Moldovan PM conveys message on day of commemoration of Chernobyl nuclear accident's victims

Chisinau, 26 April /MOLDPRES/ - Prime Minister Ion Chicu today conveyed a message on the day of commemoration of the Chernobyl nuclear accident’s victims, the government’s communication and protocol department has reported.  

The message reads:

”Dear veterans of the Chernobyl accident,

The more progress the mankind is making in the technical and scientific sector, the more serious the accidents occurred in the systems built by people are.

The Chernobyl nuclear accident from 26 April 1986 is an example which cannot be forgotten. The accident was followed by the radioactive contamination of the entire European continent and the eastern part of North America.

Even after 34 years, we have not managed to assess the consequences of this accident.

The 2005 report of the Chernobyl Forum, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization, assigned to the accident 56 direct deaths, 47 workers and 9 children with thyroid cancer.   

The same report estimated that more than 9,000 people out of about 6.6 million ones who were mostly exposed can die of a form of cancer, noting 4,000 cases of thyroid cancer among children diagnosed in 2002.  

Another 336,000 people were evacuated.

We find out, with regret, that that tragedy triggered human losses similar to wars.

The operation of the Chernobyl relief works was meant to reduce the radioactive contamination. The people who participated in those operations have been and are heroes.  

Moldova, which was then a component part of the Soviet Union, brought its contribution to the actions of the Chernobyl accident relief works. Over 3,500 Moldovan citizens participated in those operations. A number of 2,027 of them are living now.

It is difficult to appreciate at its true value the sacrifice of the ‘’liquidators’’ of the consequences of the Chernobyl accident. Instead, we can say for sure that each of them saved thousands of other lives.

Dear veterans of the Chernobyl accident,

We appreciate your sacrifice and we are aware that you got the blow for us everybody. Your sacrifice was not in vain and the proof represent the generations of healthy young people, teenagers and children.   

I thank you from the bottom of the heart, dear veterans!’’