Lake Karachay
Encyclopedia
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 Ozyorsk
(then called Chelyabinsk
-40).
-based Worldwatch Institute
on nuclear waste, Karachay is the most polluted
spot on Earth. The lake accumulated some 4.44 exa
becquerel
s (EBq) of radioactivity, including 3.6 EBq of Caesium
-137 and 0.74 EBq of Strontium
-90. For comparison, the Chernobyl disaster
released from 5 to 12 EBq of radioactivity, but this radiation is not concentrated in one location.
The radiation level in the region near where radioactive effluent is discharged into the lake was 600 röntgen
s per hour in 1990, according to the Washington, D.C.
-based Natural Resources Defense Council, more than sufficient to give a lethal dose to a human within an hour.
becquerels (5 MCi) of radiation.
Between 1978 and 1986 the lake was filled with almost 10,000 hollow concrete blocks to prevent sediments from shifting.
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains , or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western Russia, from the coast of the Arctic Ocean to the Ural River and northwestern Kazakhstan. Their eastern side is usually considered the natural boundary between Europe and Asia...
in western 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...
. Starting in 1951 the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
used Karachay as a dumping site for radioactive waste
Radioactive waste
Radioactive wastes are wastes that contain radioactive material. Radioactive wastes are usually by-products of nuclear power generation and other applications of nuclear fission or nuclear technology, such as research and medicine...
from Mayak
Mayak
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...
, the nearby nuclear waste storage and reprocessing facility, located near the town of Ozyorsk
Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast
Ozyorsk or Ozersk is a closed town in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia. Population: It was founded on the shore of the Irtyash Lake in 1945...
(then called 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:...
-40).
Current status
According to a report by the Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based Worldwatch Institute
Worldwatch Institute
The Worldwatch Institute is a globally focused environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C. Worldwatch was named as one of the top ten sustainable development research organizations by Globescan Survey of Sustainability Experts.-Mission:...
on nuclear waste, Karachay is the most polluted
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
spot on Earth. The lake accumulated some 4.44 exa
Exa
Exa- is a prefix in the metric system denoting 1018 or .Adopted in 1975, it comes from the Greek ἕξ, used as a prefix ἑξά-, meaning six , because it is equal to 10006.Examples:* 1 EeV = 1018 electronvolts = 0.1602 joule...
becquerel
Becquerel
The becquerel is the SI-derived unit of radioactivity. One Bq is defined as the activity of a quantity of radioactive material in which one nucleus decays per second. The Bq unit is therefore equivalent to an inverse second, s−1...
s (EBq) of radioactivity, including 3.6 EBq of Caesium
Caesium
Caesium or cesium is the chemical element with the symbol Cs and atomic number 55. It is a soft, silvery-gold alkali metal with a melting point of 28 °C , which makes it one of only five elemental metals that are liquid at room temperature...
-137 and 0.74 EBq of Strontium
Strontium
Strontium is a chemical element with the symbol Sr and the atomic number 38. An alkaline earth metal, strontium is a soft silver-white or yellowish metallic element that is highly reactive chemically. The metal turns yellow when exposed to air. It occurs naturally in the minerals celestine and...
-90. For comparison, the Chernobyl disaster
Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986 at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine , which was under the direct jurisdiction of the central authorities in Moscow...
released from 5 to 12 EBq of radioactivity, but this radiation is not concentrated in one location.
The radiation level in the region near where radioactive effluent is discharged into the lake was 600 röntgen
Röntgen
The roentgen is a unit of measurement for exposure to ionizing radiation , and is named after the German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen...
s per hour in 1990, according to the Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
-based Natural Resources Defense Council, more than sufficient to give a lethal dose to a human within an hour.
History
Starting in the 1960s, the lake began to dry out; its area dropped from 0.5 km2 in 1951 to 0.15 km² by the end of 1993. In 1968, following a drought in the region, the wind carried radioactive dust away from the dried area of the lake, irradiating half a million people with 185 petaPeta (prefix)
Peta- is a prefix in the metric system denoting 1015 or . For example:1 petametre = 1015 metres1 petasecond = 1015 seconds...
Between 1978 and 1986 the lake was filled with almost 10,000 hollow concrete blocks to prevent sediments from shifting.
See also
- Electronic waste in GuiyuElectronic waste in GuiyuGuiyu, China, in Guangdong Province is made up of four small villages. It is the location of the largest electronic waste site on earth,. China is believed to be the predominant recipient of the world's electronic waste, with a roughly estimated one million tons being shipped there per year,...
, China, the largest electronic waste (e-waste) site on earth.
External links
- Lake Karachay - Open-Air Depository for Radioactive Waste (in Russian)
- Karachay Lake Will Disappear in Five Years (in Russian)
- Radioactive Lake Has Been Practically Annihilated (in Russian)
- Ural Mountains Radiation Pollution
- Chelyabinsk-65
- Mayak Radioactive Waste Facilities
- Google Maps Image of the lake
- "Damn Interesting" article on the lake