Legacy Of a Disaster

By Anastasia Toufexis

Four years have passed since the meltdown at the Chernobyl nuclear plant, but the grim legacy of the Soviet catastrophe is still unfolding. Large populated areas surrounding the reactor site in the Ukraine and in nearby Belorussia remain contaminated with high levels of radioactivity. The poisoning of the land has created dire health problems and economic devastation. A new study by the chief economist of a Soviet government institute calculates that the cost of Chernobyl, including the price of the cleanup and the value of lost farmland and production, could run as high as $358 billion -- 20 times as much as earlier official estimates.

Much of the disturbing news about Chernobyl comes from journalists who have toured the area. Among the most prominent is Igor Kostin, a photographer who % has covered the tragedy from the early days after the accident. His latest set of photographs, taken within the past four months, present haunting images, including scenes of children still living in contaminated towns and shots of animals born horribly deformed, possibly because of radiation. The pictures, which are being published for the first time in the West in these pages, are part of an exhibition organized by the Italian firm Imago that will be touring in major U.S. cities, beginning with Baltimore in May.

Soon after the Chernobyl meltdown, Soviet officials ordered the permanent evacuation of villages within 30 km (19 miles) of the power plant, but heavy nuclear fallout covered a much broader area. In some parts of Narodichi, a Ukrainian agricultural district whose boundaries lie some 60 km (37 miles) from the reactor, levels of radioactivity are still nine times as high as the acceptable limits, according to the local Communist Party chief. Vladimir Lysovsky, a doctor at Narodichi District Central Hospital, contends that in the past 18 months, there has been a dramatic rise in cases of thyroid disease, anemia and cancer. Residents also have begun complaining of fatigue and loss of vision and appetite -- all symptoms of radiation sickness. Worst of all, there has been a startling drop in the immunity level of the entire population. "Healthy people are having trouble getting over their illnesses," Lysovsky notes. And children are the most affected.

Farmers, meanwhile, are seeing an explosion of birth defects among livestock. Colts have appeared with eight limbs, deformed lower jaws and disjointed spinal columns. Photographer Kostin reports that 197 freak calves have been born at the Yuri Gagarin collective farm in Vyazovka. Some of the animals had no eyes, deformed skulls and distorted mouths. At a farm in Malinovka, about 200 abnormal piglets have been born since the accident.

Despite the lingering radiation, many residents refuse to leave their homes and become refugees. Plans to clear out more villages by force have been put on hold. Some Ukrainians have even returned illegally to evacuated areas. They may not realize that the invisible fallout will be dangerous for years.

With reporting by Paul Hofheinz/Moscow