Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast
Encyclopedia
Ozyorsk or Ozersk is a closed town in Chelyabinsk Oblast
, Russia
. Population:
It was founded on the shore of the Irtyash Lake in 1945. Until 1994, it was known as Chelyabinsk-65, and even earlier, as Chelyabinsk-40 (the digits are the last digits of the postal code
, and the name is that of the nearest big city; which was a common practice of giving names to closed towns). In 1994, it was granted town status and renamed Ozyorsk.
plant, one of the sources of Soviet plutonium
during the Cold War
, and now a Russian facility for processing nuclear waste and recycling nuclear material from decommissioned nuclear weapons.
The plant itself covers an area of approximately 90 km² and employs about 15,000 people.
The Mayak is primarily engaged in reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel from the nuclear submarines and icebreakers and from nuclear power plants. Commercially, it produces cobalt-60, iridium-192, carbon-14 and establishes conversion production with use of radiative technologies applying wasteless technologies.
The town's coat of arms depicts a flame-colored salamander representing the ecological situation after the 1957 accident.
Southern-Urals Construction Department is another major enterprise. Its activities include construction for atomic industry needs, production of concrete constructions and construction materials.
Main products of Plant of Wiring Products #2 are low-voltage devices for military-industrial establishments.
plant.
The Mayak plant was one of the largest producers of weapons-grade plutonium for the Soviet Union during much of the Cold War
, particularly during the Soviet atomic bomb program. Built and operated with great haste and disregard for safety, between 1945 and 1957 the Mayak plant dumped and released large amounts of solid, liquid and gaseous radioactive material into the area immediately around the plant, ultimately estimated to equal to between 2-3 Chernobyl explosions worth of radionuclides. Prior to 1956, much of the waste was dumped into the Techa River
, which it severely contaminated along with residents of dozens of riverside villages such as Muslyumovo, who relied on the river as their sole source of drinking, washing and bathing water.
In 1957, the Mayak plant was the site of a major disaster in which an improperly-stored underground tank of high-level liquid nuclear waste
exploded, releasing more radioactive contamination than Chernobyl and contaminating thousands of square miles of territory (see list of military nuclear accidents) now known as the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT). The matter was quietly and secretly covered up, and few either inside or outside Russia were aware of the full scope of the disaster until 1980.
After 1957, official dumping in the Techa ceased, and the waste material was dumped in convenient shallow lakes near the plant instead, of which 7 have been officially identified. Of particular concern is Lake Karachay
, the closest lake to the plant (now notorious as "The Most Contaminated Place on Earth") where roughly 4.4 exabecquerels of high-level liquid waste (75-90% of the total radioactivity released by Chernobyl) was dumped and concentrated in the 1/4 square mile lake over several decades.
In addition to the radioactive risks, the airborne lead
and particulate soot levels in Ozyorsk (along with much of the Ural industrial region) are also very high—roughly equal to the levels encountered along busy roadsides in the era predating unleaded gasoline and catalytic converters—due to the presence of numerous lead smelter
s.
There are sixteen secondary schools, two schools specializing in the English language
, one gymnasium
, physics-mathematics lyceum, three professional colleges, Southern-Ural Polytechnical College, Music College, Ozyorsk Engineering Institute (an affiliate of Moscow Engineering-Physical State University), and affiliates of Yekaterinburg
's and Chelyabinsk
's universities.
Chelyabinsk Oblast
-External links:*...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. Population:
It was founded on the shore of the Irtyash Lake in 1945. Until 1994, it was known as Chelyabinsk-65, and even earlier, as Chelyabinsk-40 (the digits are the last digits of the postal code
Postal code
A postal code is a series of letters and/or digits appended to a postal address for the purpose of sorting mail. Once postal codes were introduced, other applications became possible.In February 2005, 117 of the 190 member countries of the Universal Postal Union had postal code systems...
, and the name is that of the nearest big city; which was a common practice of giving names to closed towns). In 1994, it was granted town status and renamed Ozyorsk.
Economy
Ozyorsk was and remains a closed town because of its proximity to the MayakMayak
Mayak Production Association refers to an industrial complex that is one of the biggest nuclear facilities in the Russian Federation. It housed plutonium production reactors and a reprocessing plant...
plant, one of the sources of Soviet plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, and now a Russian facility for processing nuclear waste and recycling nuclear material from decommissioned nuclear weapons.
The plant itself covers an area of approximately 90 km² and employs about 15,000 people.
The Mayak is primarily engaged in reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel from the nuclear submarines and icebreakers and from nuclear power plants. Commercially, it produces cobalt-60, iridium-192, carbon-14 and establishes conversion production with use of radiative technologies applying wasteless technologies.
The town's coat of arms depicts a flame-colored salamander representing the ecological situation after the 1957 accident.
Southern-Urals Construction Department is another major enterprise. Its activities include construction for atomic industry needs, production of concrete constructions and construction materials.
Main products of Plant of Wiring Products #2 are low-voltage devices for military-industrial establishments.
Radioactive contamination and the 1957 disaster
Since the late 1940s, Ozyorsk and the surrounding countryside have been heavily contaminated by industrial pollution from the Mayak plutoniumPlutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
plant.
The Mayak plant was one of the largest producers of weapons-grade plutonium for the Soviet Union during much of the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
, particularly during the Soviet atomic bomb program. Built and operated with great haste and disregard for safety, between 1945 and 1957 the Mayak plant dumped and released large amounts of solid, liquid and gaseous radioactive material into the area immediately around the plant, ultimately estimated to equal to between 2-3 Chernobyl explosions worth of radionuclides. Prior to 1956, much of the waste was dumped into the Techa River
Techa River
The Techa River is a river on the eastern flank of the southern Ural Mountains noted for its nuclear contamination. It is about 240 km long and its basin is 7,500 square kilometers. It begins at the formerly-secret nuclear-processing town of Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast about 80 km northwest of...
, which it severely contaminated along with residents of dozens of riverside villages such as Muslyumovo, who relied on the river as their sole source of drinking, washing and bathing water.
In 1957, the Mayak plant was the site of a major disaster in which an improperly-stored underground tank of high-level liquid nuclear waste
High-level radioactive waste management
High-level radioactive waste management concerns management and disposal of highly radioactive materials created during production of nuclear power and nuclear warheads. The technical issues in accomplishing this are daunting, due to the extremely long periods radioactive wastes remain deadly to...
exploded, releasing more radioactive contamination than Chernobyl and contaminating thousands of square miles of territory (see list of military nuclear accidents) now known as the Eastern Ural Radioactive Trace (EURT). The matter was quietly and secretly covered up, and few either inside or outside Russia were aware of the full scope of the disaster until 1980.
After 1957, official dumping in the Techa ceased, and the waste material was dumped in convenient shallow lakes near the plant instead, of which 7 have been officially identified. Of particular concern is Lake Karachay
Lake Karachay
Lake Karachay , sometimes spelled Karachai, is a small lake in the southern Ural mountains in western Russia. Starting in 1951 the Soviet Union used Karachay as a dumping site for radioactive waste from Mayak, the nearby nuclear waste storage and reprocessing facility, located near the town of...
, the closest lake to the plant (now notorious as "The Most Contaminated Place on Earth") where roughly 4.4 exabecquerels of high-level liquid waste (75-90% of the total radioactivity released by Chernobyl) was dumped and concentrated in the 1/4 square mile lake over several decades.
In addition to the radioactive risks, the airborne lead
Lead
Lead is a main-group element in the carbon group with the symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal. It is also counted as one of the heavy metals. Metallic lead has a bluish-white color after being freshly cut, but it soon tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed...
and particulate soot levels in Ozyorsk (along with much of the Ural industrial region) are also very high—roughly equal to the levels encountered along busy roadsides in the era predating unleaded gasoline and catalytic converters—due to the presence of numerous lead smelter
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
s.
Education and culture
There are seventeen different cultural and public-service institutions.There are sixteen secondary schools, two schools specializing in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
, one gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
, physics-mathematics lyceum, three professional colleges, Southern-Ural Polytechnical College, Music College, Ozyorsk Engineering Institute (an affiliate of Moscow Engineering-Physical State University), and affiliates of Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg
Yekaterinburg is a major city in the central part of Russia, the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast. Situated on the eastern side of the Ural mountain range, it is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District with a population of 1,350,136 , making it Russia's...
's and Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk
Chelyabinsk is a city and the administrative center of Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, located in the northwestern side of the oblast, south of Yekaterinburg, just to the east of the Ural Mountains, on the Miass River. Population: -History:...
's universities.