September 29 2004, 14:11 APK-Inform

Verkhovna Rada suggests developing programme of agricultural production on Chernobyl-stricken territories

The committee of Verkhovna Rada (Parliament of Ukraine) on environmental policies, use of natural resources and elimination of the aftermath of Chernobyl catastrophe has suggested that the Cabinet of Ministers should commission the executive bodies to work out the national draft programme for handling agricultural production on radioactively contaminated territories and for comprehensive rehabilitation of these territories for the period of 2005 to 2015. According to Verkhovna Rada's information service, for development of this programme it is also suggested involving research institutions, working within the framework of Ukrainian Academy for Agrarian Sciences.

While examining the issue, the members of the parliamentary committee mentioned that on the aftermath of Chernobyl catastrophe there are 6.7 million hectares of land in Ukraine, which remain radioactively contaminated, of which one third is arable farmland. There are 2,293 villages and towns, located on these territories, which are inhabited by 2.3 million people, of whom there are 490,000 children.

The parliamentary panel speakers noted that over the time passed since the catastrophe the radio-ecological situation in Ukraine had significantly improved, thanks both to comprehensive protective measures, undertaken by authorities, and to natural self-restoration processes.

At the same time, they said, the rural households, located in the zone, are still producing foodstuffs with radio-nuclide contents significantly exceeding the established governmental guidance norms. In some localities the situation even worsened. Thus, there are 40 villages, where the radioactivity levels in milk and meat exceed marginal allowed levels 5 to 15 times on a permanent basis, and more than 400 localities where cases of overdue contents of radioactive caesium in potatoes and other vegetables and radioactive strontium in grain crops occur, while in previous such cases were not registered.

Now the main source of radio-nuclides introduction into the human body is the foodstuffs consumed - primarily, animal-origin ones. Should no countermeasures be taken, this situation will stay around for several next decades, said the discussants.