Chernobyl': Five Years Later

One of the most knowledgeable Western experts on the Chernobyl' disaster assesses widely varying interpretations of its impact based on new information available upon the fifth anniversary of the accident. After a brief account of alternative interpretations of the causes of the accident, the article focuses on radioactive contamination and public health hazards, national and republic-level programs designed to ameliorate its aftereffects, impacts on the Soviet nuclear power industry and the Soviet energy supply in general, and the situation at the Chernobyl' plant itself.