Chernobyl cemeteries: radioactive waste of the exclusion zone

Chernobyl, a zone of alienation ... These words serve as a reminder of the terrible tragedy that occurred in Ukraine in 1986. And radioactive burial grounds on the contaminated territory is nothing but a dump completely covered with machinery used during the liquidation of the accident at the nuclear power plant. There are several similar places in the restricted area.

The history of the accident and its consequences

The city of Chernobyl (Ukraine) in the 1970s became the object where it was decided to build a nuclear power plant consisting of four power units. For the employees of the Chernobyl NPP and their families, on February 4, 1970 the city of Pripyat was founded. Here, on the day of the accident, a radioactive cloud fell from the exploded power unit, thereby making this territory the most polluted in the exclusion zone.

In connection with the test of the turbogenerator in the fourth power unit on the night of April 26, 1986 at 01:23, the world-famous Chernobyl catastrophe occurred. Not only Pripyat, Chernobyl (Ukraine), but also part of the settlements of Belarus suffered from the ill-fated explosion. Cities, villages and settlements in the 30-kilometer exclusion zone are still considered "dead", that is, uninhabited people.

The radiation background in the first days of the accident was almost equal to the explosion of a nuclear bomb, which, of course, was hidden by the government of the USSR, not only from the inhabitants of the city, but also from the whole country. Today nobody lives in Pripyat. But in the place where the accident happened, people still serving the station are still working. Therefore, it can not be called a desolate Chernobyl. The zone of alienation for today is also populated here and there, but already self-settlers - the level of radiation decreases every year, therefore some places can be quite suitable for life.

The Chernobyl waste burial ground is usually a place for the accumulation of various types of vehicles, such as Mi-26 and Mi-8 helicopters, boom cars, repair and evacuation and chemical reconnaissance vehicles, caterpillars, cars, armored personnel carriers, ambulances », Excavators and other. The total cost of "radioactive" technology is about 46 million US dollars in accordance with the prices of 1986 (1 dollar - 72.5 kopecks.).

The cemeteries of Chernobyl are filled not only with the transport that participated in the liquidation of the fire, but also with vehicles of residents of Pripyat. By the way, some of them were still used at the very beginning of the fire.

PZRO "Podlesny"

The radioactive waste disposal site was created with the aim of isolating highly radioactive equipment from the environment, which was involved in the elimination of the consequences of the accident at the fourth power unit. It was built in a very short time, thanks to which, in December 1986, it was put into operation. PZRO is located 1.5 km from the power station, on the territory of the Podlesny farm.

The location for the cemetery was chosen unsuccessfully, since it is the shore of the Pripyat zaton, which is literally a kilometer from the river. It should be noted that such an arrangement is dangerous in that containers and concrete containers with waste can lose their tightness with time.

Environmental Threat

At the moment, all storage facilities, such as PZRO "Podlesny", are carefully monitored. To this end, special wells have been created, through which groundwater pollution is monitored.

The concrete structures of the cemetery are gradually dilapidated. Containers with waste produce a large load on the base plate, and this is fraught with the appearance of cracks. With each passing year such a prospect raises the probability of penetration of radioactive substances into the soil and underground waters. In addition, RWW is located in the floodplain area, which can be flooded at the time of the Pripyat flood. Such a situation will negatively affect the general radioecological situation in the exclusion zone.

BWR "Buryakivka"

The cemeteries of Chernobyl are not only the territory under Podlesny. There is also a near-surface "Buryakivka" point created by the VNIPIET Institute, which is based on the repositories that operated in the Soviet Union. This facility was put into operation in February 1987. It stores the radioactive waste technology of the first group.

The territory occupied by the repository covers an area of 1200 x 700 meters. There are 30 trenches here. Here, all the requirements necessary to protect the environment from radioactive contamination have already been met . It is also important that the RWR is located at a sufficiently large distance from open reservoirs.

Until now, various objects from Pripyat and Chernobyl have been delivered to the territory of Buryakovka, so in 1996 it was decided to expand the storage facility. This allowed to bring here another 120 thousand m³ of radioactive waste.

PZRO "3rd stage of the Chernobyl NPP"

As a rule, Chernobyl cemeteries were built right next to the damaged power plant, which created conditions for the rapid movement of contaminated equipment and debris of the fourth block. Thus, the PZRO "3rd stage of the Chernobyl NPP" is located on the industrial site of the station itself.

The beginning of the operation of the repository fell on 1986. This item is partly composed of concrete chambers, which, in turn, are divided into cells. On top of the section are covered with a layer of concrete, compacted soil and clay. Outside, the store is surrounded by barbed wire. Since December 1988, RZRO is a conserved facility guarded by the police.

The point of burial of radioactive waste "3rd turn", as, indeed, all Chernobyl burial grounds, is a serious danger to the environment. To solve this problem, environmentalists are advised to completely stop the work of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In this case, the pond-cooler will be launched next to the coastal strip. Thus, there will be a decrease in groundwater to a level of almost four meters. These actions will significantly reduce the amount of radionuclides in the earth.

Rassokha as another burial ground

Before the catastrophe, the population of this Ukrainian village was 416 people in 188 households. At the moment in this former village there are about fifteen hundred units of various equipment - from helicopters to buses, most of which were disposed of in 2013.

During the elimination of the consequences of the accident, next to Rassokha, there was a point of processing the equipment contaminated with radiation. As a consequence, all machines and robots were either buried or left on the surface of the earth.