site.btaBook Explores High Radiation Exposure in Bulgaria after Chernobyl

The book The Bulgarian Chernobyl: Archaeology of Moral Poverty explores why Bulgaria’s population was among the most heavily irradiated in Europe after the Chernobyl disaster, the publishers said on Tuesday. In his study, Prof. Dimitar Vatsov traces the toxic legacy of Chernobyl and Bulgaria’s experience within it.

According to the publishers, the book examines not only the reaction of the Bulgarian state after April 26, 1986, but also why Bulgarians became among the most heavily irradiated populations despite the relatively low levels of contamination that reached the country. Drawing on international reports and Bulgarian archives, Prof. Vatsov argues that the reasons lie not in natural factors or geographical location, but in institutional decisions, the result of delayed, incomplete and often deliberately distorted measures to protect the population.

According to data from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Bulgaria ranked eighth in terms of contamination, yet according to the United Nations it was among the most affected in terms of population exposure, including children. The book also examines the delayed and misleading response of the authorities, with official acknowledgement of the danger coming only a week after the radioactive cloud, and the premature lifting of protective measures. It further highlights the "second radiation peak" in 1987, a phenomenon unique to Bulgaria, in which radionuclides re-entered the food chain through contaminated animal feed, increasing exposure among the population.

Dimitar Vatsov is a professor of philosophy and Director of the Doctoral School at New Bulgarian University. He is Chair of the Human and Social Studies Foundation. He served as Editor-in-Chief of Critique and Humanism magazine from 1999 to 2022 and was a Fulbright visiting scholar at Dartmouth College in the United States in 2014. He is the author of six monographs and has more than 100 publications in six European languages. His research interests include ontology, political philosophy, post-analytic philosophy of language, media studies, and studies of populism, propaganda and disinformation.