Thyroid carcinomas of an additional series of 34 children exposed to radioactive fall-out after the Chernobyl reactor accident were analysed for mutations in the H-, K- and N-RAS and the p53 gene. Allele-specific oligonucleotide hybridization, single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and direct sequencing did not disclose mutations in codons 12, 13 and 61 of RAS genes nor mutations in exons 5, 7 and 8 of p53. Considering the recently reported high prevalence of RET rearrangements of the PTC3 type in childhood tumours after Chernobyl (Klugbauer et al, 1995, Oncogene 11: 2459-2467), it follows that RET rearrangements are the most relevant molecular aberration in these radiation-induced tumours. RAS or p53 mutations do not play a role in childhood thyroid carcinogenesis after Chernobyl.