In the first years after the Chernobyl accident, it became clear that Bulgaria ranked eighth in radiation pollution in Europe, but ranked first in human exposure, BNT recalled.
The silence of the authorities and the lack of adequate measures are the main reason for the exposure of the population. Moreover, in the spring of 1987, Bulgaria experienced a second radiation peak - due to the refusal of the authorities to buy clean animal feed, despite the warnings of scientists.
Petar Uzunov, a specialist in dosimetry and radiation protection at the Department of "Atomic Physics" at the Faculty of Physics of Sofia University: "Everything was, in popular terms, sprinkled with radioactivity, there was iodine 131, which entered the milk, cesium 137, which went into the soft tissues and muscles, strontium 90, which went into the bones.
The higher nomenclature allowed our laboratory to measure foods that they had brought from uncontaminated territories of Europe. They even measured them, sorry for raising my voice, because it's a shame."
Prof. Dimitar Vatsov, author of "The Bulgarian Chernobyl. Archaeology of Moral Poverty": "We can see how the resolutions "not fit for use" at levels of radiation that are many times below what the population officially eats. I say officially because very often it eats more than the norm that is for it.
- And where does this unusable food go?
- It goes back to the store chain. Of course, we eat it. It is not thrown away."
On May 27, 2026, Monday, BNT will broadcast Maya Dimitrova's documentary "Reason for Concern: The Archives of the Bulgarian Chernobyl", which explores secret documents from those first months of the tragedy.