[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 55 (Thursday, April 25, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4261-S4262]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      COMMEMORATING THE TENTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHERNOBYL TRAGEDY

 Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I rise today to solemnly commemorate 
the tenth anniversary of the worst nuclear accident since the dawn of 
the nuclear age.
  On April 26, 1986, a flawed structural design and operator error 
caused a sudden power surge within reactor number four at the V.I. 
Lenin atomic power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine.
  The resulting chemical explosion vaporized nuclear fuel, melted the 
reactor's substandard shell and released into the atmosphere a 
gigantic, 180-ton cloud of deadly radioactive iodine, cesium and other 
lethal isotopes--containing 200 times the amount of radioactive 
material emitted during the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
  Within a 4-month period, 31 power plant employees and cleanup workers 
died of acute radiation poisoning. Tens of thousands of other Ukrainian 
and Belarusian men, women and children suffered radiation sickness. 
Invisible fallout--detected as far away as California--contaminated 
forever more than 10 million acres of nearby forests and farmland, 
permanently poisoning the local food chain.
  When the magnitude and the severity of the catastrophe became clear, 
close to 200,000 people were hastily and permanently evacuated from the 
rich, fertile land which was their home for generations. The Chernobyl 
area--once lush with old-growth forests rich in mushrooms, berries and 
other medicinal herbs--is now a 30 kilometer dead zone.
  Human habitation is strictly forbidden.
  A decaying, 24-story concrete tomb known as the sarcophagus now 
encases the destroyed reactor, serving as a grim reminder of this dark 
page in human history.
  A decade later, those affected continue to struggle with the 
lingering health effects. The incidence of adolescent thyroid cancer 
throughout northern Ukraine and nearby Belarus is an astounding 200 
percent higher than average, due in part to the consumption of poisoned 
milk.
  Already 800 children have contracted the disease, and experts say 
that as many as 5,000 will develop it.
  The incidence of radiation-related birth defects in the region has 
doubled. A team of British and Russian scientists recently concluded 
that genetic DNA mutations caused by radiation poisoning are being 
passed along to a generation of children who did not even exist at the 
time of the accident.
  Whether these malformations will affect the future health of these 
children is a mystery.

[[Page S4262]]

  Many surviving Chernobyl victims also suffer from a myriad of 
psychological disorders, more difficult to identify and treat but every 
bit as harmful as the physiological effects of radiation.
  Sadly, a recent study comparing mortality rates before and after the 
disaster places the total number of fatalities at roughly 32,000.
  Despite these disturbing findings, we really know very little.
  Information on radiation exposure is incomplete and unreliable, and 
many of those affected have moved or relocated hampering study efforts. 
Others may suffer from yet-to-be diagnosed diseases caused by prolonged 
exposure to unsafe levels of background radiation.
  It is unlikely that we will ever know the true scope of this tragedy.
  Though two of Chernobyl's four nuclear units remain operational, I am 
pleased that President Clinton and Ukrainian President Lenoid Kuchma 
agreed to an accord earlier this year to close the facility completely 
by the year 2000.
  I am also pleased that the United States is committed to improving 
international nuclear reactor safety.
  I am hopeful that more can be done for the afflicted region, and was 
heartened by the serious dialog at last week's G-7 nuclear safety 
summit in Moscow.
  These are all important steps toward putting this devastating tragedy 
behind the Ukrainian people.
  I also want to pay tribute to the compassion of the Ukrainian-
Americans who have remained steadfast in their support for Chernobyl's 
victims.
  Mr. President, the legacy of the Chernobyl disaster extends beyond 
nationalistic and ethnic boundaries and reaches all humanity.
  Indeed, fallout from the accident affected 5 million people and set 
off monitors throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
  Radiation knows no borders.
  Here in the United States, I am comforted by the knowledge that 
because of our superior design and safety standards a Chernobyl-type 
event is, for all practicable purposes, an impossibility.
  The Chernobyl facility never would have been permitted to open under 
our regulations.
  Nonetheless, we can never be too vigilant in our efforts to ensure 
that nuclear power plants are operated in the safest possible manner.
  As my colleagues in this body know, I have long believed that there 
exists an inherent conflict of interest in our nuclear regulatory 
system that requires the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to sit in 
judgment of itself.
  NRC's two functions--providing day-to-day oversight and investigating 
serious events--are incompatible in my view.
  For this reason, I have asked the General Accounting Office to look 
into the extent to which this conflict is responsible for events and 
accidents at nuclear plants.
  I also propose that we remove the investigatory functions from the 
NRC, and give these functions to an impartial, truly independent 
nuclear safety board.
  This watchdog would have broad authority to look into all 
circumstances surrounding any accident and to lay blame where it 
rightfully belongs--whether it is the utility, the reactor 
manufacturer, or the NRC.
  By removing the structural conflict which currently exists within the 
NRC, it is my hope that we can regain the public's confidence and 
provide the utmost degree of safety to all Americans.
  I look forward to working with my colleagues as we strive to restore 
needed objectivity to the oversight process.
  Mr. President, the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster is more 
than just a reminder of the potential cost of nuclear energy.
  It is a call to us, our Nation's elective representatives, to work 
together to ensure the safe operation of nuclear power, both 
domestically and internationally, for our children and our 
grandchildren.
  Let us not watch this day pass without thoroughly and carefully 
examining our current nuclear regulatory system. All of humanity is 
depending on us. 

                          ____________________