Estimates of the total number of deaths from the Chernobyl nuclear incidents remain contested: we have therefore included a series of published estimates to cover the range of considered values.

WHO (2005a) refers to the number of deaths (up to 4000) estimated in the populations with highest exposure to radioactive fallout from the incident. WHO (2005b) add this to further estimates by the WHO [not included in its report] on the potential death toll in individuals beyond proximate areas.

Fairlie & Sumner (a) and (b) are represent their published lower and upper estimates, respectively.

References:

IAEA, WHO (2005/06). Chernobyl’s Legacy: Health, Environmental and Socio-Economic Impacts. Press release available at: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2005/pr38/en/

Special Report: Counting the dead. Nature 440, 982-983 (20 April 2006) | doi:10.1038/440982a.

Cardis et al. (2006). Estimates of the cancer burden in Europe from radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident. International Journal of Cancer.

Fairlie and Sumner (2006). An independent scientific evaluation of health and environmental effects 20 years after the nuclear disaster providing critical analysis of a recent report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the World Health Organisation (WHO). Available at: http://www.chernobylreport.org/?p=summary

Sources

Data Published By: WHO, Fairlie & Sumner (2006), Cardis et al. (2006)

Data publisher source:Range of sources, see additional information

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