USSR: CHERNOBYL TRIAL COULD BACKFIRE ON MOSCOW

Document Type: 
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
Sequence Number: 
Case Number: 
F-2016-02406
Publication Date: 
July 4, 1987
File: 
Body: 
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