of Chornobyl Foundation.

"Beyond the immediate need for medical relief, the nations of Ukraine and Belarus are facing the massive task of cleaning up thousands of acres of contaminated land and irradiated equipment left over from the 1986 emergency. They also need to reduce their dependency on Soviet-built reactors, which everyone agrees are dangerously substandard, and to develop benign energy alternatives," he added.

A special workshop on Ukraine's energy policy will explore the potential for greater energy efficiency in the industrial sector, biomass and other promising technologies.

"We hope to offer useful insights and perspectives based on the successes of Western environmental programs, and the initiatives of other developing nations," said Susan Holmes, program director for the conference at Columbia University. "We also need to remain sensitive to the unique circumstances surrounding Chornobyl and the unprecedented nature of this accident."

Numerous government officials from Ukraine and the United States are also scheduled to address the conference. These include U.S. Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (D-Conn.) and Rep. Benjamin Gilman (R-N.Y.), chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. Both have been outspoken advocates of greater U.S. assistance to the Chornobyl region.

Also featured will be Deputy Volodymyr Yavorivsky, a prominent member of the Ukrainian Parliament and a former commissioner for Chornobyl relief efforts, and Vice-Prime Minister Vasyl Durdynets, chairman of humanitarian affairs in the Ukrainian government's Cabinet of Ministers.

Principal funding for the conference has been provided by Columbia University with a supporting grant from the Shevchenko Scientific Society. The cost of admission to the conference will be $35 per person for both days, or $20 per day. Admission will be free for students and faculty with valid Columbia or Yale University identification.

For more information, contact Susan Holmes at the Harriman Institute, (212) 854-8487; Ellis Mishulovich at the Yale Center for East European Studies, (203) 432-3423, or the Children of Chornobyl Foundation, (201) 376-5140.

| Home Page |