USSR: CHERNOBYL TRIAL COULD BACKFIRE ON MOSCOW

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06862492
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: April 23, 2025
• Document Release Date: March 25, 2025
• Case Number: F-2016-02406
• Publication Date: July 4, 1987

Approved for Release: 2025/03/17 C06862492
Director of
Central
Intelligence
To ecret
(b)(3)
National Intelligence Daily
Saturday
4 July 1987
To ecret
CPAS I411D 87-154JX
4 July 1987
(b)(3)
(b)(6)
(b)(3)
Approved for Release: 2025/03/17 C06862492
Approved for Release: 2025/03/17 C06862492
Contents
Haiti: Ruling Council Backs Down
Panama: Noriega Holding the Line 3
Japan: Reacting to Toshiba Diversion 4
Notes
Persian Gulf: Ship Attacks at Record High
5
South Korea: Ruling-Party Offensive 6
Nigeria: Plan for Civilian Rule 7
In Brief
8
Special Analyses
Nicaragua: Widening War 9
USSR: Chernobyl' Trial Could Backfire on Moscow 11
Gulf Cooperation Council-USSR: Courting a New Friend 12
Brazil: Outlook Bleak for New Economic Plan 14
Toe8c7ret
j 4 uyi 19
Approved for Release: 2025/03/17 C06862492
Approved for Release: 2025/03/17 C06862492
Chernobyl', USSR
Karostan'e
Belonisstan S S R
\\,
�Khoyaiki
(
i8 Miles
Pripyat'.
Chernobyl
nuclear
power
station
Ukrainian
Kiev
Reservoir,
�
mei
Soviet
.Chernobyr
Union
kiW
'0 200 KiMmetem
, �
200 Mites
SSR
O 50 Kilometers
O 60 Miles
710715 (A05795) 7-87
Chernobyl's Slow Recovery
More than 20,000 people, mostly army reservists, are working in the I8-mile evacuation zone under
difficult and often dangerous conditions. In addition to decontamination work, the military is
responsible for construction and road building. The workers do not live in the zone but in a hastily
constructed settlement on its border.
Only 300 of the 92,000 evacuees have been permitted to return to two of the decontaminated villages in
the evacuation zone. A local official told a Western reporter that plans to decontaminate many other
settlements have been abandoned. Pripyat, the town that housed
nearly so,opo plant workers and.their families, is completely uninhabited. Large areas of the town are
being usedkto store contaminated cars and other machinery.
4 July 1987
Approved for Release: 2025/03/17 C06862492
Approved for Release: 2025/03/17 C06862492
ecret
Special Analysis
USSR: Chernobyl' Trial Could Backfire on Moscow
The trial of the three plant managers that begins tomorrow
reportedly will include Western Journalists and is likely to
refocus critical world an c attention on the Soviets'
handling of the accident.
A handful of Western journalists who visited the zone for the first time
last month reported a much grimmer situation than that portrayed in
regime statements. Even Soviet reporters have complained that
authorities are tightly controlling information on Chernobyl; they too
may file critical coverage, in the spirit of glasnost
Rather than enable the regime to_close the book on the accident, the
trial may create pressure for more trials and information on long-term
consequences of the accident. Recently published letters from
Chernobyl' workers demanded an investigation of city officials in Kiev
and Pripyat' for criminal negligence. The accused probably will
receive stiff sentences, but the public is unlikely to accept they are the
Only ones to blame
The trial may also feed domestic concerns about the safety of the
Soviet nuclear industry and encourage distrust of bureaucrats. A
Belorussian writer called for more openness and local public control
over decisions on nuclear power. A petition by some 60 Ukrainian
scientists opposing the completion of units 5 and 6 at Chernobyl' was
about to be published when Moscow decided to shelve the expansion
plans.
ToSecret
11 4 July 1987
Approved for Release: 2025/03/17 006862492