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| Fig. 1: The East Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT), the area in which radioactive contamination spread. [6,7,8] (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
On September 29, 1957, the plutonium production plant known as Mayak exploded, resulting in one of the most disastrous nuclear accidents in recorded history. The Kyshtym Disaster is the culmination of this event and the further consequences it entailed. This disaster occurred in Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. The consequences following the explosion were extremely harmful for everyone living in the region.
The International Nuclear Events Scale (INES) rates harmful nuclear events on a scale from 0 to 7, where 0 is not harmful, and 7 is a major national accident. There are only 2 recorded nuclear events ranked 7 on the INES: the infamous Chernobyl and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disasters. Coming in third for most severe nuclear events is The Kyshtym Disaster, getting a 6 out of 7 on the INES. [1] Along with this, the surrounding area was exposed to dangerous radioactive material. A stretch of land ∼300 km high and ∼50 km wide contained people who had to avoid the consequences of radiation. [2] This is known as the East Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT) (see Fig. 1). The area was given its name after the explosion released 7.4 x 1016 Bq into the surrounding area. [3]
While the Kyshtym Disaster was dangerous to say the least, there has been a very successful effort in containing the radioactive material spread across the area. In fact, the Mayak nuclear production plant has little-to-no background radiation, and in 1989 the Soviet Union opened the plant to foreign visitors. [4] However, the EURT is still contaminated with radiation. Even with continuing efforts, the radiation exposure form living in the EURT has caused harm to nearby animals. The pygmy wood mouse (Apodemus uralensis) has seen modifications in the liver due to chronic radiation from living in the EURT. [5] The Kyshtym Disaster may have seen some improvements, but the damage done to the surrounding areas still remains a significant threat.
© Jordan Greenberg. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] C. Kermish and P.-E. Labeau, "Communicating About Nuclear Events: Some Suggestions to Improve INES," Reliab. Eng. Syst. Safe. 119, 165 (2013).
[2] R. Wakeford, "A Double Diamond Anniversary - Kyshtym and Windscale: The Nuclear Accidents of 1957," J. Radiol. Prot 37, E7 (2017).
[3] B. A. Napier et al., "Assessment of Uncertainty in the Radiation Doses for the Techa River Dosimetry System," Pacific Northwest National Laboratory PNNL-18913, October 2009.
[4] W. Sweet, "Kyshtym Visit Gives First Look at Soviet Plutonium Production Complex," Physics Today, 42, No. 11, 87 (Novermber 1989).
[5] N. Orekhova, V. M. Mordov, and Y. A. Davydova, "Structural-Functional Modifications of the Liver to Chronic Radioactive Exposure in Pygmy Wood Mouse (Apodemus uralensis) Within the East-Urals Radioactive Trace," J. Environ. Radioact. 199-200, 25 (2019).
[6] "The Kyshtym Accident, 29th September 1957," Norwegian Radiation Protection Agency, August 2007.
[7] S. Buttinger, "The Kyshtym Disaster," Physics 241, Stanford University, Winter 2017.
[8] G. Mahoney, "Kyshtym Nuclear Disaster," Physics 241, Stanford University, Winter 2018.
