reprinted with permission from
Poison Fire, Sacred Earth,
TESTIMONIES, LECTURES, CONCLUSIONS,
THE WORLD URANIUM HEARING, SALZBURG 1992
pages 116-119
. . . In my opinion, the small peoples of
northern Russia nowadays find themselves in a
state of severe social and psychological stress. And
they might never succeed in getting out of
this, if no legislative, economic and various other
measures are taken to meet the interests of the
small peoples of the North. One of these measures
could and should be the carrying-out of
radiometric and other examinations not only in
the cities and villages, but also in places of
historical and factual habitation of the small
peoples of the North, i.e. nomadic camps,
migration paths and pastures.
It is absolutely necessary that these
examinations be conducted by independent and
competent scientists under the permanent control
or with the assistance of the Association of the
Small Peoples of the North. It is necessary for us
to find a way to the truth together without being
frightened off by secret-mongering or sensationalism,
whatever this truth might turn out to be. Unfortunately,
in our country, and this is
especially true for the native peoples of the
North, the way to the truth is often blocked not
only by ideological, but also by financial
obstacles.
Larissa Abrjutina
Larissa Abrjutina, Chukchi Nation, Siberia, CIS. Medical doctor in
Bilibino, President of the Regional Association of the Small Peoples
of the Chukchi Peninsula.
(This speech was held originally in Russian)
Dear Organizers and Participants of this Hearing! My name is Larissa Abrjutina and I come from the Chukchi Peninsula in Siberia. I was born into a family of reindeer breeders. I went through medical school and nowadays work as a doctor with a mobile medical care unit. In this way, I am serving my fellow countrymen, i.e. reindeer breeders, hunters and fishermen. Now I was given the honour of being invited to this representative forum. First of all, I have to say that I have never been a direct witness or victim of either the testing of nuclear weapons or the mining of radioactive minerals. However, I am quite often confronted with facts that might be directly, indirectly or only hypothetically related to radiation.
For five to six years, the native inhabitants
have been turning to me in my capacity as a
doctor and the President of the Regional Association
of the Small Peoples of the Chukchi Peninsula with
their worries about a possible exposure to
radiation. This anxiety has been caused by statements
and information published by the mass media and by
confidential data passed on by some former
geologists. On considering this information, the
native inhabitants (reindeer breeders, hunters) have
come upon facts confirming their suspicions. But
what kind of facts are these? Animals have recently
started suffering from various kinds of
anomalies. These include a reindeer epidemic, calves
are born with various birth-defects
and so on. And people start to remember that
somewhere out on the pastures there are still the
deserted houses and buildings of the old mines. But
the most important thing is that their anxiety
is mainly caused by the fact that more and more
often, native inhabitants die of cancer. Between
1960 and 1969, the average cancer mortality rate
on the Chukchi Peninsula was 171 incidences per
year and per 100,000 inhabitants. But during 1980
and 1988, the mortality rate went up to 221
incidences per year and per 100,000 inhabitants. The
structure of oncological diseases, the
localization of tumors and the geographical
distribution is changing. The number of rectal,
uteral and renal tumors and the number of tumors
of the larynx has risen noticeably. From 1981 to
1991, the average cancer mortality rate of the
native population in the Bilibino region was at
about 218 incidences per year and per 100,000
inhabitants, but the cancer mortality rate reached
its climax in 1985, when there were 529 fatalities
to 100,000 inhabitants. More than 70 percent of
the people at working age suffer from oncological
diseases. The increase in mortality due to cancer
is obvious to such an extent that even the simple
shepherds and hunters, who have never heard of
any statistics, have become aware of it. Lately I
have been noticing a growing cancerophobia
among them. It is the feeling of being in the
clutches of cancer. There was a time, when fear
of death was still a stranger to my people.
If we assume that the reason for the
increase in cancerous diseases and other
anomalies is to be found in an increased degree
of radioactivity, then in our region there might be
several sources of radiation, of both natural and
artificial origin.
First of all, there are deposits of uranium
and other radioactive minerals. In our region, one
of these deposits in the district of the town Pevek
is officially known. Here in the mountains, there
used to be a uranium mine in the late forties and
in the beginning of the fifties. The people working
there were prisoners from a Stalinistic
concentration camp. Later on, this camp was
quite hastily dissolved and the mine was closed
down.
However, there are rumours that on the
territory of the Chukchi Peninsula, there are,
nevertheless, uranium prospects which correspond
with an increased radiation in these areas. But
this I know only by hearsay.
A second possible source of radiation is
the vegetation, e.g. the reindeer moss or lichens,
that are known to accumulate radionuclides,
which in turn act upon the human organism via
the nutrition chain moss - reindeer - man. Here it
is necessary to add that the life of the reindeer
breeders on the Chukchi Peninsula is closely
connected to, and to a great extent depends on,
the reindeer. As they did in the past, they use
reindeer hide to sew their clothing, sleeping bags,
tents and huts up to the present day. Every day
their food ration includes a piece of reindeer meat or
bone-marrow. Most of the time of the year they use
melted snow for their drinking water. If the
concentration of radionuclides within the plants
has increased due to nuclear fallout after nuclear
testings, then obviously their effect on the human
organism has also increased with every day. However,
in order to be able to talk about this not
only hypothetically, one needs concrete facts,
i.e. the results and data of a radiological
analysis. From official sources we know
that: "In the area around the uranium mine there
has been an incident of contamination of the
soil. However, nowadays the mine lies deserted
and the native population has no access to it."
There have been some statements on the
part of former geologists to the extent that
somewhere between 1962 and 1963, a noticeable
rise in the gamma-background of the precipitation
was detected as well as an increased
concentration of radioactive elements of an
artificial origin in plants, i.e. reindeer moss and
mushrooms. To my regret, we are not in
possession of any other detailed information on
the radiological situation on the Chukchi
Peninsula -- it either does not exist, or it is simply
not accessible for us. It is not possible to carry out
a radiological analysis on our own, as the mobile
medical care unit does not even own a simple
radiation detection instrument. In 1991, the
radiologist of the regional sanitary-epidemical
center at our request went on a flight into the
tundra together with us. The measurements, made
with a simple radiometer in three different places,
showed normal results.
For several years I have been asking the
Department of Geology to clarify the situation. As
everybody knows, geological analyses are always
accompanied by radiological measurings. Unfortunately,
these data were confidential until recently. This
also serves as an explanation for the evasive and
vague answers we received in 1990 and 1991. Now
these data were transferred to a special department
for "official use". It was probably for this reason
that already in 1992 the geologists confirmed in
their replies the existence of sites with an
increased degree of radioactivity in this region
"in the form of isolated anomalies of 60-80
R/h", which are, as they say, of no harm
to the reindeer breeders. I, as a doctor, do not
have a well-founded reason for not believing
these official data. But is it so unlikely that,
taking the second step towards disclosing all
secrets, these geologists or radiologists will soon
tell us that these anomalies are, in fact, quite
substantial as regards the size of the areas
affected and the danger they represent for the
population? But it would be even worse, if the
curtains of secret-mongering were drawn again on
this information and the native inhabitants were
left to keep on leading their nomadic life,
wandering across uranium deposits and
contaminated pastures.
The third reason is possibly a hypothetical
one: nuclear energetics. In our village in Bilibino
there is a nuclear power plant. Some time ago,
rumours were being spread about its danger
potential, radioactive emissions and so on. However,
the regional radiological authorities
have been trying to dispel any suspicions. According
to their statements, the radiological
situation within a diameter of 30 kilometers
around the nuclear power plant has remained the
same as before the commissioning of the reactor. I
am convinced of the reliability of such data. Also,
I will not set myself to criticizing the
construction of the plant and other things. I am
worried by something completely different. In our
country both small and great accidents were more
than once triggered by violations of the operating
and security regulations, i.e. by simple
negligence.
In general, such accidents and their
causes are kept secret from the population. Unfortunately,
they also happen in our region. On
June 10, 1991, for example, a local contamination
of a part of the road next to the dry waste depot
on the territory of the Bilibino Nuclear Power
Plant took place during the transportation of
radioactive waste. It is very sad that they even
tried to keep this relatively small accident a
secret, and it was only after some ten days that a
message about this was published in the
newspaper. If a catastrophe was to happen in the
nuclear power plant, isn't it irrelevant, what
actually was the cause of it -- a bad construction
or bad discipline? In such conditions as are
prevailing in the polar or permanent ice regions, it
is very hard to predict the effect such a
catastrophe would have on Russia as well as on
other countries. However, it is easy to tell the
effect it would have on the native population of
the Chukchi Peninsula: It would simply cease to
exist. This is why people get apprehensive when
they suddenly see a column of smoke rising from
above the nuclear power plant. And every time
you have to take a guess: What is it? A harmless
burning of waste products or the onset of some
nuclear catastrophe?
There is yet another source that is
ionizing the population. Although it is not directly
related to the subject of this Hearing, I would like
to linger upon it for a short time. In the northern
regions, there is a high percentage of people
suffering from tuberculosis, especially among the
native population. The basic diagnostic method
has always been the x-ray method. As there was a
distinct lack of suitable equipment, dental and
portable x-ray equipment was used instead, which
was in a make-shift way reassembled by the
doctors themselves to fit the purpose. Radioscopies
and radiographies of the chest were conducted in
conditions not unlike those in field hospitals. Thus,
in trying to detect tuberculosis, the doctors
unintentionally increased the total dose of
irradiation. How high the dose actually was, is
difficult to determine nowadays.
Maybe all the sources of radiation are not
the only reason for our misery. Lately the local
and central press has been paying more attention
to this. And, of course, the insight on the part of
society has also increased. Of special interest
among all these publications were the articles of
the doctor of medicine, Lupandina. The titles of
these articles speak for themselves: "Chernobyl on
the Chukchi Peninsula", "We were headed for
America, but ended up with ourselves". From
these articles follows that the Chukchi Peninsula
has become a radioactive disaster zone. Needless
to say that these articles have attracted the
attention of society. But even a simple analysis of
the contents upon reading the articles for the first
time already evokes your scepticism. It is obvious
even to a non-professional that he is laying it on
thick and that the facts do not hold their ground. Naturally,
a whole army of professionals,
scientists and journalists could not wait to analyze
and scrutinize Lupandina's article. Most of them
came to the conclusion that the articles are
preposterous, i.e. the facts are imaginary ones and
the conclusions incorrect. Thus, due to some
inaccurate facts and free interpretations presented
in the articles, Lupandina was proven to be wrong. In
the end, these articles that had at first caused a
real explosion of interest within society, led up to
a general disappointment and a growing disbelief
in revealing material on this subject. Reasonable
vigilance was taken over by indifference. About
this, almost unwillingly a question comes up: Was
this an intentional outcome? At first, the broad
publication of a nonsensical article and
afterwards, an even broader criticism of it. Well,
if Lupandina is not right, then why does the
cancer mortality rate among the natives keep on
rising? This question remains unanswered.
By the way, the native population hardly
reacts to such outbursts of information. This is not
because they are illiterate or believe that nothing
can happen to them. The reason for this is a
different one. In my opinion, the small peoples of
northern Russia nowadays find themselves in a
state of severe social and psychological stress. And
they might never succeed in getting out of
this, if no legislative, economic and various other
measures are taken to meet the interests of the
small peoples of the North. One of these measures
could and should be the carrying-out of
radiometric and other examinations not only in
the cities and villages, but also in places of
historical and factual habitation of the small
peoples of the North, i.e. nomadic camps,
migration paths and pastures.
It is absolutely necessary that these
examinations be conducted by independent and
competent scientists under the permanent control
or with the assistance of the Association of the
Small Peoples of the North. It is necessary for us
to find a way to the truth together without being
frightened off by secret-mongering or sensationalism,
whatever this truth might turn out to be. Unfortunately,
in our country, and this is
especially true for the native peoples of the
North, the way to the truth is often blocked not
only by ideological, but also by financial
obstacles.
Thank you very much for your attention.