Chernobyl disaster: Jacques Chirac's Government Wrongly Alleged

 The nuclear reactor after the disaster. Reactor 4 (center). Turbine building (lower left). Reactor 3 (center right). 

The Chernobyl disaster was a catastrophic nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at theChernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (then officially the Ukrainian SSR), which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities of theSoviet Union. An explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive particles into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western USSR and Europe. Map of radioactive contamination in France following the catastrophe, in May 1986. Bcq by square meters. Corsica and South-East of France were some of the most affected regions. Map of radioactive contamination in France following the catastrophe, in May 1986. Bcq by square meters. Corsica and South-East of France were some of the most affected regions.  Since March 2001 400 lawsuits have been filed in France against 'X' by the French Association of Thyroid-affected People, including 200 in April 2006. These persons are affected by thyroid cancer or goitres, and have filed lawsuits alleging that the French government, at the time led by Prime Minister Jacques Chirac, had not adequately informed the population of the risks linked to the Chernobyl radioactive fallout. The complaint contrasts the health protection measures put in place in nearby countries (warning against consumption of green vegetables or milk by children and pregnant women) with the relatively high contamination suffered by the east of France and Corsica. Although the 2006 study by the French Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety said that no clear link could be found between Chernobyl and the increase of thyroid cancers in France, it also stated that papillary thyroid cancer had tripled in the following years. 

 SOURCES: 

•  Nuclear and radiation accidents#Nuclear power plant accidents Black, Richard (12 April 2011). "Fukushima: As Bad as Chernobyl?". 
• BBC. Retrieved 20 August 2011. Gorbachev, Mikhail (1996), interview in Johnson, Thomas, The Battle of Chernobyl on YouTube, [film], Discovery Channel, retrieved 19 February 2014. 
• "Frequently Asked Chernobyl Questions". International Atomic Energy Agency – Division of Public Information. May 2005. Retrieved 23 March 2011.