U.S. Team Will Monitor Radiation in Moscow

A team of five American specialists will arrive in Moscow soon to monitor radiation levels here after the Chernobyl nuclear plant explosion, U.S. officials said Friday.

The team will bring precision measuring equipment, although Americans in the Soviet capital do not appear to be in any danger from the fallout, the officials added.

“There’s no information from the Soviet government on radiation, so we decided to take some measurements of our own,” said one American diplomat.

A few Western embassies began discussing whether to evacuate diplomats’ families from Moscow despite the Kremlin’s reassurances that the Chernobyl crisis was under control.

Meetings for Citizens

The Swedish and Danish embassies, for example, scheduled meetings today for their citizens to consider what safety measures might be taken.

Earlier, several embassies advised diplomatic families to stop drinking Soviet milk and start washing fruits and vegetables to counter any possible radioactivity in food supplies.

There were reports in Moscow on Friday that the Soviet government has shut down 13 graphite-moderated nuclear reactors of the same type as the one that blew up, but diplomats here were unable to confirm the reports.

Such plants supply about 5% of the electricity generated by nuclear power in the Soviet Union. Current plans call for the doubling of nuclear power generation--from 10% of the total to 20%--by 1990.

UCLA Specialist Arrives

Meantime, a Los Angeles specialist in bone marrow transplants arrived at the invitation of the Soviet government to discuss emergency medical assistance for the victims of the Chernobyl accident.

Dr. Robert P. Gale of UCLA said he will meet today with Soviet physicians to evaluate the situation.

For the time being, Gale said, he wants to establish a good working relationship with medical authorities in Moscow before commenting publicly on his mission.

Gale is chairman of the International Bone Marrow Transplant Registry, an organization that lists volunteers who have agreed to donate marrow in event of an emergency.

Severe radiation exposure can destroy bone marrow, where many components of blood and the immune systems are produced. In some cases, even a lethal dose can be treated successfully if a marrow transplant from a healthy donor can be performed quickly.

The Soviet government has said only that two people died in the nuclear accident, 197 were hospitalized and 49 were later released. Of the total who were injured, the government added, 18 were in serious condition Wednesday.

While there were no new disclosures about the victims or the spread of radiation from Soviet officials Friday, the state-run evening television news accused the West of trying to generate anti-Soviet propaganda over the incident.

Interviews With Britons

The news program featured interviews with British tourists, called back from Kiev, who said they felt that the city was normal and had not wanted to leave.

Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who has not uttered a word about the Chernobyl episode, issued a statement Friday criticizing the United States for continuing nuclear tests.

Despite this, Gorbachev added, the Soviet Union is “in no hurry” to resume its own nuclear testing program, which was halted last August.

Gorbachev made the remarks in a letter to the heads of six nations that have appealed to the Soviet Union and the United States for a nuclear test moratorium.