nuclear-news

Radioactive poisoining of Mayak, in rural Russia

Mayak means irradiated milk, and a river 1,000 times as radioactive as normal. Genetic defects in people 25 times and cancer incidence four times the Russian average……..

Dumping nuclear waste on defenceless Russians, de.indymedia.org |Presenter Sonia Seymour Mikich: “……….The CASTOR protests of Gorleben ( ………german-nuke-waste-transportation) have shown yet again how nuclear waste has entrapped us. There’s no final repository anywhere. There are no disposal suggestions that would be suitable for a million years – that’s how long the fuel rods radiate.

And yet the power station running times are blithely extended and the radioactive waste keeps growing. So the federal environment ministry and the state of Saxony have come up with a great idea: we’ll export the problem. 951 highly radioactive fuel rods from a research reactor in Dresden are to be taken to Russia. Then we’d be finally rid of them, 4,000 kilometres away, in Mayak.

Reporter: There are few good stories in this place. The grass, the water, everything is radioactive. And he says….
Man living in Mayak: (Pointing to a streamside meadow) That is the most contaminated spot in our village. Women used to herd geese here and sit on the ground. They were exposed to the radiation the whole day. They’re all dead now.

Reporter: 30 kilometres upstream stands Russia’s oldest nuclear factory, Mayak. An appalling accident there in the 50s released massive amounts of radioactivity. Accidents keep happening in Mayak, the most recent three years ago. Mayak means irradiated milk, and a river 1,000 times as radioactive as normal. Genetic defects in people 25 times and cancer incidence four times the Russian average……..

de.indymedia.org | Dumping nuclear waste on defenceless Russians

November 22, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | environment, Russia | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium