In early November, the French Institute for Nuclear and Radiation Safety reported a radioactive cloud over Europe that could have appeared due to an accident at a nuclear facility in Russia or Kazakhstan. The leak, according to experts, occurred a month ago. And by the time the incident was announced, the background radiation had almost disappeared. The authorities of the mentioned countries hastened to deny accidents at nuclear plants. Over the next two weeks, the source of the leak was not named, but they tried to explain: there is no threat to the health of people in the contaminated regions (Urals, Volga region, Rostov region, regions of Germany, France, Italy and Austria).
In Germany, Austria and Italy September 29 recorded an increased radiation background of the isotope ruthenium-106 (Ru-106) formed during testing nuclear weapons, nuclear man-made accidents.
October 8 The German Federal Office for Radiation Protection and the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Reactor Safety have suggested that the source of ruthenium is located in Southern Urals. At the same time, the department ruled out an accident.
Rosatom, which oversees the nuclear industry, stated that “Ru-106 was not detected in aerosol samples from September 25 to October 7 in the Russian Federation, including the Southern Urals, except for a single measurement point in St. Petersburg.” . However, according to Rosatom, even there it was negligible.
At the beginning of October, Kommersant reported on the reason for the increase in background radiation, citing Nadezhda Kutepova, a human rights activist from the ZATO Ozersk, who received political asylum in France.
In the comment " Novaya Gazeta» Nadezhda Kutepova said that her attention was drawn to Rosatom’s response to reports of a radioactive cloud recorded in Germany.
— I found out that on September 25 and 26 at Mayak ( plant for the production of nuclear weapons components in Ozersk, Chelyabinsk region— Ed.) new equipment was being tested, and also that alarms were announced in Ozersk these days,” Kutepova said, citing sources at the enterprise. — The incident could have occurred in a furnace during the vitrification process of high-level radioactive waste. This is where ruthenium is formed, which can be discarded in its pure form.
However, representatives of the plant said that “everything is fine” with them.
After this, rumors appeared in Yekaterinburg that due to the accident at the Mayak plant, a radioactive cloud was moving towards the city. An anonymous message appeared on the city’s social networks, allegedly sent by an employee of a chemical and biological plant (spelling preserved).
“Today at our scientific chemical and biological plant the director made an announcement (a colleague’s friend works there). In general, an accident occurred at the Mayak in the Chelyabinsk region, resulting in a radiation cloud that goes to Ekb. It will arrive approximately tomorrow. Recommendations - close all the windows of the house and, if possible, do not go outside, also drink alcohol, ginseng root and eleuthero (in the pharmacy), for adults, warm red wine or cognac in tea. In general, don’t panic, the concentration is not such as to cause radiation sickness. But it provokes cancer very strongly.”
In response to this, the local Rospotrebnadzor stated that the level of background radiation on the border of the Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk regions does not exceed the permissible level.
November 9 The Institute of Nuclear and Radiation Safety of France released a report in which it spoke about the appearance of a radioactive cloud over Europe in late September.
According to experts, the accident could have occurred in the last week of September in the area between the Volga and the Urals, south of the Ural Mountains, but the exact location cannot be determined. The outbreak may be either in Russia or in Kazakhstan.
The report notes that since October 6, the content of hazardous substances has decreased, and by this moment they are not in the air.
Ruthenium distribution map from the French Institute for Nuclear and Radiation Safety
reaction
Why not Kazakhstan
There are plenty of places in Kazakhstan that could be included in the list of “suspected leaks”: the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site alone is worth it. It is closed, but on its territory there is an Institute of Radiation Safety and Ecology - this is the city of Kurchatov in the east of the republic, it falls into the zone marked by the French - inside of which there is an operating reactor (another one is in Almaty). But on the day of the French researchers’ speech, the institute’s employees immediately officially announced that they had no leaks - neither from the first nor from the second reactor.
In Almaty, there is also the Institute of Nuclear Physics, where pharmaceuticals are produced (ruthenium, if only an excess of it was recorded, could have “leaked” from pharmacological production), but the local bosses brushed aside possible accusations with all their hands and feet.
At the same time, the institute has another facility - in the west of Kazakhstan, very close to the Russian border, in the city of Aksai. But the director of the institute, Ergazy Kenzhin, said in an interview with Azattyk radio that all the accusations against them are unfounded.
— This is an underground testing ground, there are adits at a depth of one and a half kilometers and a kilometer. These are former USSR landfills; there were underground mines there in the 1980s. nuclear explosions. It was called “a program for the use of nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes, the creation of cavities for storing petroleum products.” Everything there has been mothballed, that is, there has been no work related to the release [of radiation] for decades, 30-40 years. Therefore, there is absolutely no release of radioactivity there,” Azattyk quotes the scientist.
In general, Kazakhstan can be suspected of some kind of leaks quite legitimately, since it is quite closely connected with nuclear energy. In the west of Kazakhstan, in the Aktobe region, there is a military city called Emba-5, where, according to some reports, underground nuclear explosions were also carried out. And what is there now in the mines is a big question, since until the middle of this year the Russian military patronized the city (now the process of withdrawing the Russians and the complete transfer of Emba-5 to Kazakh leadership is underway). In addition, a nuclear waste bank is being built in Kazakhstan - it is claimed that it will be safe for the environment.
And back in 2014, in the same West of Kazakhstan, a container with radioactive cesium-137 was lost. They searched for him for three days, and he was found by a taxi driver in a neighboring region, who saw a small container in a passing truck at night. Official version losses - the bottom of the body fell through in a transportation van, and other drivers found it and thought it was just a can - and took it for themselves.
20 November Roshydromet confirmed: at the end of September, extreme air pollution with the radioactive isotope ruthenium-106 was observed in the Urals, high - in Tatarstan, the Volga region and Rostov-on-Don. The radioisotope Ru-106 (half-life 368.2 days) was found in samples of radioactive aerosols.
On the same day, Russian Greenpeace asked the prosecutor's office to check the Mayak plant. The organization refers to data from Roshydromet. “The emergency release of ruthenium-106 at the Mayak plant may be associated with vitrification of spent nuclear fuel. It is also possible that material containing ruthenium-106 could enter the metal melting furnace,” Greenpeace said.
On Tuesday, November 21st Rosatom stated that the Mayak production association is not associated with air pollution. The department suggested that the leak of the substance could have occurred due to a violation of the tightness of the fuel rod cladding in a nuclear reactor or during radiochemical processing of nuclear fuel.
reaction
Position of Greenpeace and experts
“Roshydromet has published readings from its stations, but figuring out where the emissions are coming from is not the function of this department,” said Rashid Alimov, project manager of the Greenpeace Russia energy program. “That’s why we are writing a request to the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation, which, in turn, should involve Rostekhnadzor to understand the situation.”
As Alimov notes, the purpose of the request is to check whether information about the accident was reported to the competent authorities, whether production was stopped and measures were taken to protect the population.
According to the ecologist, it is now impossible to draw definitive conclusions about what caused the release.
However, like other experts, Rashid Alimov names the Mayak production association first on the list of potential sources of pollution. The state-owned enterprise produces nuclear weapons components and is engaged in the storage and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel. Located in the closed city of Ozersk, Chelyabinsk region, the enterprise is part of the Rosatom state corporation.
Versions
According to Rashid Alimov, conclusions drawn by French researchers, as well as sources at the Mayak plant, indicate that the release could have occurred at the vitrification plant for spent nuclear fuel.
The technology is used for the complete elimination of by-product radioactive waste and was invented in France. At high temperature and pressure in the furnace, the radioactive liquid and phosphate glass are mixed. The resulting radioactive transparent columns are packaged in protective cases. According to Rashid Alimov, in 2001 in France, a release of ruthenium was recorded at just such a production facility.
Loading a container for transporting spent nuclear fuel at the Mayak plant. Photo: Alexander Kondratyuk / RIA Novosti, 2010 Rashid Alimov voices other versions, however, he believes that the likelihood of such a scenario is minimal. “Theoretically, ruthenium is produced in Russia for medical needs in Dimitrovgrad (in the Ulyanovsk region) and Obninsk (in the Kaluga region), explains Alimov. “This may explain the pollution recorded in Volgograd and Tsimlyansk.
Other scenarios, albeit less likely, which experts call, include a source of ruthenium-106 getting into a smelting furnace along with scrap metal. “The story of a radioactive source entering a furnace was recorded four years ago in Elektrostal,” the expert notes. - And the least likely options are a satellite crash and an accident nuclear power plant. But this would lead to the release of not only ruthenium-106, but also other radioactive substances.
Why was a radioactive cloud detected in Europe? Rashid Alimov draws attention to the message of Roshydromet - it follows from it that there are only 22 stations on the territory of Russia that could record emissions. “In our opinion, this is not enough,” the expert commented.
According to Rashid Alimov, it is now not possible to assess the health threat from the release.
“We don’t know where the highest concentrations were recorded; the scenario of how the cloud moved is not fully known,” he notes. “That’s why we turned to the prosecutor’s office.”
About the danger of leakage
“The information about the level of pollution that appears in the media is such that there should be no health concerns,” he commented on the situation Anatoly Gubin, head of laboratory mathematical analysis radiation impacts of the Scientific and Technical Center for Radiation Safety and Hygiene. “However, the very fact of detection of contamination suggests that the hope of the installation where spent fuel is handled is not enough.
“Those who were in close proximity to the release site could have suffered serious health damage,” the physicist commented on the situation. Oleg Bodrov, head of the environmental organization “South Coast of the Gulf of Finland”. — It is not a fact that they are informed that they were affected by the release, given the fact that we learned about the accident from French scientists, and not from authorized departments in Russia.
What was Europe afraid of?
The French magazine Le NovelObs identifies reasons why - despite the likely lack of consequences for Europe - the current emergency is extremely alarming. Firstly, “having entrusted the report of the incident to the meteorological service” (Roshydromet), Russian nuclear scientists “went into denial” (as they once did after Chernobyl disaster) and this cannot but worry their European partners. Since Rosatom denies any involvement in the leaks, this could mean one of two things: either the corporation does not control such incidents, “or the country’s authorities are hiding” the information.
“Either of these circumstances raises concerns,” said Bruno Chareyron, director of the non-governmental Commission for the Retrieval of Independent Information on Radioactivity (CRIIRAD), which was created in France after the Chernobyl disaster.
“It is important that the origin of these emissions be sought... From this point of view, the lack of information is worrying. If the origin of the releases is unknown, radiation protection measures cannot be taken, while the doses received by workers or local residents could be such that they could not be ignored. If we're talking about about concealing information, the situation is even more problematic,” wrote Chareyron in a CRIIRAD report published on October 5.
In its latest communiqué, published on November 21, CRIIRAD analyzes Roshydromet's report on the release.
“While not even close to providing answers (to emerging questions), the results (published by Roshydromet) raise new questions:
- Why is the concentration of the substance in the air (in Russia) at the same level as was discovered in Romania?
- Why does the level of emission of ruthenium-106 into the soil recorded by stations located less than 40 km north and south of Mayak reach a maximum of 330 Bq/m2 (this level was recorded in Metlino) - after all, this is from 100 to 1000 times less, as observed in the modeling conducted by IRSN (the results of which were published on November 9)."
“Today we are still in complete uncertainty,” says the Commission for the Search for Independent Information on Radioactivity.
The Commission also emphasizes that it has already contacted world organization health and the International Atomic Energy Agency with a demand to “break the silence and intervene,” since “absolute transparency is necessary” in the investigation of the emergency, “both from the authorities, in particular the Russian Federation, and from expert institutions.”
It happened before
Accidents at Mayak in 1957 and 2007
In 1957, the “Kyshtym accident” occurred at Mayak, which caused radiation contamination over an area of over 20 thousand square kilometers. It became the first radiation plant in the USSR emergency technogenic nature: during the liquidation, 23 villages with a population of up to 12 thousand people were resettled, their houses, property and livestock were destroyed.
Ten years ago, in 2007, another emergency happened at Mayak. At plant No. 235, where spent nuclear fuel is reprocessed, a pipeline ruptured. Up to 8 people received the maximum permissible radiation doses. However, as the Ural media indicate, the company hid this information for more than a month.
The village of Muslyumovo, which suffered from radiation as a result of the Kyshtym accident. Photo: Alexander Kondratyuk / RIA Novosti, 2010 It is interesting that at that time information about the causes of the ejection was made public by the same Nadezhda Kutepova, at that time the head of the Planet of Hopes organization. She was born in Ozersk, her father was a liquidator of the accident in 1957. In 2015, Kutepova’s organization “Planet of Hopes” was recognized foreign agent, she was accused of industrial espionage, Kutepova received political asylum abroad.
Chernobyl: USSR confessed under pressure from Europe
The largest nuclear accident occurred in Chernobyl on April 26, 1986. The first reports about the accident in the Soviet media appeared only on April 28, and they were made under pressure, when concerned Europeans demanded that the USSR explain the increase in background radiation. Experts from the Swedish nuclear power plant Forsmak were the first in the world to report contamination. Detailed information Soviet publications publish about the accident after the May holidays.
Worked on the material: Alisa Kustikova, Alexandra Kopacheva, Vyacheslav Polovinko, Yuri Safronov
Extremely high contamination of the environment with the radioactive isotope of ruthenium Ru-106 was recorded in the Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Federation in September-October. On the Roshydromet website, this is reported as one of the points in the department’s report, along with a deficiency of dissolved oxygen in the Vyazma River and pollution of the Argazinsky reservoir in the Urals with zinc ions.
The most significant excess of background radiation was recorded in the area of the village of Argayash - 986 times compared to last month. In the neighboring settlement of Novogorny - 440 times. However, the total beta activity is recorded in samples of radioactive aerosols and fallout at all posts in the Southern Urals.
The radioactive cloud reached Europe
From September 29 to October 3, Ru-106, according to Roshydromet, was detected in small quantities in the territory of the European Union. According to Znak.com, information about a radioactive cloud that came from Russia to Western Europe, began to arrive from Germany and France at the end of September - precisely with an indication that the probable source of radiation was the Chelyabinsk region.
Regional authorities denied the fact of a dangerous release
Despite the statements of foreign scientists, the administration of the Chelyabinsk region, sanitary doctors and the Ministry of Emergency Situations, as the publication notes, denied the problem and, presumably, did not take any emergency measures. Regional Minister of Public Security Yevgeny Savchenko later told RIA Novosti that the administration had not received information about the dangerous release from Roshydromet. “When there was a wave of press about ruthenium, we requested information from Rosatom and Roshydrometcenter [Roshydromet]. There were only hesitations, but since there was no danger, they did not consider it necessary to warn us,” he said in an interview with Ura.ru. - The sources of information were located in France, where there is a nuclear waste processing plant competing with our Mayak. It gives me certain thoughts."
Rosatom admits release of ruthenium, but not from Russian source
“Radiation situation around all nuclear industry facilities Russian Federation within normal limits and corresponds to the natural radiation background, Rosatom reported in October. Rossiyskaya newspaper" - Data obtained from the radiation monitoring system of Roshydromet indicate that Ru-106 was not detected in aerosol samples from September 25 to October 7 on the territory of the Russian Federation, including the Southern Urals, except for the only measurement point in St. Petersburg." However, the state corporation did not deny the IAEA data on the fixation of the ruthenium isotope in Europe, especially in its eastern part - over Romania.
Photo: Alexander Kondratyuk / RIA Novosti
The source of contamination may be located at the Mayak enterprise
Near the settlements of Argayash and Novogorny there is the Mayak production association. The company is engaged in the storage of nuclear waste and the production of nuclear weapons components. The information about the release was not confirmed there. Deputy Governor of the region Oleg Klimov stood up for the enterprise. He explained to the agency that ruthenium released during the processing of nuclear fuel contains impurities of other radioactive isotopes, and they should have been recorded along with it in the event of an accident at Mayak. Greenpeace suggested that the source of pollution was nuclear waste brought for processing. “The emergency release of ruthenium-106 at the Mayak plant may be associated with vitrification of spent nuclear fuel,” environmentalists noted. “It is also possible that material containing ruthenium-106 may enter the metal melting furnace.” A Znak.сom source in Ozersk at the Mayak enterprise agreed with this possibility: “The wind rose goes directly from the industrial zone of the enterprise towards Argayash, so the news is not very positive.”
Greenpeace will appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office demanding a thorough investigation
We are talking about the deliberate concealment of data about a radiation accident and its impact on environment, Greenpeace is confident. Environmentalists reported the preparation of a statement to the Prosecutor General's Office. Supervisory authorities, in their opinion, should force Rosatom to conduct an investigation and publish information about incidents at Mayak and other enterprises where ruthenium could be released.
The Russian government is successfully repeating the behavior patterns of the USSR leadership, which covered up the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant for weeks. As in 1986, a radioactive cloud was detected in Europe, but the Kremlin denies any involvement.
Radioactive cloud from a Russian plant
At the end of September, a release of ruthenium-106 (Ru-106) radionuclide may have occurred in the area of the Russian production association Mayak in the Chelyabinsk region of the Russian Federation. This enterprise belongs to Rosatom. Mayak is engaged in the production of nuclear weapons components, isotopes, storage and regeneration of spent nuclear fuel.
The release of radiation two months later, on November 20, was actually acknowledged by the Russian Hydrometeorological Center in its bulletin, listing when and where increased levels of radioactive contamination were recorded on the territory of the Russian Federation.
In early October, the German Federal Office for Radiation Protection reported an increased level of ruthenium-106 in the air between September 29 and October 3. Experts there suggested that the source of pollution was in the Southern Urals.
In early November about the radioactive cloud (IRSN). As the newspaper Le Figaro wrote, the institute clarified that a radioactive cloud formed between the Volga River and the chain of the Ural Mountains, near the city of Perm.
The location was calculated by tracking the trajectory of air masses. The distance from Perm to the city of Ozersk, where the Mayak PA is located, is approximately 370 km. Not very much, as for the movement of air masses.
Map of radioactive contamination from Russian ruthenium-106 compiled by IRSN. Photo: IRSN
Rosatom then called the conclusions that its enterprise was the source of radiation unfounded. A Russian experts argued that air masses from the Urals they could not get to Europe.
Now the bulletins of Russian meteorologists say that from September 25 to October 1, excess pollution levels were recorded by all posts located in the Southern Urals. However, they claim that pollution standards were not exceeded. But in the table provided by the department, the contamination of laboratory samples in a number of settlements is characterized as “extremely high” and “high.”
In particular, in the area of the village of Argayash the background was exceeded by 986 times, and in the area of the settlement of Novogorny - by 440 times. Both settlements are located near Mayak.
Roshydromet also reported that radioactive contamination was recorded in Tatarstan on September 26-27. In Volgograd and Rostov-on-Don - September 27-28. And already from September 29 to October 3, everyone began to record radiation European countries, starting from Italy and further north.
Russia continues to deny everything
The environmental organization Greenpeace Russia promised to contact the prosecutor's office. They want to ask for an investigation into possible concealment of information about a possible radiation accident and the state of the environment.
“Even taking into account the fact that the concentration observed over Europe is low, tens of millions of people were exposed, and some of them will definitely have health problems,” Greenpeace said in a statement.
And the funny thing is that at Mayak they still deny their involvement. The company assures that they do not work with ruthenium-106 and have not separated it from spent nuclear fuel for many years.
“Emissions into the atmosphere were within the usual regulatory values, background radiation was normal,” the enterprise said in a statement.
However, unofficially, its representatives suggest that they are still to blame. Interlocutor of the opposition Russian edition Znak.com said that ruthenium-106 could appear in the atmosphere precisely from nuclear waste that is brought to the plant. “The wind rose goes just from the industrial zone of the enterprise towards Argayash, so the news is not very positive,” said a Mayak representative.
Meanwhile, the authorities of the Chelyabinsk region claim that there is no danger. They say that if the concentration of radioactive contamination had been exceeded, they would have been warned and people would have been evacuated. “There were only hesitations, but since there was no danger, they did not consider it necessary to warn us,” said the region’s Minister of Public Security, Yevgeny Savchenko.
His words were subsequently confirmed by the head of Roshydromet, Maxim Yakovenko. According to him, the concentration of ruthenium is “tens of thousands of times lower than the maximum permissible” and does not pose a danger to the population. He also said that his department is not looking for the source of emissions.
“Why search if there is no danger? Let those who are interested for their own purposes search,” said Yakovenko, noting that the concentration of emissions in Romania was 1.5-2 times higher than in Russia, and in Poland and Ukraine were the same as in Russia.
What is ruthenium and where does it come from?
The isotope ruthenium-106 is used primarily in medicine. It emits beta radiation and has shallow permeability, so it is used to treat small tumors and ocular melanomas. Beta radiation is theoretically the least harmful because its particles are well retained by clothing and can only be affected if they get on the skin. But particles that fall, for example, onto vegetables and then into the human body pose a significant threat, as they can destroy cells and cause cancer.
French experts with IRSN believe that during the processing of nuclear fuel, accidental degassing of solutions containing ruthenium-106 may have occurred. Or the source of ruthenium was lost and accidentally put into an incinerator.
Greenpeace suggests that the release of ruthenium-106 could have occurred during vitrification - that is, during the disposal of radioactive waste. Or material containing ruthenium-106 could have ended up in a metal melting furnace.
Of course, the scale of pollution cannot be compared with the Chernobyl tragedy. But the fact remains that Russia gave Europe a “friendly cloud” and lied for a long time about its non-involvement in the incident.
Extreme high level contamination with the radioactive isotope of ruthenium Ru-106 was recorded in the Chelyabinsk region of Russia back in September-October of this year. However Russian authorities They did not consider it necessary to either inform their citizens about the emergency or inform the world community.
Meanwhile, in the area of the village of Argayash, the background radiation after the release was 986 times higher, in the neighboring settlement of Novogorny - 440 times higher, Lenta.ru reports.
Information about a radioactive cloud that came from Russia to Western Europe began to arrive from Germany and France at the end of September. Analysts were inclined to two versions about where the source of pollution was located - Kazakhstan or the Chelyabinsk region of Russia.
However, despite statements by foreign scientists, the administration of the Chelyabinsk region, sanitary doctors and the Ministry of Emergency Situations denied the problem.
« When there was a wave of press about ruthenium, we requested information from Rosatom and Roshydrometcenter [Roshydromet]. There were only hesitations, but since there was no danger, they did not consider it necessary to warn us, said the regional minister of public security Evgeniy Savchenko in an interview with Ura.ru. - The sources of the information were located in France, where there is a nuclear waste processing plant competing with our Mayak. Leads to certain thoughts».
« Data obtained from the radiation monitoring system of Roshydromet indicate that Ru-106 was not detected in aerosol samples from September 25 to October 7 on the territory of the Russian Federation, including the Southern Urals, except for a single measurement point in St. Petersburg", a source from Rosatom commented to Rossiyskaya Gazeta at the same time.
Apparently, the source of contamination was at the Mayak enterprise, which is involved in the storage of nuclear waste and the production of nuclear weapons components. Greenpeace suggested that the source of pollution was nuclear waste brought for processing.
« The accidental release of ruthenium-106 at the Mayak plant may be associated with vitrification of spent nuclear fuel", Lenta.ru quotes ecologists.
Jean Claude Zebrib, a physicist and independent NGO expert, also suggested that the release of ruthenium may have occurred during an incident at a vitrification furnace: “ When all goes well, only krypton 85 gas is released from the chimney in the form of aerosols (RuO2 for ruthenium), which are largely retained by "very high efficiency" (THE) filters, which have a capture efficiency of 99.9%. They are checked and changed regularly. But the chemistry of ruthenium is complex and there is a phase in which this element is in a volatile phase. If an incident occurs during this time, a leak may occur as gases and aerosols escape the equipment. Since Mayak has been using this vitrification technology since 1987, it is possible that they caused this accidental release».
Greenpeace will already appeal to the Prosecutor General's Office demanding a thorough investigation. And he emphasizes that it is already too late for residents of Chelyabinsk and the region to escape from radiation, and the consequences of the release on people’s health will begin to appear within six months.
