Nuclear, health and development experts from several global organizations will brief journalists in Vienna on Monday, 5 September 2005, on their latest findings of the consequences of the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Ukraine.
The press conference precedes a two-day meeting of The Chernobyl Forum on 6 and 7 September, entitled Chernobyl: Looking Back to Go Forwards. It will gather hundreds of experts and government representatives from Ukraine, Russian Federation and Belarus.
Monday´s press conference will focus on a comprehensive report, written by an international team of more than 100 scientists, on the environmental and health impacts of the disaster, as well as its social and economic consequences, which will be released during the meeting on Tuesday.
A substantive embargoed press release is available on request.
The press conference will start at 14:00 on Monday, 5 September, in Rooms 557/558, Austria Centre, Bruno-Kreisky-Platz 1 A-1220 Vienna.
Speakers at the event will be:
- Burton Bennett, Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), Conference Chairman;
- Kalman Mizsei from the UNDP (UN Assistant Secretary General, Deputy Coordinator of International Cooperation on Chernobyl, and UNDP Assistant Administrator and Director; Regional Bureau for Europe and the CIS);
- Mikhail Balonov from the IAEA (Head of Radioactive Discharges Unit, Waste Safety Section, Division of Radiation, Transport and Waste Safety, Department of Nuclear Safety and Security);
- Michael Harry Repacholi from the WHO (Coordinator, Radiation & Environmental Health, Protection of the Human Environment);
The Chernobyl Forum is made up of 8 UN specialized agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), World Health Organization (WHO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA), United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), and the World Bank, as well as the governments of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine.
Access to the press briefing and to the two-day conference is through the main entrance to the Austria Centre. Kindly register your participation on-line. Press accreditations at the venue will be made against a valid press ID from 13:00 on Monday, 5 September, and from 08:00 on Tuesday 6 September, for media wishing to attend the Forum, which is open to the press. There will be a press working area on ground floor, equipped with Wireless LAN, three ISDN lines and internet connection.