Estimates of the total number of deaths from the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear incidents remain contested: we have therefore included lower and upper estimates to cover the range of considered values.

The number of deaths from Chernobyl are based on direct fatalities from the nuclear incident and radiation exposure in close proximities from IAEA/WHO (2005-06). Lower estimates of deaths across the former USSR and Europe from Fairlie and Sumner (2006); and upper estimates from Greenpeace (2005).

Estimates for Fukushima have been derived from the WHO (2013), and estimated stress-induced deaths in evacuation from the Government of Japan.

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/

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

Greenpeace (2006). The Chernobyl Catastrophe: consequences on human health. Available at: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/report/2006/4/chernobylhealthreport.pdf

World Health Organisation (2013). Health risk assessment from the nuclear accident after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami based on a preliminary dose estimation. Available at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/78218/1/9789241505130_eng.pdf

Sources

Data Published By: IAEA, WHO, Greenpeace

Data publisher source:Variety of sources, see additional information.

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