S I T E   N O M I N A T I O N

Chelyabinsk, Russia

Nominator: Polluted Places

Description:
The Mayak Nuclear Facility is located near Chelyabinsk, in Russia's Ural Mountain range. For half a century, the Mayak facility dumped radioactive waste into Lake Karachai (one of the most polluted lakes in the world), and the Techa River (where villagers once collected water). As a result of the dumping, Lake Karachai has radiation levels ten times higher than the emissions during the Chernobyl explosion in 1986. Now, the Russian government has approved a plan to store an additional 20,000 tons of nuclear waste at Mayak.

In addition to the environmental damage, the Mayak facility is also responsible for substantial increases in leukemia (41%), cancer (21%), and digestive difficulties. Thirty percent of all children are born with birth defects and half of all men and women are sterile. Average life span in the Chelyabinsk region is 25 years less than Russia’s national average.

Population: 124,000 live in the towns and villages around Mayak. 3.2 million people live in the Chelyabinsk region, and nearly half have experienced health problems due to radiation exposure.

Toxin: Enriched uranium, plutonium, caesium