<P> The inhalation dose (internal dose) for the public during the time of the accident and their evacuation from the area in what is now the 30 km evacuation zone around the plant has been estimated (based on ground deposition of caesium - 137) to be between 3 and 150 mSv . </P> <P> Thyroid doses for adults around the Chernobyl area were estimated to be between 20 and 1000 mSv, while for one - year - old infants, these estimates were higher, at 20 to 6000 mSv . For those who left at an early stage after the accident, the internal dose due to inhalation was 8 to 13 times higher than the external dose due to gamma / beta emitters . For those who remained until later (day 10 or later), the inhalation dose was 50 to 70% higher than the dose due to external exposure . The majority of the dose was due to iodine - 131 (about 40%) and tellurium and rubidium isotopes (about 20 to 30% for Rb and Te). </P> <P> The ingestion doses in this same group of people have also been estimated using the cesium activity per unit of area, isotope ratios, an average day of evacuation, intake rate of milk and green vegetables, and what is known about the transfer of radioactivity via plants and animals to humans . For adults, the dose has been estimated to be between 3 and 180 mSv, while for one - year - old infants, a dose of between 20 and 1300 mSv has been estimated . Again, the majority of the dose was thought to be mostly due to iodine - 131, and the external dose was much smaller than the internal dose due to the radioactivity in the diet . </P> <P> Ukraine, Belarus and parts of Russia received substantial amounts of radiation exposure after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, but prior to the disaster the number of children affected by thyroid cancer was relatively low globally . Every year about, "0.1--2.2 individuals per million of all aged under 15 years old world wide" were affected by thyroid cancer . Research has shown after the Chernobyl disaster the level of thyroid cancer, particularly in children near the radiation exposure, had abnormally increased . Although iodine - 131 has a relatively short half - life compared to other radioactive isotopes, iodine - 131 made its way through the food chain through a milk - to - consumer pathway . 95% of iodine - 131 was ingested through milk shortly after the disaster . Communities were unaware of the contamination deposited in soil and the transforming capabilities of radiation into other food sources . Through the consumption of milk children had received abnormal amounts of radiation exposure . </P>

What was the result of the chernobyl disaster