GEORGIA: 11 SOLDIERS EXPOSED TO RADIATION BY CAESIUM-137 CAPSULES

(14 Oct 1997) Russian/Nat The Cold War may be over but the nuclear legacy of the former Soviet Union lives on. Soldiers from the former Soviet republic of Georgia are finding out just how lethal that legacy can be. Eleven soldiers are now in hospital after finding highly radioactive capsules in the ground near their base. These men were never warned of the dangers at their seemingly calm military base in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Now the risks are all too apparent after being exposed to massive amounts of radiation from capsules of caesium-137. When the mainly-Russian troops pulled-out of the small southern nation of Georgia, they left no warning signs, nor did they alert Georgian military officials as to just what dangers were scattered about their military installations. Now at least 11 soldiers are paying the price -- confined to beds in a hospital in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, they may never recover from the massive doses of radiation they have received. Harmless looking caesium capsules burned holes right through these soldiers’ skin. Doctors say these external wounds are just the beginning -- no one is sure of what the long term effects will be. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) “In all I had some 33 holes in my skin, many of them have now healed or been covered over. The doctor says that the wounds left should also eventually heal, especially with the help of plastic surgery.“ SUPER CAPTION: Pavel Ilyaurin, Georgian soldier In 1991 with the fall of the Soviet Union, Russian troops began pulling out of military bases all over the Soviet Union. The chemical and atomic mess they left in their wake has never been cleaned up. At this base in the town of Lilo just outside the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, Georgian soldiers moved in when the Russians moved out. The Russians never told the Georgians about the dangers of what they had left behind. And so life went on as usual -- the Georgians had no idea that they were setting up camp on radioactive ground. Until soldiers found small attractive capsules --some even putting them in their pockets as souvenirs. And then the men started to fall ill. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) “Our experience in this awful event has shown that this place is littered with cesium 137 with a half-life of at least 30 years and is giving off a sufficiently large amount of radiation, a powerful dose of radiation and gamma rays. At just one of the places where a capsule was found around 13,000 roentgens per hour.“ SUPER CAPTION: Shukri Abramidze, Head of Georgia’s Nuclear Research Centre At 13,000 roentgens an hour these men have far surpassed the permissible level of 20 roentgens. And the danger is not over. Georgian officials have reason to believe that there are many more capsules hidden under the earth or strewn about military bases across Georgia. Officials only hope that they too are not found by unsuspecting soldiers, or even children, before they can be properly disposed of. Find out more about AP Archive: Twitter: Facebook: ​​ Instagram: You can license this story through AP Archive: