On the twentieth anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, Plaid Cymru MEP and CND Cymru Chair Jill Evans urged the world to learn the lessons of the dangers of nuclear power .

Ms Evans has just returned from a visit to Chernobyl with a group of MEPs to see the devastation at first hand. It was revealed last week that the final number of cancer deaths attributable to the radiation from Chernobyl may be as high as 90,000.

Jill Evans said:

"Today the world remembers the victims of Chernobyl. Twenty years have passed since that terrifying day in April 1986 and the disaster continues to cause pain and suffering for thousands. The only way to ensure it never happens again is to reject nuclear power.

"When I visited Chernobyl and the surrounding contaminated area in northern Ukraine last weekend I was struck by the silence. We couldn't see the radiation all around that will make this area where over a hundred thousand people once lived uninhabitable for generations.

"The final toll of the Chernobyl disaster may never be known but recent reports say that up to 90,000 people could die of cancer as a result of the disaster. Nuclear power is not the answer to the world's energy crisis - it can never be safe, cost effective nor sustainable.

"The most fitting tribute to the victims of Chernobyl would be to rule out nuclear energy once and for all and urgently develop an energy strategy based on conservation and renewables."

Repeating calls for an independent inquiry, Ms Evans said:

"The vastly conflicting reports of the number of cancer deaths as a result of Chernobyl shows the need for a full independent inquiry into the consequences of the disaster. I'm working with other MEPs to put pressure on the European Commission to set up a full scale independent inquiry. We cannot truly the learn the lessons of Chernobyl until we have learnt the truth."