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Editor's Note
The magic of bluff
by Piotr Gabryel
The things we fear the most are the things which we do not comprehend: AIDS epidemic, mad cows and humans disease, depleted uranium shells, nuclear warhead rockets in California (even while they are not yet deployed there), nuclear power plants in general and consequences of nuclear reactor explosion in Chernobyl in particular. And probably that is why so many of us expect only bad news from Chernobyl; we are eager for the worst information, even if totally untrue. Although the Soviet Union, which obstructed honest survey and examination of Chernobyl site, ceased to exist some years ago, although since some time the scientists protest against winding up this Chernobyl spiral of fear, millions of people who fell victim to Chernobyl bluff still want to believe that "Chernobyl was one of the worst disasters of 20th century", that "because of the explosion thousands of people were killed and millions were harmfully irradiated," that "each year, as a consequence of the Chernobyl explosion, tens of thousands babies are born crippled", that practically "each of us, any time, may become a victim of Chernobyl, i.e. contract some mysterious disease caused by Chernobyl radiation."
In fact, the explosion in Chernobyl nuclear reactor does not represent one of the worst tragedies of 20th century! - as we show in the leading article of this issue, "Chernobyl - the biggest bluff of the 20th century." The explosion in nuclear reactor in Chernobyl killed 30 people and in addition 134 people from the nuclear power plant (NPP) personnel and emergency squads have been exposed to very high ionizing radiation doses after which they developed acute radiation sickness. On the other hand, the inhabitants of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus have been exposed to radiation doses which have had almost no effect on their health. They do not suffer more often from leukemia, nor give birth to more children with genetic defects - as demonstrate the authors of the recent UNSCEAR (United Nations Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation) report. Who will now believe them? Who will believe 142 prominent experts who prepared the UNSCEAR report? In terms of the number of victims, the Chernobyl accident - as has been proved - gives way to many others: toxic gas release in Bhopal in India accounts for about 15 000 deaths; coal dust explosion in Honkeiko mine in China killed nearly 1 600; explosion of fertilizer in Texas and the explosion in chemical plant in Oppau in Germany killed half a thousand each; and the accident in biological and chemical weapons plant in Novosibirsk killed 300 people!
"Belief is a certitude without evidence" - stated Henri Frederic Amiel, Swiss philosopher.
And if some evidence contradicts the belief, than - in most cases - so much worse for this
evidence. Of course - for some time. Because - fortunately - it is possible to deceive all
for some time, and to deceive some for all time, but it is impossible to deceive all
infinitely. In the history of global psychoses and of global bluffs which start off some of
them, the Chernobyl bluff being now unmasked surely will occupy a prominent place - also in
terms of losses which it caused setting back the development of nuclear power. Professor
�ukasz Turski states this plainly: "If the atmosphere around nuclear power programs, shaped
also by the mythological treatment of the Chernobyl accident, would not change rapidly,
than in a few decades freezing humanity will frenetically start building nuclear power
plants. And then we shall have real cause for fear, because those plants will be build
hurriedly and shoddily."
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to be followed
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