Belarus' colossal experience of reviving radiation-polluted areas emphasized

MINSK, 22 April (BelTA) - Belarus has gained colossal experience in rehabilitating contaminated territories. The importance of this was noted by Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxim Ryzhenkov, who took part in a Council for Sustainable Development session dedicated to the 40th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident on 22 April, BelTA has learned.

The head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs drew attention to the fact that "exactly forty years separate us from the day that divided history into 'before' and 'after,' forever changing the lives of millions of people in Belarus and beyond. On 26 April 1986, the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred, becoming the largest man-made catastrophe in human history and remaining so to this day. For Belarus, which bore the brunt of that accident, it is not just a paragraph in a history textbook or the name of a population center. Radiation contamination covered a quarter of the territory of the Republic of Belarus while for Ukraine that figure was about 6-7%, and for Russia it was 1.5%."

He also stated: "As a result of the Chernobyl accident, Belarus, unfortunately, forever lost some of its lands from the point of view of economic use: human life over there will probably never be possible, at least in the near future for sure. Four decades ago, nearly 2.5 million of our citizens found themselves under the impact of an invisible enemy. And in essence, after World War Two and the Great Patriotic War [of 1941-1945], this was the second most severe tragedy for Belarus in terms of its impact on the economy and people's destinies. In this regard, it is quite logical that we took on the role of forced leadership in matters of eliminating the consequences of the Chernobyl accident."

Belarus had to employ more of its own resources than other affected states to minimize the consequences of that catastrophe.

"Looking back over the past 40 years, we are grateful for the unprecedented international assistance provided to our state, especially back then - at the beginning. It was an era when Chernobyl brought people together rather than divided them. In those difficult years Belarus did not remain alone with its misfortune. We were interested in using foreign potential to rehabilitate the affected areas and treat our citizens," said Maxim Ryzhenkov. "Today we are also grateful to various countries for the assistance and support provided. Virtually all countries of the world were among them, in different capacities, but everyone helped us."

He recalled that as a university student during those years he traveled with groups of Belarusian children, accompanying them for rehabilitation, to some Eastern European countries that may not have been in the best economic situation themselves, but treated the arriving children with all warmth and sincerity.

"Many of our children underwent rehabilitation far away - in Western countries - thousands and thousands of our kids," the minister continued. "We are grateful to various foreign non-governmental charitable organizations, including the American organization Ramapo Children of Chernobyl and the Irish organization Chernobyl Children International, and many others. There were many such organizations. We received the necessary humanitarian aid for displaced people, assistance with the treatment and rehabilitation of children affected by radiation as well as various types of technical assistance to reduce radiation levels and restore contaminated lands."

In turn, foreign scientists received a unique opportunity to conduct research of utmost importance on the effects of radiation in real conditions in Belarus. This knowledge later proved useful to many of those states when tragedies of the same kind - perhaps not in scale, but in essence - occurred in their own territory.