'Sombre anniversary' of worst nuclear disaster in history.

• Position: Chernobyl: 10th anniversary

The very name "Chernobyl"--a small Ukranian town, where a nuclear reactor exploded exactly ten years ago on the "fateful day" 26 April 1886--had become "synonymous with disaster", General Assembly President Diogo Freitas do Amaral of Portugal declared on 26 April.

However, the "fact that we are meeting today at United Nations Headquarters to commemorate this sombre anniversary is a clear indication of the international nature of the legacy of this accident, as well As of the importance that the United Nations continues to accord to this problem", he stated, in addressing the Assembly on the International Day Commemorating the Tenth Anniversary of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident, declared by Assembly resolution 50/134 of 20 December 1995.

Devastating effects

The long-term implications were "still being examined", Mr. do Amaral went on, and the most devastating effects continued to be "acutely felt by hundreds of thousands of people" in Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine. "Radioactive contamination, tremendous psychological stress, growing health problems and the ever-present fear of the unknown consequences that may yet manifest themselves, are tearing at the fabric of life in the affected States", the Assembly President stated.

The world community should jointly achieve a "far-reaching breakthrough" in addressing those problems, and the role the UN "can best play is a catalytic one", he suggested. It could facilitate the international community's involvement in "mobilizing purposeful support" to whichever organization or institution could most effectively respond to the priority needs. "In the amalgam of the various emergencies occurring in the world almost on a daily basis, the problem of Chernobyl commands special attention in view of its unique and persistent character", he stressed.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 8 April had appealed (A/50/924) to Member States to continue and intensify their assistance to Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, so that a "tangible difference can be made in the lives of those still suffering at the hands of the `invisible enemy'".

The tenth anniversary of Chernobyl was a "special opportunity to express a renewed commitment to help those who are asking for our assistance", and a chance to "reinforce our common effort to respond to this continuing humanitarian and technological disaster", he stressed.

The explosion, which had released 50 million curies of radioactive...