Long watch: Is this Russian cult leader a fraud? Mayak, Kyshtym, Soviet Union: The Kyshtym disaster was a radiation contamination accident (after a chemical explosion that occurred within a storage tank) at Mayak, a Nuclear fuel reprocessing plant in the Soviet Union. And, there's not even basic containment going on at Fukishima. The fallout of the cloud resulted in a long-term contamination of an area of more than 800 to 20,000 km2 (310 to 7,720 sq mi), depending on what contamination level is considered significant, primarily with caesium-137 and strontium-90. Map of the East Urals Radioactive Trace (EURT): area contaminated by the Kyshtym disaster. Some experts predict thousands of extra cancer deaths as a result of the disaster. Media reporting of the nuclear accident near Kyshtym first appeared in 1958. On September 29th of 1957, the cooling system for one of the waste storage tanks failed, causing evaporation of the tank's cooling liquid and combustion of the tank's 70 to 80 tons of radioactive waste. By using our services, you agree to our use of cookies. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Sometimes timelines answer questions; other times they help us to raise new questions. For that reason, a cooler was built around each bank, containing twenty tanks. Search for: Search. Jan 20, 2015 - September 29 – The Kyshtym disaster occurs at the Mayak nuclear reprocessing plant in Russia. It is expected to cover the site by 2013. Kyshtym disaster. Well, it's easy as toast! It measured as a Level 6 disaster on the International Nuclear Event Scale, making it the third most serious nuclear accident ever recorded behind the Chernobyl disaster, and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, both Level 7 on the … Nuclear waste tank explosion in 1957 and decades-long radioactive contamination made Mayak one of the most radioactive places on Earth. On September 29, 1957, the cooling system of one of the storage tanks failed, and the rise in temperature led to the evaporation of dried waste. © 2021 BBC. We are unbiased by any theory and we don't sell anything. The Kyshtym Disaster of 1957: The largest nuclear disaster we’ve never heard of. Workers break safety regulations by mixing dangerously large amounts of treated uranium in metal buckets, setting off a nuclear reaction (INES Level 4). This paper presents an overview of the nuclear accident that occurred at the Mayak Production Association (PA) in the Russian Federation on 29 September 1957, often referred to as 'Kyshtym Accident', when 20 MCi (740 PBq) of radionuclides were released by a chemical explosion in a radioactive waste storage tank. Looking at the south side of the main Administration Building and security building of the storage facility. Mayak, a major plutonium-producing site in Russia, was also the site of one of the worst nuclear disasters of all time. [18] Medvedev's description of the disaster in the New Scientist was initially derided by Western nuclear industry sources, but the core of his story was soon confirmed by Professor Lev Tumerman, former head of the Biophysics Laboratory at the Engelhardt Institute of Molecular Biology in Moscow. Timetoast's free timeline maker lets you create timelines online. No radiation leaks nor damage to the plant are detected. Residents of the area were thus familiar with the invisible dangers coming from the secret site. 2021-01-04. Foreman, Reactor accident chemistry an update, Cogent Chemistry, 2018, volume 4, 1450944. The disaster occurred at the Mayak plant, a nuclear weapons production site and nuclear fuel reprocessing plant. Latest; Love Parade Disaster Reddit. [7] This area is usually referred to as the East-Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT).[13]. A huge cover, known as the New Safe Confinement, is due to be erected over the existing sarcophagus covering the site some time after 2008. Well, it's easy as toast! Two of the workers later die from their injuries, and more than 40 others are treated for exposure to high levels of radiation. Lenssen, "Nuclear Waste: The Problem that Won't Go Away". A series of fires are set off, after cooling systems fail. No deaths or injuries were reported. Initially Mayak was dumping high-level radioactive waste into a nearby river, which flowed to the river Ob, flowing farther down to the Arctic Ocean. The Kyshtym disaster or Kyshtym incident was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on 29 September 1957 at Mayak, a plutonium production site for nuclear weapons and nuclear fuel reprocessing plant located in the closed city of Chelyabinsk-40 (now Ozyorsk) in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.. Seven people are also injured when hot water and steam leaks from a broken pipe. Incidence of unknown kyshtym disaster timeline ' diseases breaking out took place on September 29, 1957 a... Causes a partial meltdown in one reactor, resulting in a limited release of radioactivity ( INES Level 5.! ] [ 17 ] in the immediate aftermath U.S. paper currency died from radiation sickness in the Soviet Union worst... 5 ). [ 13 ] nearly every country in the Urals secret even its name was misdirection. 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