Author | Alexey V. Yablokov Vassily B. Nesterenko Alexey V. Nesterenko |
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Series | Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, v. 1181. |
Subject | Chernobyl disaster |
Publisher | Blackwell Publishing |
Publication date | 2007 |
Published in English | 2009 |
ISBN | 978-1-57331-757-3 |
OCLC | 456185565 |
Chernobyl: Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment is a translation of a 2007 Russian publication by Alexey V. Yablokov, Vassily B. Nesterenko, and Alexey V. Nesterenko, edited by Janette D. Sherman-Nevinger, and originally published by the New York Academy of Sciences in 2009 in their Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences series.[1][2]
The book was not peer reviewed by the New York Academy of Sciences.[3] Five reviews were published in the academic press, with four of them considering the book severely flawed and contradictory, and one praising it while noting some shortcomings.
The book presents an analysis of scientific literature and concludes that medical records between 1986, the year of the Chernobyl disaster, and 2004 reflect 985,000 premature deaths as a result of the radioactivity released. The literature analysis draws on over 1,000 published titles and over 5,000 internet and printed publications, primarily in Slavic languages (i.e. not translated in English), discussing the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster. However, reviewers noted that the sources given are difficult to verify due to the use of non-standard abbreviations and inadequate explanations, the ignoring of well respected Slavic-language peer reviewed work on the topic, and the use of non-peer reviewed sources such as mass media and internet publications.
The primary author, the biologist Alexey V. Yablokov, was a member of the Russian Academy of Science. Consulting editor, Janette Sherman, MD, has researched the health effects of nuclear radiation and illnesses such as cancer and birth defects.