WORLD IN BRIEF : SOVIET UNION : Chernobyl Problem Minimal, Study Says

International health experts concluded that radiation from the 1986 nuclear explosion at Chernobyl did not cause major health disorders in the areas of the Soviet Union near the accident. The International Atomic Energy Agency said that 200 independent international experts determined after four days of talks that reports of adverse health effects from radiation were unsubstantiated. But two Soviet republics hit by fallout, Byelorussia and the Ukraine, criticized the IAEA report as over-optimistic when it said that stress, ignorance and political change after the accident had caused more health problems in the Soviet Union than radiation.