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The paper deals with mycobiota of radionuclide-polluted soils of seven stationary posts in the 30-kilometer zone of the Chernobyl NPP and one in the vicinities of Kiev (Feofaniia). The lengths of light-and dark-coloured fungal mycelium were determined in the soil under study by the method of membrane filters for 1987-1989. Data obtained have been analyzed with the account of the radioactivity level of the soil samples, season and depth of the sampling horizon. The dynamics of mycelium content in soils has been traced which evidences for its seasonal changes and prevalence of dark-pigmented mycelium at the beginning which then was changed by predominance of light-coloured mycelium. It is supposed that radioactive contamination of soil is one of considerable components of the whole complex of ecological factors which determine the dynamics of fungal mycelium content in soil.

The paper describes the image of radiation menace. Basic differences in image parameters are revealed for some population groups. The psychological levels of the image are regarded as psychosocial phenomena. Some specific psychological consequences of mental regression are outlined in the paper.

This paper presents the results of radioecological studies undertaken within the area exposed to ionizing radiation after Chernobyl disaster. Conclusions are made concerning the major regularities in radionuclide migration within various natural media and action of ionizing radiation on natural and artificial ecosystems. The efficiency of basic protective ecological measures in eliminating the accident consequences has been determined. The contribution of radioecological studies to the elimination of Chernobyl disaster sequences assessed.

The paper reports a new technique of obtaining radioactive Cs-free meat in the regions contaminated with radionuclides as a result of Chernobyl accident. The method is based on specific digestion features of ruminant animals. Ferriferrocyanide compounds are proposed as sorbents. Ferrocene is most efficient when introduced into mixed feed (1-3 g/day for sheep, 3-5 g/day for calves and young bulls) once a day. After that the animals can be fed radioactively contaminated forage and graze on contaminated land.

The paper is concerned with a theoretical possibility of the use of 90Sr beta-spectrometry in a mixture of radionuclides including 137Cs, 134Cs, 144Ce and 106Ru after the Chernobyl accident. Special attention is paid to the choosing of a detector and spectrum treatment techniques as factors determining the minimum detectable activity of the method. A brief description of the spectrometric system as well as of the software used is given. The comparison of the method with traditional radiochemical and gamma-spectrometric methods has shown that it is applicable to a wide range of activities and to different objects including those of biological origin. The sources of errors are considered in detail. Approaches to the development of the method are given.

The paper is concerned with the problems pertaining to the implementation of the State Union-Republic program of urgent measures for 1990-1992 and Republican programs of the elimination of Chernobyl accident consequences. Among the basic priorities covered by the program, the author regards the problems of the living of the population at the polluted areas, criteria for accepting decisions as to the possibility of further living or settling out together with favourable and unfavourable consequences of such a measure as settling out. Emphasis is laid on some priorities of the optimal use of means alloted for implementing the programs of the elimination of Chernobyl accident consequences.

The reports on radiation sequels of Chernobyl disaster outside the country are scanty in the USSR. The present paper meets the lack, reporting the scale and the nature of the radioactive fall-outs outside the USSR. The analysis is made of possible radiological consequences of such fall-outs and the preventive measures taken by the governments of some European countries.

The paper is concerned with the results of analysis of a clinico-laboratory study of persons (residents of Armenia) who took part in the elimination of the effects of the Chernobyl accident. Investigation of general morbidity revealed no correlation with exposure to ionizing radiation. The symptom complex of pathological changes included CNS functional disorders, a transition from the hypokinetic type of a heart response to exercise to the normokinetic one, lowered immune status and tissue peripheral blood flow, unmarked hematological and biochemical shifts, suggesting suppression of the body antioxidant system.

The paper is concerned with the results of determining the total number of lymphocytes, T-lymphocytes and their immunoregulatory subpopulations, B-lymphocyte of peripheral blood, serum IgA, IgG and IgM in 44 patients with ARS, II-IV degree at days 37-109 after the Chernobyl accident. Bone marrow transplantation was performed in all the patients not later than on the 14th day. Among lymphocytes, T-lymphocytes were shown to restore to normal first, the T-helpers/T-suppressors ratio being decreased. In 2 survivors this ratio remained decreased 2 mos. after the normalization of peripheral blood indices. Possibilities of correction of the revealed disorders with immunomodulators were discussed.

The paper is concerned with analysis of the data on a picture of the blood of 115 patients with acute radiation syndrome. Basing on the literature data, the authors discuss a possibility of developing leukemia in these patients and in persons, irradiated at lower doses, as a result of radiation affection of hemopoiesis.

The paper is devoted to one of the most important aspects of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station: thyroid irradiation in the residents of 8 areas in the Ukrainian SSR and the town of Pripyat, affected with radioactive iodine. Irradiation doses, prognosis of medical effects of the accident, methods and practical measures for the organization of endocrinological monitoring of the affected population were thoroughly considered. The authors proposed a scheme of health care of the population in these areas. They also discussed the structure of data bases for analysis of medico-dosimetric information on "iodine" effects of the accident. The main trends in medico-dosimetric problems of the effects of thyroid irradiation were outlined.

Literature data during 1980-1989 and own studies carried out at the Institute of Experimental Radiology, All-Union Research Center of Radiation Medicine, USSR AMS, summarized in the paper, describe three types of biological responses (increase, decrease and no response) to low-level ionizing radiation up to 100 Rem. It is shown that pathological changes in the biosystems exposed to radiation are detectable with sensitive techniques, the responses are phasic in nature and depend on the input information signal that causes energy redistribution and changes in the living system response.

The paper deals with one of the most urgent aspects of irradiation hygiene, namely assessment of risk for irradiation-induced cancers of the thyroid. A model is described to predict high mortality rates of thyroidal cancer in the population due to the catastrophe at the Chernobyl Atomic Power Station. With the model, life-time risk rates involving sex and age at the moment of irradiation, as well as an irradiation mode.

The paper is concerned with the results of neurological examination of 113 patients who developed acute radiation sickness of various degrees of severity during the elimination of the effects of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. A clinical picture of neurological disorders at different periods of ARS was described. CNS specific and nonspecific lesions were defined.

The paper is concerned with analysis of the results of clinico-electrocardiographic investigation of 107 rescuers, engaged in the elimination of the effects of the Chernobyl accident. A high percent (27.2%) of the detectability of borderline arterial hypertension was noted among the rescuers (aged to 39) that was determined by a strong psychoemotional tension resulting from work and radiation phobia.

The paper is concerned with the results of measurements of characteristics of the air media in the zone of the damaged reactor as with the assessment of doses from internal irradiation on the basis of calculations of air media parameters and the results of actual measurements of the uptake and content of radionuclides in the personnel of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station and persons sent on mission there in 1986-1987, the results being obtained by indirect and direct biophysical methods of control of internal irradiation. The calculated data are well in accord with the results of actual measurements of the contents of radionuclides in the body. Internal irradiation of all tissues and organs, determined by the inhalation of a mixture of radionuclides, worked almost completely within the first year following the accident, the thyroid being the critical organ. In the next years internal irradiation for the personnel of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station was determined entirely by transuranic elements and was about 0.1 M.P.D annually for bone tissue. The value of a mean effective equivalent dose from internal irradiation in 50 years is 85 mSv for professionals, and a contribution of internal irradiation to the whole-body one over the first well as is 13%.

The paper is concerned with analysis of strategy of the regulation of radiation exposure of the population and the practical use of the levels of intervention in different phases after the Chernobyl accident. The author represents data on the levels of whole-body irradiation of the population in the areas under strict control, and dose exposure of the thyroid in children and adults. Mean individual and collective doses of whole-body irradiation over the period of 1986-1989 and predictable dose exposures were assessed. Some data on probable pathology of radiation genesis in the population in affect on 1990 were considered.

The paper is devoted to the results of a study of the health status of the adult population in western districts of the Bryansk area, exposed to radiation fall-outs as a result of the Chernobyl accident, as presented by medical doctors and researchers of hospitals, research institutes, and the republican health services. The paper also deals with information on demographic processes and the level and state of health service in these regions. Analysis of the health status provides no opportunity to detect diseases caused by exposure of the population to ionizing radiation.

The paper is concerned with the results of a follow-up over the period of 1986-1989 of function of the hypophyseo-thyroid system in children and adolescents (approximately 6000 persons), residing in the South-West of the Kaluga Region, where radiation fallouts were observed after the Chernobyl accident. The results were based upon the analysis of medical examinations and determination of the blood levels of TSH, T4 and T3. A certain functional activation of the thyroid system was observed in a majority of the examinees. A conclusion has been made of a necessity of a long-term follow-up of the thyroid of persons who received radioactive iodine in childhood.

The paper is concerned with analysis of correlation of the time of appearance of vomit in a person and a mean dose rate of prolonged gamma-radiation in the persons affected at the Chernobyl accident. The data were approximated by power function. For irradiation with a constant dose rate (P) such correlation looks like Tp = 2.48p-0.5, where Tp is the time of the beginning of vomit, hours after the beginning of irradiation. A semiempirical model combining different conditions of irradiation was formed. Prognosis of a severity of lesion with relation to the time of vomit was given for different conditions of irradiation.

The paper considers the radiation doses of the thyroid gland in the inhabitants from the Ukrainian SSR areas (Kiev, Zhitomir, Chernigov, and Vinnitsa Regions), which have been obtained by instrumental studies of thyroidal radioactivity in May-June, 1986, and calculated by the most conservative single-dose administration model. A hygienic evaluation has been made of the findings, taking into account the age and residence. The cumulative irradiation doses of the thyroid have been estimated for children and adults. Possible late sequelae for the areas in question may account for 1060 and 300 thyroid carcinoma cases during the whole life for children and adults, respectively.

The paper deals with the problems in the case follow-up of the population exposed to radiation caused by the accident at the Chernobyl Atomic Power Station on the basis of the automated systems for collecting and processing medical information. A number of organizational, medical, technological, computational problems in setting up teh National Distribution Registry should be solved for a complete and long-term follow-up. A differential approach was proposed to the information provision of health care services and to the determination of a population size and principles of selecting the populations to be followed up in the Registry.

The paper is concerned with the results of therapy of 115 patients with acute radiation syndrome after the Chernobyl accident. The chief methods of the effective therapy of bone marrow syndrome are antimicrobial drugs and fresh donor platelet mass transfusions. Hemopoietic stem cell transplantation (allogenic bone marrow or embryonic hepatocytes) is indicated and effective in a very limited number of patients in accident irradiation. Severe beta-burns of the skin remain an unsolved problem as a result of their spreading. Organizational principles of therapy of a great number of patients with acute radiation syndrome in a specialized hospital were described.