Reading the United Nations report on Chernobyl would easily lead you to believe the Chernobyl clean-up workers — aka, the liquidators — suffered at most minimal health effects for their heroic battle against the worst nuclear disaster in history. As the UN's Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation concluded:

"[S]everal hundred thousand people were involved in recovery operations, but to date, apart from indications of an increase in the incidence of leukemia and cataracts among those who received higher doses, there is no evidence of health effects that can be attributed to radiation exposure."