NH #451: Chernobyl Truth, World Health Org Lies: Alison Katz, Independent WHO

Chernobyl children’s gas masks.

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Chernobyl – NOTE: We’re having computer problems at Nuclear Hotseat that are preventing production of a new show for this week. However, it gives us the opportunity to offer this classic episode of the show, deemed the most important interview we’ve ever done. We hope to have a completely new episode of the show, #452, for next week… technology permitting. Thanks for your understanding. – Libbe.

This Week’s Featured Interview:

  • Chernoby Truth Revealed – Alison Katz is a psychologist and sociologist who heads Independent WHO. The international watchdog group draws attention to the World Health Organization’s failure in its duty to protect those populations who are victims of radioactive contamination from Chernobyl and, later, Fukushima.  The group has held a vigil in front of WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, five days a week, 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., since April 26, 2007 – the 21st anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.  

    Given the recent HBO Chernobyl series visibility and popularity around the world – it now ranks as the most seen television programs ever – it seemed the right time to reintroduce this classic Nuclear Hotseat episode to an audience that either has not yet heard it, or wishes to have their understanding of Chernobyl’s devastating impacts refreshed. Originally recorded for Nuclear Hotseat #118, September 17, 2013. And the material has in no way gone out of date.
Scenes from Independent WHO’s ongoing Chernobyl vigil in front of 
the World Health Organization’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland

Chernobyl – Other Excellent Information Sources:

  • Manual for Survival: A Chernobyl Guide to the Future by Kate Brown. Superb accounting of the health devastation of Chernobyl, constructed from over three years of investigation into medical archives in eastern Europe. 
  • Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higgenbotham.  NOTE: the author does a superb job reconstructing the horrors of Chernobyl, then goes full-on pro-nuke during the final chapter, citing statistics from only the pro-nuclear WHO, IAEA, and UNSCEAR. I recommend that you skip that chapter and read the rest of the book for its narrative of nuclear lies, miscalculations, cover-ups, and destruction of people and the environment. In particular, the description of the physical devastation of high level radiation exposure is comparable to the visuals provided in the HBO series.)