World's worst radioactive contamination documented in central Russia A previously secret complex of nuclear installations in central Russia is now thought to be the most highly contaminated radioactive site in the world, according to a new report by a joint Norwegian-Russian scientific group. The report surveys the extent of pollution caused by the release of radioactive materials to rivers, lakes, and the atmosphere and describes the consequences of a serious accidental explosion in 1957 as well as the spread of contaminated dust in 1967. The report, sponsored by the Russian and Norwegian environmental ministries, is the first stage of a study of a more than 900-square-kilometer area surrounding the Mayak Production Association near the southern Ural town of Kasli. Mayak, the first installation of its kind in the former Soviet Union, started producing weapons-grade plutonium in 1948. Of seven military r6cic~ tors five were shut down between 1987 and 199 T the remaining two continue to produce radionuclides A 20-year-old radiochemical plant continues
nuclear fuel from civilian reactors, and a radioactive isotope plant is one of the world's largest suppliers of radionuclides and radionuclide preparations. The area investigated to date is described as "heavily contaminated by radionuclides," says the report, which includes detailed data on the distribution, type, and activity levels of the various isotopes. "The dispersal of radioactive materials to the environment has led to harmful effects on the environment itself restriction ori land application, relocation of inhabitants from several settlements and observed health effects on human populations " According to the report, Mayak has affected areas of northern Chelyabinsk and southern Sverdlovsk. Areas of farmland are still abandoned downstream of the
EUROPEAN NEWS A new European Union directive on incineration of nonhazardous waste could be formally proposed early this year, according to officials from the European Commission's environment directorate. The proposal would replace two 1989 EU directives on municipal waste incinerators and bring controls broadly into line with those for hazardous waste incinerators. It would cover a wide range of wastes and address the growing practice of burning waste in cement kilns. Cement producers have argued that their emissions are already adequately regulated. The directorate is suggesting new limit values for emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, dioxins, and hydrogen chloride. It is also proposing limits on the heavy metal content of liquid discharges and solid residues from waste-burning operations Two new taxes on volatile organic compounds and sulfur emissions will be levied in Switzerland following an executive order in November by the Swiss Federal Council. A tax on emissions of VOCs, aimed at reducing ground-level ozone, will be charged beginning Jan. 1, 1999. Under the national air pollution strategy, VOC emissions should be cut by 70,000 metric tons to meet the
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river Techa. The second stage of the study will focus on the threat of radioactive contamination carried via the river systems to the northern maritime regions, in particular the river Ob and its tributaries and the Kara and Barents seas. —Reprinted with permission from ENDS Environment Daily, Environmental Data Services, Ltd., London (http://www.ends.co.uk, e-mail
[email protected]).
"minimum objective" of 145,000 metric tons per year. Nearly 40% of this reduction will not be achieved without a tax, according to the government. A separate tax on high-sulfur heating oil, aimed at reducing the market share of heating oil with more than 0.1% sulfur, goes into effect July 1. Revenue from both taxes will be returned to the public via the national health insurance fund. Twenty countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea have agreed to eliminate discharges of persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic substances. Parties to the United Nations Barcelona Convention, including the European Union, France, Greece, Italy, and Spain, agreed on the plan at a meeting in November. By setting a timetable to eliminate losses of these chemicals from land-based sources within one generation, the countries brought themselves in line with agreements reached by other European states through the North Sea Conference. Environmentalists have proclaimed the agreement a "landmark in the long battle to save the Mediterranean Sea from pollution" and have urged governments to ratify the agreement as quickly as possible —Reprinted with permission from ENDS Environment Daily, Environmental Data Services, ,td., London (http://www.ends.co.uk, e-mail
[email protected])
