[WHBates]

"It did not happen overnight. Large areas of Belarus and Ukraine and some parts Russia were affected. In the decades that followed, and in the post-soviet breakup it was pretty hard to keep tabs."

Not only didn't happen overnight it didn't happen at all. There has been numerous studies by all kind of health organizations. It was a very bad event and many areas are still contaminated and will be for a long time so you don't need to make up numbers.

[JadeEmperor]

"Not only didn't happen overnight it didn't happen at all. There has been numerous studies by all kind of health organizations. It was a very bad event and many areas are still contaminated and will be for a long time so you don't need to make up numbers."

I grew up in that area (Kiev). I was 8 years old when the accident happened. Frankly, I don't trust any Soviet estimates or any studies based on the Soviet estimates or data. The IAEA was working with the Soviets and had a vested interest in minimizing the negative impact from the disaster.