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Between 1948 and 1956 radioactive waste
from the giant Mayak nuclear complex was poured straight into the Techa
River, the source of drinking water for many villages. It exposed 124,000
people to medium- and high levels of radiation. Nuclear waste was also dumped
into the lakes of West Siberia. One of these fell dry during a hot summer
and a storm blew nuclear dust across a vast area around the lake. In 1957
one of the cooling systems of the Mayak-plant exploded and more than half
the amount of radioactive waste released by the accident in Chernobyl got
into the atmosphere. Some villagers were evacuated, but many were not. At
least 272,000 people were affected by Mayak-radiation.
It is in this area that the Russian Atomic Ministry, Minatom , wants to dump and store more nuclear waste in coming years. The Russian government has overturned a ban on the import of nuclear waste. Now plans are being made to import 20,000 tonnes of nuclear waste in exchange for over 20 billion US dollars. Potential exporting countries include: Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Bulgaria, Hungary, Switzerland, Germany and Spain.
Recently the deputy head of the Mayak plant told
a government commission: We cannot guarantee the safety of the people living
downstream of the Techa River.
The inhabitants of the area around Mayak are very much against the new plans for storage of radioactive waste. They simply cannot believe storage and handling of nuclear waste will take place in a safe and responsible manner. It is not hard to understand their scepticism.
Thousands have died and many more have fallen ill because of radiation exposure.
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