Mayak Plutonium plant Soviet atomic bomb project
Once a secretive city Chelyabinsk-65 situates near the Mayak plutonium factory. Russian authorities want to find out how many people aged over 65 survived—the surrounding area was damaged by radioactivity. According to the last official statement, 1000 people dead. But Russian experts estimate the number to be much higher. The clarification takes a long time.
Rare footage inside the Mayak Nuclear Plant facility in Russia, former USSR
The East Ural Reserve stands out as a unique and remarkable conservation area, created not to safeguard nature from human influence, but to safeguard humans from the lingering effects of radiation. It is one of only two such reserves in the world, the other being Polessky in Belarus. Both reserves were established in the aftermath of the world’s worst radiation disasters, at Chernobyl and the Mayak chemical plant in the Chelyabinsk region. The East Ural Reserve serves as a vital hub for scientific research into the long-term effects of radiation on the environment, providing invaluable insights into the resilience and adaptability of plant and animal species in contaminated areas. Despite its dark origins, the reserve is a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and our unwavering commitment to safeguarding the health and well-being of both people and the natural world.
- East Ural Reserve
- Zapovednik
- radiation
- natural objects
- protection
- Chernobyl
- Mayak chemical plant
- contamination
- Techa River
- long-term effects
- environment
- rehabilitation
- plant species
- animal species
- scientific research
- monitoring
- nuclear disasters
- ecosystem
- Belarus
- harmful effects.
Mayak Plutonium plant, Soviet atomic bomb project
In 1957, at the Mayak chemical plant in the city of Chelyabinsk-40, modern Ozersk, a container with radioactive waste with a volume of 300 cubic meters exploded. As a result of the explosion, not only the Chelyabinsk, but also the Sverdlovsk and Tyumen regions were under the radiation cloud. The total area of infection was 23 thousand square kilometres. It is interesting that Chelyabinsk-40 itself was not affected – most of the radiation (90%) settled on the Mayak territory, and the rest went further in the region.
Approximately a week after the radioactive cloud, the soviet government ordered to abandon 23 villages and relocate 12 thousand people. Moreover, the liquidators demolished all buildings and destroyed all livestock.
