The most radioactive places on earth that you should not visit. The most radiation places on the planet Where there is a lot of radiation

Radiation. The tragedy at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant instilled fear in many before this word. However, we are sure that as long as there are no terrible accidents, no major emissions happen, everything is fine. But this is a sad delusion, because even residents of cities far from nuclear power plants are not immune from getting a dose of radiation that is harmful to the body. Do you know what the radiation background is in Moscow? Does it exceed the norm? What areas are considered unfavorable in this regard? In this article, we will answer these and other burning questions.

What you need to know about radiation

Radiation - "irradiation") - ionizing radiation. Radioactivity - the instability of atomic nuclei, manifested in their spontaneous decay and emission of ionizing radiation. Let's list the radioactive particles:

1. Alpha - heavy helium nuclei with a positive charge.
2. Beta - electron flows.
3. Gamma - light rays with great penetrating power.
4. X-ray - similar to the previous radiation, but has less activity.
5. Neutrons are neutral particles emitted from nuclear reactors.

If we translate everything that has been said to a person, then for us radiation is particles and rays that can penetrate the body, negatively affecting it at the cellular level, which inevitably leads to serious health problems and even death. This effect is called irradiation - the transfer of radioactive energy to the cells of a living being.

Human Consequences

If the radiation background in Moscow is critically increased, then this will threaten the residents of the capital with the following:

• blood cancer;
• metabolic disorders;
• genetic mutations;
• malignant tumors;
• infertility;
• infectious complications and so on.

The worst thing is that radiation affects a person the more, the younger his body is.

How does radiation affect us? This usually happens in the following ways:

1. Through food and water.
2. Through contaminated air.
3. Through frequent medical procedures involving exposure to radiation.
4. Being close to natural sources of radiation.
5. In view of living close to scientific, industrial radiation enterprises that do not care about protecting the environment from their activities.

Therefore, it is important to know in Moscow, so as not to settle in an area where constant presence is detrimental to the body.

Technogenic and natural radioactivity

Let's make a small digression. If the natural radiation background in Moscow or another city in some area is increased, you should not immediately blame the authorities and enterprises for hiding radioactive dumps or accidents. After all, radiation can be not only man-made, but also natural.

Let's look at the difference:

• natural radiation:
  • Solar, space - we are reliably protected from it by the atmosphere.
  • Earth's crust - comes from building materials, sand, stone. In Moscow, a number of decorative granite slabs on the streets have a high radioactive background.
  • Radon gas - according to some sources, it is emitted by the earth's crust, which is why it "exists" in the basement. And from there, through the ventilation system, it is brought into residential apartments. "Escape" from it is simple - regularly ventilate your home.
• Man-made radiation:
  • Nuclear reactors.
  • Mining sites for underground minerals.
  • radioactive dumps.

Radiation protection

If you noticed with the help of your own dosimeter that the radiation background in Moscow or the Moscow Region is increased, then the first thing to do is contact:

• to the radioactive safety service "Radon";
• to the Head Department for Civil Defense and Emergency Situations of Moscow;
• to the Center for State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance of Moscow, Department of Radiology.

Then you should take care of your security:

• protect yourself with a temporary barrier from radiation;
• use special protective equipment;
• immediately leave the zone with an increased radiation background in Moscow, try to spend less time there.

Recall the simple means that will protect you from radiation:

• alpha - regular paper sheet;
• beta - glass;
• gamma - lead;
• neutrons - water.

Measurements of the background radiation level in Moscow and the Moscow Region

Let's not sow panic among readers: the radiation level, which is extremely dangerous for human health and life, is 30 microR/h. Nowhere in Moscow today have such figures been recorded!

Here is the official data:

• average radiation background in open areas - 8-12 microR/h;
• sleeping areas - 8 microR/h;
• industrial zones - 8 microR/h;
• city ​​center - 10.8 microR/h;
• the recorded maximum is 20.2 μR / h.

Let's look in the table at the radiation situation in Muscovites' favorite vacation spots.

It's not all bad, but it could be better.

radioactivity in Moscow

As for the capital, a network of sensors has been installed throughout the metropolis, which are designed to monitor the radiation background. Here are some of their locations:

• emb. Kotelnicheskaya;
• st. Timiryazevskaya;
• sq. uprisings;
• emb. Sadovnicheskaya;
• st. Aviamotornaya;
• sh. Kashirskoye;
• sh. Enthusiasts;
• Leninsky Prospekt;
• WWII museum;
• Okhotny Ryad;
• sh. Warsaw;
• sh. Leninskoe.

If you believe the indicators of these devices, then the average background radiation in Moscow is 0.11-0.15 μSv / h.

Disadvantaged areas of Moscow

According to experts, getting a dose of radiation in the capital, though not deadly, but not useful, is quite realistic. They identify the following unfavorable zones:

• Troparevsky forest park;
• District of Lublino;
• Krylatskoe;
• Strogino;
• "Zelenaya Gorka" (Rokossovsky Boulevard) - radioactive burial;
• Area of ​​the hotel "Ukraine";
• "Shcherbinka" - a site for the burial of radioactive waste of the Podolsk plant;
• The city of Sergiev Posad is a rather extensive radioactive dump;
• Lake Solnechnoye;
• Zhestovsky quarry;
• 24th kilometer of the Leningrad highway - here is the plant of the Research Institute of the Center for Testing the Safety of Radiation of Space Objects.

The main danger of these zones is associated with the proximity of waste disposal sites.

Map of radioactive contamination of Moscow and the region

Scientists scrupulously examine data on the background radiation in the capital and surrounding areas. Based on this information, we can distinguish:

1. Particularly polluted areas: Lyubertsy (considered a crisis), Moscow, Khimki, Mytishchi, Noginsky, Voskresensky, Kashirsky, Shatursky, Krasnogorsky district.
2. Medium degree: Shchelkovo, Pushkino, Kolomna, Serpukhov, Podolsk, Orekhovo-Zuevo, Ramensky, Leninsky, Pavlovo-Posadsky, Lukhovitsky, Kolomna, Stupinsky district.
3. Relatively clean zones: Yegoryevsky, Ozersky, Zaraisky, Serebryano-Prudsky, Naro-Fominsky, Chekhov, Odintsovsky, Mozhaysky, Istra, Volokamsky, Dmitrovsky, Ruzsky, Shakhovskaya district.

Now let's see what radionuclides most each district of Moscow is infected with:

1. Cesium: Eastern, Southeastern, Northwestern. Some sites in the North-Eastern, Northern, Western, South-Western.
2. Radon: East, Northeast, North, South, West. Some areas in the North-West, South-West.
3. Uranus: Northeast, West, Southwest, South. Some zones in the Northwest, East and Southeast.
4. Thorium: Northwest, Southwest. Some sites in the North-Eastern, Western.

Now you are aware of the dangers of radiation for humans, as well as the background radiation in Moscow. Let us reassure you once again: it does not currently exceed the norm that is dangerous for a person. But you should not close your eyes to the areas polluted in this regard. Our advice is to go there as little as possible.

Knowledge is power. Places not worth living near. And ideally - not even to appear nearby. :)

Nuclear power plants.

Balakovo (Balakovo, Saratov region).
Beloyarskaya (Beloyarsky, Yekaterinburg region).
Bilibino ATES (Bilibino, Magadan region).
Kalininskaya (Udomlya, Tver region).
Kola (Polyarnye Zori, Murmansk region).
Leningrad (Sosnovy Bor, St. Petersburg region).
Smolensk (Desnogorsk, Smolensk region).
Kursk (Kurchatov, Kursk region).
Novovoronezhskaya (Novovoronezhsk, Voronezh region).

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org
unknown source

Special regime cities of the nuclear weapons complex.

Arzamas-16 (now the Kremlin, Nizhny Novgorod region). All-Russian Research Institute of Experimental Physics. Development and design of nuclear charges. Experimental plant "Communist". Electromechanical plant "Avangard" (serial production).
Zlatoust-36 (Chelyabinsk region). Serial production of nuclear warheads (?) and ballistic missiles for submarines (SLBMs).
Krasnoyarsk-26 (now Zheleznogorsk). Underground mining and chemical plant. Processing of irradiated fuel from nuclear power plants, production of weapons-grade plutonium. Three nuclear reactors.
Krasnoyarsk-45. Electromechanical plant. Uranium enrichment (?). Serial production of ballistic missiles for submarines (SLBMs). Creation of spacecraft, mainly satellites for military, reconnaissance purposes.
Sverdlovsk-44. Serial assembly of nuclear weapons.
Sverdlovsk-45. Serial assembly of nuclear weapons.
Tomsk-7 (now Seversk). Siberian Chemical Combine. Enrichment of uranium, production of weapons-grade plutonium.
Chelyabinsk-65 (now Ozersk). Software "Mayak". Reprocessing of irradiated fuel from nuclear power plants and ship nuclear power plants, production of weapons-grade plutonium.
Chelyabinsk-70 (now Snezhinsk). VNII of technical physics. Development and design of nuclear charges.

Test site for nuclear weapons.

Northern (1954-1992). Since February 27, 1992 - the Central training ground of the Russian Federation.

Research and educational nuclear centers and institutions with research nuclear reactors.

Sosnovy Bor (St. Petersburg region). Naval Training Center.
Dubna (Moscow region). Joint Institute for Nuclear Research.
Obninsk (Kaluga region). NPO "Typhoon". Institute of Physics and Power Engineering (IPPE). Installations "Topaz-1", "Topaz-2". Naval Training Center.
Moscow. Institute of Atomic Energy. I. V. Kurchatova (thermonuclear complex ANGARA-5). Moscow Engineering Physics Institute (MEPhI). Research production association "Aileron". Research and production association "Energy". Physical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT). Institute for Theoretical and Experimental Physics.
Protvino (Moscow region). Institute of High Energy Physics. Accelerator of elementary particles.
Sverdlovsk branch of the Research and Design Institute of Experimental Technologies. (40 km from Yekaterinburg).
Novosibirsk. Academgorodok of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Troitsk (Moscow region). Institute for Thermonuclear Research (installations "Tokomak").
Dimitrovgrad (Ulyanovsk region). Research Institute of Nuclear Reactors. V.I. Lenin.
Nizhny Novgorod. Design Bureau of Nuclear Reactors.
St. Petersburg. Research and production association "Electrophysics". Radium Institute. V. G. Khlopina. Research and Design Institute of Energy Technology. Research Institute of Radiation Hygiene of the Ministry of Health of Russia.
Norilsk. Experimental nuclear reactor.
Podolsk Scientific Research Production Association "Luch".

Deposits of uranium, enterprises for its extraction and primary processing.

Lermontov (Stavropol Territory). Uranium-molybdenum inclusions of volcanic rocks. Software "Diamond". Extraction and enrichment of ore.
Pervomaisky (Chita region). Zabaikalsky Mining and Processing Plant.
Vikhorevka (Irkutsk region). Extraction (?) of uranium and thorium.
Aldan (Yakutia). Mining of uranium, thorium and rare earth elements.
Slyudyanka (Irkutsk region). Deposit of uranium-containing and rare earth elements.
Krasnokamensk (Chita region). Uranium mine.
Borsk (Chita region). A depleted (?) uranium mine - the so-called "gorge of death", where ore was mined by prisoners of Stalin's legers.
Lovozero (Murmansk region). Uranium and thorium minerals.
Lake Onega area. Uranium and vanadium minerals.
Vishnevogorsk, Novogorny (Central Ural). uranium mineralization.

uranium metallurgy.

Elektrostal (Moscow region). Software "Machine-building plant".
Novosibirsk. PO "Plant of chemical concentrates".
Glazov (Udmurtia). PO "Chepetsky Mechanical Plant".

Enterprises for the production of nuclear fuel, highly enriched uranium and weapons-grade plutonium.

Chelyabinsk-65 (Chelyabinsk region). Software "Mayak".
Tomsk-7 (Tomsk region). Siberian chemical plant.
Krasnoyarsk-26 (Krasnoyarsk Territory). Mining and chemical plant.
Yekaterinburg. Ural Electrochemical Plant.
Kirovo-Chepetsk (Kirov region). Chemical plant them. B. P. Konstantinova.
Angarsk (Irkutsk region). Chemical electrolysis plant.

Shipbuilding and ship repair plants and nuclear fleet bases.

St. Petersburg. Leningrad Admiralty Association. Software "Baltic Plant".
Severodvinsk. Production Association "Sevmashpredpriyatie", Production Association "Sever".
Nizhny Novgorod. Software "Krasnoe Sormovo".
Komsomolsk-on-Amur. Shipyard "Leninsky Komsomol".
Big Stone (Primorsky Territory). Shipyard "Zvezda".
Murmansk. Technical base of PTO "Atomflot", shipyard "Nerpa"

Bases of nuclear submarines (Nuclear submarines) of the Northern Fleet.

Zapadnaya Litsa (Nerpichya Bay).
Gadzhiyevo.
Polar.
Vidyaevo.
Yokanga.
Gremikha.

Bases of nuclear submarines of the Pacific Fleet.

Fishing.
Vladivostok (Gulf of Vladimir and Pavlovsky Bay),
Soviet harbor.
Nakhodka.
Magadan.
Aleksandrovsk-Sakhalinsky.
Korsakov.

Storage areas for ballistic missiles for submarines.

Revda (Murmansk region).
Nenoksa (Arkhangelsk region).

Points of equipping missiles with nuclear warheads and loading into submarines.

Severodvinsk.
Guba Okolnaya (Kola Bay).

Places of temporary storage of irradiated nuclear fuel and enterprises for its processing
NPP industrial sites.

Murmansk. Lighter "Lepse", mother ship "Imandra" PTO "Atom-flot".
Polar. Technical base of the Northern Fleet.
Yokanga. Technical base of the Northern Fleet.
Pavlovsky bay. Technical base of the Pacific Fleet.
Chelyabinsk-65. Software "Mayak".
Krasnoyarsk-26. Mining and chemical plant.

Industrial accumulators and regional storages (burial grounds) of radioactive and atomic waste.

NPP industrial sites.
Krasnoyarsk-26. Mining and chemical plant, RT-2.
Chelyabinsk-65. Software "Mayak".
Tomsk-7. Siberian chemical plant.
Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk region). The industrial site of the Zvyozdochka shipyard of the Sever Production Association.
Big Stone (Primorsky Territory). Industrial site of the Zvezda shipyard.
Zapadnaya Litsa (Andreeva Bay). Technical base of the Northern Fleet.
Gremikha. Technical base of the Northern Fleet.
Shkotovo-22 (Chazhma Bay). Ship repair and technical base of the Pacific Fleet.
Fishing. Technical base of the Pacific Fleet.

Places of sludge and disposal of decommissioned ships of the navy and civilian ships with nuclear power plants.

Polyarny, base of the Northern Fleet.
Gremikha, base of the Northern Fleet.
Yokanga, base of the Northern Fleet.
Zapadnaya Litsa (Andreeva Bay), base of the Northern Fleet.
Severodvinsk, industrial water area of ​​the production association "Sever".
Murmansk, Atomflot technical base.
Bolshoy Kamen, water area of ​​the Zvezda shipyard.
Shkotovo-22 (Chazhma Bay), technical base of the Pacific Fleet.
Sovetskaya Gavan, the water area of ​​the military-technical base.
Rybachy, base of the Pacific Fleet.
Vladivostok (Pavlovsky Bay, Vladimir Bay), bases of the Pacific Fleet.

Undeclared areas of liquid RW discharge and solid RW flooding.

Discharge sites for liquid radioactive waste in the Barents Sea.
Areas of inundation of solid radioactive waste in shallow bays of the Kara side of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago and in the area of ​​the Novaya Zemlya deep-water basin.
Point of unauthorized flooding of the Nickel lighter with solid radioactive waste.
Guba Chernaya of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago. The place where the pilot ship "Kit" was laid up, on which experiments were carried out with chemical warfare agents.

contaminated areas.

A 30-kilometer sanitary zone and areas contaminated with radionuclides as a result of the catastrophe on April 26, 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The East Ural radioactive trace formed as a result of the explosion on September 29, 1957 of a container with high-level waste at an enterprise in Kyshtym (Chelyabinsk-65).
Radioactive contamination of the Techa-Iset-Tobol-Irtysh-Ob river basin as a result of long-term discharge of radiochemical production waste at the facilities of the nuclear (weapons and energy) complex in Kyshtym and the spread of radioisotopes from open radioactive waste storage facilities due to wind erosion.
Radioactive contamination of the Yenisei and individual sections of the floodplain as a result of the industrial operation of two once-through water reactors of a mining and chemical plant and the operation of a radioactive waste storage facility in Krasnoyarsk-26.
Radioactive contamination of the territory in the sanitary protection zone of the Siberian Chemical Combine (Tomsk-7) and beyond.
Officially recognized sanitary zones at the sites of the first nuclear explosions on land, under water and in the atmosphere at the nuclear weapons test sites on Novaya Zemlya.
Totsky district of the Orenburg region. Location of military exercises on the resistance of personnel and military equipment to the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion on September 14, 1954 in the atmosphere.
Radioactive release as a result of an unauthorized launch of a nuclear submarine reactor, accompanied by a fire, at the Zvyozdochka shipyard in Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk region) on February 12, 1965.
Radioactive release as a result of an unauthorized start-up of a nuclear submarine reactor, accompanied by a fire, at the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard in Nizhny Novgorod in 1970.
Local radioactive contamination of the water area and adjacent areas as a result of unauthorized start-up and thermal explosion of the nuclear submarine reactor during its reloading at the shipyard of the Navy in Shkotovo-22 (Chazhma Bay) in 1985.
Pollution of the coastal waters of the Novaya Zemlya archipelago and open areas of the Kara and Barents Seas due to the discharge of liquid and flooding of solid radioactive waste by ships of the Navy and Atomflot.
Places of underground nuclear explosions in the interests of the national economy, where the release of products of nuclear reactions to the surface of the earth is noted or underground migration of radionuclides is possible.
http://www.site/users/lsd_86/post84466272

List of nuclear facilities in Russia. Part 2.

We continue the topic of places from which one must stay away ... In addition to the existing nuclear facilities in Russia, we got a large number of nuclear explosions from the USSR carried out for "decent purposes".

In the period from 1965 to 1988, 124 peaceful nuclear explosions were carried out in the USSR in the interests of the national economy. Of these, the objects Kraton-3, Kristall, Taiga and Globus-1 were recognized as emergency.

Figure 1. Nuclear explosions for seismic sounding of the territory of the USSR.
The rectangle indicates the names of projects carried out using VNIITF devices.

Figure 2. Industrial nuclear explosions on the territory of the USSR.
The rectangle indicates the names of projects carried out using VNIITF nuclear explosive devices.

List of nuclear explosions by regions of Russia

Arhangelsk region.
"Globus-2". 80 km northeast of Kotlas (160 km northeast of the city of Veliky Ustyug), 2.3 kilotons, October 4, 1971. On September 9, 1988, the Rubin-1 explosion with a capacity of 8.5 kilotons was carried out there, the last peaceful nuclear explosion in the USSR.
"Agate". 150 km west of the city of Mezen, July 19, 1985, 8.5 kilotons. Seismic sounding.

Astrakhan region.
15 explosions under the Vega program - the creation of underground tanks for storing gas condensate. The power of the charges is from 3.2 to 13.5 kilotons. 40 km from Astrakhan, 1980-1984.

Bashkiria.
Kama series. Two explosions of 10 kilotons each in 1973 and 1974, 22 km west of the city of Sterlitamak. Creation of underground tanks for the disposal of industrial effluents from the Salavat petrochemical plant and the Sterlitamak soda-cement plant.
In 1980 - five explosions "Butan" with a capacity of 2.3 to 3.2 kilotons 40 km east of the city of Meleuz at the Grachevsky oil field. Intensification of oil and gas production.

Irkutsk region.
"Meteorite-4". 12 km northeast of the village of Ust-Kut, September 10, 1977, power - 7.6 kilotons. Seismic sounding.
"Rift-3". 160 km north of Irkutsk, July 31, 1982, power - 8.5 kilotons. Seismic sounding.

Kemerovo region.
"Quartz-4", 50 km southwest of Mariinsk, September 18, 1984, capacity - 10 kilotons. Seismic sounding.

Murmansk region.
"Dnepr-1". 20-21 km northeast of Kirovsk, September 4, 1972, power - 2.1 kilotons. Crushing of apatite ore. In 1984, a similar explosion "Dnepr-2" was carried out there.

Ivanovo region.
"Globe-1". 40 km northeast of Kineshma, September 19, 1971, power - 2.3 kilotons. Seismic sounding.

Kalmykia.
"Region-4". 80 km northeast of Elista, October 3, 1972, power - 6.6 kilotons. Seismic sounding.

Komi.
"Globus-4". 25 km southwest of Vorkuta, July 2, 1971, power - 2.3 kilotons. Seismic sounding.
"Globe-3". 130 km southwest of the city of Pechora, 20 km east of the Lemyu railway station, July 10, 1971, capacity - 2.3 kilotons. Seismic sounding.
"Quartz-2". 80 km southwest of Pechora, August 11, 1984, power - 8.5 kilotons. Seismic sounding.

Krasnoyarsk region.
"Horizon-3". Lake Lama, Cape Thin, September 29, 1975, power - 7.6 kilotons. Seismic sounding.
"Meteorite-2". Lake Lama, Cape Thin, July 26, 1977, capacity - 13 kilotons. Seismic sounding.
"Kraton-2". 95 km southwest of the city of Igarka, September 21, 1978, power - 15 kilotons. Seismic sounding.
"Rift-4". 25-30 km southeast of the village of Noginsk, capacity 8.5 kilotons. Seismic sounding.
"Rift-1". Ust-Yenisei region, 190 km west of Dudinka, October 4, 1982, capacity - 16 kilotons. Seismic sounding.

Orenburg region.
"Magistral" (another name is "Sovkhoznoe"). 65 km northeast of Orenburg, June 25, 1970, power - 2.3 kilotons. Creation of a cavity in an array of rock salt at the Orenburg gas-oil condensate field.
Two explosions of 15 kilotons "Sapphire" (another name is "Dedurovka"), produced in 1971 and 1973. Creation of a container in an array of rock salt.
"Region-1" and "Region-2": 70 km southwest of the city of Buzuluk, capacity - 2.3 kilotons, November 24, 1972. Seismic sounding.

Perm region.
"Griffin" - in 1969, two explosions of 7.6 kilotons 10 km south of the city of Osa, at the Osinsky oil field. Intensification of oil production.
"Taiga". March 23, 1971, three charges of 5 kilotons in the Cherdynsky district of the Perm region, 100 km north of the city of Krasnovishersk. Excavation, for the construction of the Pechora-Kama canal.
Five explosions with a capacity of 3.2 kilotons from the Helium series, 20 km southeast of the city of Krasnovishersk, which were carried out in 1981-1987. Intensification of oil and gas production at the Gezha oil field. Intensification of oil and gas production.

Stavropol region.
"Otahta-Kugulta". 90 km north of Stavropol, August 25, 1969, capacity - 10 kilotons. Intensification of gas production.

Tyumen region.
"Tavda". 70 km northeast of Tyumen, capacity 0.3 kilotons. Creation of an underground reservoir.

Yakutia.
"Crystal". 70 km northeast of the village of Aikhal, 2 km from the village of Udachny-2, October 2, 1974, capacity - 1.7 kilotons. Creation of a dam for the Udachny mining and processing plant.
"Horizon-4". 120 km southwest of the city of Tiksi, August 12, 1975, 7.6 kilotons.
From 1976 to 1987 - five explosions with a capacity of 15 kilotons from the series of explosions "Oka", "Sheksna", "Neva". 120 km southwest of the city of Mirny, on the Srednebotuobinsky oil field. Intensification of oil production.
"Kraton-4". 90 km northwest of the village of Sangar, August 9, 1978, 22 kilotons, seismic sounding.
"Kraton-3", 50 km east of the village of Aikhal, August 24, 1978, capacity - 19 kilotons. Seismic sounding.
Seismic sounding. "Vyatka". 120 km southwest of the city of Mirny, October 8, 1978, 15 kilotons. Intensification of oil and gas production.
"Kimberlite-4". 130 km southwest of Verkhnevilyuisk, August 12, 1979, 8.5 kilotons, seismic sounding.

On air Ulyanovsk, Sergey Gogin:

Dimitrovgrad, the second largest city in the Ulyanovsk region, is known for being the location of the Scientific Research Institute of Atomic Reactors, abbreviated as RIAR. As follows from the analysis of medical statistics conducted by the municipal "Environmental Protection Service", since 1997, the number of endocrine diseases began to grow among the population of the city, and quite sharply. And by 2000, the incidence had almost quadrupled. It was in the summer of 1997 that an increased release of radioactive iodine-131 took place at RIAR for three weeks. Says the head of the Dimitrovgrad public organization "Center for the Development of Civil Initiatives" Mikhail Piskunov.

Mikhail Piskunov: It was the shutdown of the reactor on 25 July. It was necessary to pull out the TVEL with broken sealing. But due to the fact that the staff made a mistake, both inert gases and iodine were released.

Sergei Gogin: Radioactive iodine is dangerous for the thyroid gland, because it actively accumulates in it, causing cancer and other diseases. They were noted in people who fell into the zone of action of the Chernobyl accident. Mikhail Piskunov calls the incident at RIAR a mini-Chernobyl.

Mikhail Piskunov: The Middle Volga region is an iodine-deficient region. There is a lack of stable iodine in water and food. In this regard, the thyroid gland actively absorbs radioactive iodine, if iodine prophylaxis is not carried out.

Sergei Gogin: In 2003, human rights activist and journalist Piskunov published an article in the Dimitrovgrad newspaper Channel 25, where he stated that his organization predicted an increase in thyroid diseases among Dimitrovgrad residents after the incident at RIAR. He referred to statistics from which it followed that in 2000, endocrine disorders in children in Dimitrovgad were five times more common than on average in Russia.

Mikhail Piskunov: Radioactive iodine was found in the milk of cows. Probably, this radioactive substance began to enter the body of children. And even more dangerous in this situation are children who are in the womb. Because they have a small thyroid gland. The consequences for these children will appear in 10-15 years.

Sergei Gogin: The leadership of the Research Institute of Nuclear Reactors filed a lawsuit against the newspaper and Mikhail Piskunov for the protection of honor, dignity and business reputation. The process took over three years. The Ulyanovsk Arbitration Court twice satisfied the claim, the federal court of the Volga District twice canceled this decision. The trial was moved to the neighboring region. The Arbitration Court of the Penza Region partially satisfied the claim, recognizing that Mikhail Piskunov should not have qualified the incident as an accident in his article. On the other hand, the court upheld the ecologist's right to express an opinion on the possible consequences of the radiation accident at RIAR for public health.
What is important is that Mikhail Piskunov used the court as a tool for obtaining the truth. RIAR had to provide the court with about two dozen documents confirming the release of radioactive iodine in 1997.

Mikhail Piskunov: The most important thing that we received was two certificates. Set emission limit. And how much was thrown out every day, and sometimes it was 15-20 times higher.

Sergei Gogin: Based on the data obtained in court, Piskunov claims that in three weeks RIAR emitted 500 Curies of radioactive iodine into the atmosphere, which could harm the health of the population of the entire Middle Volga region. I did not manage to talk to any of the specialists from the Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad. They don't comment on the phone here. The maximum that was achieved was a short commentary by the head of the RIAR press service, Galina Pavlova:

Galina Pavlova: The management of the Institute is satisfied with the decision made by the court.

Sergey Gogin: Nuclear workers insist: there was no accident in 1997, radiation did not go beyond the sanitary protection zone. Therefore, there was no need to frighten people, just as there was no need for iodine prophylaxis. The latter conclusion, by the way, is refuted by the examination of the Endocrinological Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, carried out at the request of Mikhail Piskunov. Ulyanovsk ecologist Ivan Pogodin believes that it is important not to talk about the terms - an accident or not an accident, but the fact that there was a release of an active isotope of iodine or not.

Ivan Pogodin: The consequences are important. If an excess of 15-20 times is proved, then, I believe that, regardless of the statute of limitations, this case cannot be closed. Again, it is necessary to raise the medical statistics for the past years. Just after 10 years, usually, if something affects the health of the population, then the dynamics can be traced.

Sergei Gogin: Human rights activist Mikhail Piskunov says that he intends to seek improved organization of iodine prophylaxis for the residents of Dimitrovgrad in case of a radioactive release.
http://www.svobodanews.ru/Forum/11994.html
http://www.site/users/igor_korn/post92986428

At first glance, the answer to this question will be as logically justified as to the sacramental "how does a raven look like a desk?". But only at first glance. On the second, an associative chain of answers will begin to line up, the keywords of which will be “accident” and “radioactive”. And those who are especially knowledgeable will remember RIAR.

The Research Institute of Atomic Reactors is potentially the most dangerous place in Russia, if not in all of Eurasia. But, in order.

This enterprise was created in the early 60s to study all possible problems of nuclear energy. This honorable task was decided to be carried out in the Ulyanovsk region. The city of Dimitrovgrad was lucky. The nearest cities are Ulyanovsk (100 km) and Samara (250 km).

“... A city in a forest or a forest in a city? - ask the guests who came here for the first time, surprised by the enchanting beauty of the city landscape ... "is written on the official website of RIAR, describing "a unique experimental base based on seven research reactors (SM, MIR, RBT-6, RBT-10/1, RBT-10 /2, BOR-60, VK-50), which allows conducting research on topical issues of the nuclear energy industry" and all the ecological cleanliness of the surrounding forest-urban landscape: "in the forest, which on warm spring nights freezes from the rolling trills of the nightingale" (ibid. ). It is even surprising that there are some dissatisfied.

Kornilov Igor Nikolaevich from Ulyanovsk, head of the human rights organization "Legal Fund" says:
- RIAR is a very large organization, the main products it produces are weapons-grade plutonium for strategic warheads and California. Production capacity: 8 nuclear reactors, i.е. Nuclear power plants - they didn’t even stand close here ...

Eight? And on their website it says 7…
- There are eight of them ... All eight are research, two more stands ... I believe that they exclude the reactor for producing weapons-grade plutonium from the list, since applications for it are not accepted (for work), since it is already working in full .. .

And are they really dangerous?
- Several times there were emergency situations with the release of radioactive substances, once Kazan environmentalists sounded the alarm, having discovered Strontium (its radioactive isotope) in their water, while Kazan is 200 kilometers upstream of the Volga. They tried to attract environmentalists who made a fuss to responsibility for divulging the "secret", then for slander ... and the media kept silent that the radioactive element got into the drinking water of several cities.

There was a story about how the residents of Dimitrovgrad panicked when they saw that snow and topsoil were urgently removed and taken out in the city, in an unknown direction ... The media again remained silent, however, the director of RIAR was replaced with a new one ...

Did the situation change with the replacement of the director?
- With the new one, there was a release - Iodine -131, the wind rose is such in the city that a juvenile colony got into the plume of the release, and while watering machines were working in the city, endocrinologists fought off patients with an inflamed thyroid gland (theriotoxicosis) in polyclinics ... media and the authorities were silent, because it was necessary to provide the population with expensive medicines to remove Iodine-131 from the body.

And what is special about this iodine?
- The main problem is that all isotopes (excluding Strontium) are short-lived. Iodine-131 decays in about a week... and then, of course, no investigating commission will find any traces... you can only detect an outbreak of thyroid diseases... but, according to the prosecutor's office, this is not a sufficient basis for initiating a criminal case.. .

The general situation is as follows: the Ministry of Emergency Situations told me that they do not have the necessary equipment to monitor the situation at RIAR. At the SES, they said that they believe the RIAR security service "at their word" because they have their own safety laboratory, but the SES is not allowed to go there ... The hydrometeorological center confirmed that the level of conventional isotopes is within the normal range, but there are much more artificial isotopes, but MPC ( maximum permissible concentration) - they are absent and therefore no one knows whether the level of radiation is dangerous or not ...

RIAR - commenting on the situation, he referred to the Geiger counters installed at the enterprise, and the fact that some of the counters are located in the city in places visible to the population, but to the remark that the installed counters register gamma radiation and do not register either alpha or beta - radiation ... they hung up and interrupted the conversation every time the question of ionizing radiation from emergency emissions was raised ...

Indirect confirmation of the dangerous situation was received from the Regional Health Department, which confirmed that Dimitrovgrad has been successfully leading in recent years in terms of the number of endocrine diseases and oncology, bypassing Ulyanovsk by an order of magnitude in the number of patients ...

In the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation - there is an article on criminal liability for concealing facts representing a public danger ... but ...

But this is a secret enterprise, isn't it?
- The enterprise is secret, but relatively, it is too well known in the world to be classified, nevertheless, the protection of the enterprise and its secrets is the department of the FSB.

Is Dimitrovgrad a big city?
- The population is about 250,000 people, plus a prison, plus three correctional institutions and more colonies-settlements attached to them; a number of military units. Yes, this figure is not according to the official size of the city, but according to the population in the 30-kilometer sanitary zone around the reactors, i.e. it includes all nearby settlements, as required by technical supervision.

Then it seems that it is easier for interested parties to control all the local media than to spend money on expensive drugs for such a large number of people. Moreover, for the FSB, this is a matter of habit.

However, it is difficult to hide the obvious. So in 1997 there was a powerful release of iodine-131 that lasted three weeks! In 1998, there was a powerful jump in the incidence of diseases of the endocrine system among the inhabitants of Dimitrovgrad, and in 1999 it reached its peak, exceeding the national figure by almost three times.

Emissions occur from time to time, now the question is about legalizing 30 km. of the sanitary zone around RIAR, on the certainty in the issue of using RIAR as an APEC (on the maximum permissible power, for an experimental reactor (there are no analogues in the world and probably will not be) operating on plutonium (on the processing of weapons-grade plutonium from end-of-life arsenals), on the installation of a complete a complex of dosimetric means (control of water, air and soil, for all types of radiation).I explain this point: for example, the Hydrometeorological Center daily reports on the level of radioactive background, but this is a natural background, and why are they silent about the radiation of newly created isotopes of cobalt, strontium, etc.? Why is the Ministry of Emergency Situations unable to obtain permission to install independent means of control?
And in the end, why are calves born with two heads? And after that, listen to the arguments of politicians about the poor knowledge of radiation on the population?

What exactly needs to be done and what can be done?
- Let me explain my position. The issue of diseases and mutations is related to the protection of the rights of the third generation, i.e. descendants, but their rights should be protected today... Therefore, our task is:
1. move beyond 30 km. zones: orphanages and boarding schools, maternity hospitals, places of detention of convicts (especially children and adolescents, youth);
2. ensure a minimum stay of 30 km. the RIAR zone of the presence of the reproductive population, and timely medical supply of the population with the necessary drugs;
3. timely notification of citizens about emergency situations at RIAR;

Good proposals, but for their implementation it is necessary that the concern for people in our state exceeds the concern for maintaining the secrecy of everything and everything that somehow poses a serious threat to society, and hence public safety. Although this logic of large offices is beyond my understanding.
http://www.site/community/2685736/post92816729

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In the broadest sense of the word, radiation(lat. "shine", "radiation") is the process of propagation of energy in space in the form of various waves and particles. These include: infrared (thermal), ultraviolet, visible light radiation, as well as various types of ionizing radiation. The greatest interest from the point of view of health and life safety is ionizing radiation, i.e. types of radiation capable of causing ionization of the substance on which they act. In particular, in living cells, ionizing radiation causes the formation of free radicals, the accumulation of which leads to the destruction of proteins, death or degeneration of cells, and, as a result, can cause the death of a macroorganism (animals, plants, humans). That is why, in most cases, the term radiation is used to mean precisely ionizing radiation. It is also worth understanding the differences between terms such as radiation and radioactivity. If the first can be applied to ionizing radiation located in free space, which will exist until it is absorbed by some object (substance), then radioactivity is the ability of substances and objects to emit ionizing radiation, i.e. be a source of radiation. Depending on the nature of the object and its origin, the terms are divided: natural radioactivity and artificial radioactivity. natural radioactivity accompanies the spontaneous decay of the nuclei of matter in nature and is characteristic of the "heavy" elements of the periodic table (with a serial number of more than 82). artificial radioactivity is initiated by a person purposefully with the help of various nuclear reactions. In addition, it is worth highlighting the so-called "induced" radioactivity, when some substance, object or even an organism, after a strong exposure to ionizing radiation, itself becomes a source of dangerous radiation due to the destabilization of atomic nuclei. A powerful source of radiation that is dangerous to human life and health can be any radioactive substance or object. Unlike many other hazards, radiation is invisible without special instruments, which makes it all the more frightening. The reason for the radioactivity of a substance is the unstable nuclei that make up atoms, which, during decay, emit invisible radiation or particles into the environment. Depending on various properties (composition, penetrating power, energy), today there are many types of ionizing radiation, of which the most significant and common are: alpha radiation. The source of radiation in it are particles with a positive charge and a relatively large weight. Alpha particles (2 protons + 2 neutrons) are quite bulky and therefore are easily retained by even minor obstacles: clothing, wallpaper, window curtains, etc. Even if alpha radiation hits a naked person, there is nothing to worry about, it will not pass beyond the surface layers of the skin. However, despite the low penetrating power, alpha radiation has a powerful ionization, which is especially dangerous if the source substances of alpha particles enter the human body directly, for example, into the lungs or digestive tract. . beta radiation. It is a stream of charged particles (positrons or electrons). Such radiation has a greater penetrating power than alpha particles; a wooden door, window glass, car body, etc. can delay it. It is dangerous for a person when exposed to unprotected skin, as well as when radioactive substances get inside. . Gamma radiation and nearby X-rays. Another type of ionizing radiation, which is related to the light flux, but with a better ability to penetrate surrounding objects. By its nature, it is high-energy short-wave electromagnetic radiation. In order to delay gamma radiation in some cases, a wall of several meters of lead, or several tens of meters of dense reinforced concrete, may be required. For humans, such radiation is the most dangerous. The main source of this type of radiation in nature is the Sun, however, the deadly rays do not reach humans due to the protective layer of the atmosphere.

Scheme of the generation of radiation of various types Natural radiation and radioactivity In the environment around us, regardless of whether it is urban or rural, there are natural sources of radiation. As a rule, ionizing radiation of natural origin rarely poses a danger to humans, its values ​​are usually within the acceptable range. Soil, water, atmosphere, some products and things, many space objects have natural radioactivity. The primary source of natural radiation in many cases is the radiation of the Sun and the decay energy of some elements of the earth's crust. Even man himself possesses natural radioactivity. In the body of each of us there are substances such as rubidium-87 and potassium-40, which create a personal radiation background. The source of radiation can be a building, building materials, household items, which include substances with unstable atomic nuclei. It is worth noting that the natural level of radiation is not the same everywhere. So in some cities located high in the mountains, the level of radiation exceeds that at the height of the world's oceans by almost five times. There are also zones of the earth's surface, where the radiation is significantly higher due to the location of radioactive substances in the bowels of the earth. Artificial radiation and radioactivity Unlike natural, artificial radioactivity is a consequence of human activity. Sources of artificial radiation are: nuclear power plants, military and civilian equipment using nuclear reactors, mining sites with unstable atomic nuclei, nuclear testing areas, nuclear fuel disposal and leakage sites, nuclear waste cemeteries, some diagnostic and therapeutic equipment, as well as radioactive isotopes in medicine.
How to detect radiation and radioactivity? The only way available to an ordinary person to determine the level of radiation and radioactivity is to use a special device - a dosimeter (radiometer). The principle of measurement is to register and estimate the number of radiation particles using a Geiger-Muller counter. Personal dosimeter No one is safe from the effects of radiation. Unfortunately, any object around us can be a source of deadly radiation: money, food, tools, building materials, clothing, furniture, vehicles, land, water, etc. In moderate doses, our body is able to tolerate the effects of radiation without harmful consequences, but today few people pay sufficient attention to radiation safety, exposing themselves and their families to mortal risk every day. Why is radiation dangerous for humans? As you know, the effect of radiation on the human or animal body can be of two types: from the inside or from the outside. None of them adds health. In addition, science knows that the internal influence of radiation substances is more dangerous than the external one. Most often, radioactive substances enter our body along with contaminated water and food. In order to avoid internal exposure to radiation, it is enough to know what foods are its source. But with external radiation exposure, everything is a little different. Sources of radiation The radiation background is classified into natural and man-made. It is almost impossible to avoid natural radiation on our planet, since its sources are the Sun and the underground gas radon. This type of radiation practically does not have a negative impact on the body of people and animals, since its level on the Earth's surface is within the MPC. True, in space, or even at an altitude of 10 km on board an airliner, solar radiation can be a real danger. Thus, radiation and man are in constant interaction. With man-made sources of radiation, everything is ambiguous. In some areas of industry and mining, workers wear special protective clothing against exposure to radiation. The level of background radiation at such facilities can be much higher than the permissible norms.
Living in the modern world, it is important to know what radiation is and how it affects people, animals and vegetation. The degree of exposure to radiation on the human body is usually measured in Sievertach(abbreviated Sv, 1 Sv = 1000 mSv = 1000000 µSv). This is done with the help of special devices for measuring radiation - dosimeters. Under the influence of natural radiation, each of us is exposed to 2.4 mSv per year, and we do not feel this, since this indicator is absolutely safe for health. But at high doses of radiation, the consequences for the human or animal body can be the most severe. Of the well-known diseases that arise as a result of irradiation of the human body, such as leukemia, radiation sickness with all the ensuing consequences, all kinds of tumors, cataracts, infections, and infertility are noted. And with strong exposure, radiation can even cause burns! An approximate picture of the effects of radiation at various doses is as follows: . at an effective body irradiation dose of 1 Sv, the blood composition deteriorates; . at a dose of effective irradiation of the body of 2-5 Sv, alopecia and leukemia occur (the so-called "radiation sickness"); . at an effective body dose of 3 Sv, about 50 percent of people die within one month. That is, radiation at a certain level of exposure is an extremely serious danger to all living things. There is also a lot of talk about the fact that radiation exposure leads to mutation at the gene level. Some scientists consider radiation to be the main cause of mutations, while others argue that the transformation of genes is not at all associated with exposure to ionizing radiation. In any case, the question of the mutagenic effect of radiation is still open. But there are a lot of examples of the fact that radiation causes infertility. Is radiation contagious? Is it dangerous to contact exposed people? Contrary to what many people think, radiation is not contagious. With patients suffering from radiation sickness and other diseases caused by exposure to radiation, you can communicate without personal protective equipment. But only if they did not come into direct contact with radioactive substances and are not sources of radiation themselves! For whom is radiation most dangerous? Radiation has the strongest effect on the younger generation, that is, on children. Scientifically, this is explained by the fact that ionizing radiation has a stronger effect on cells that are in the stage of growth and division. Adults are much less affected, as their cell division slows down or stops. But pregnant women need to be wary of radiation at all costs! At the stage of intrauterine development, the cells of the growing organism are especially sensitive to radiation, so even a slight and short-term exposure to radiation can have an extremely negative impact on the development of the fetus. How to recognize radiation? It is almost impossible to detect radiation without special instruments before health problems appear. This is the main danger of radiation - it is invisible! The modern market of goods (food and non-food) is controlled by special services that check the compliance of products with established radiation emission standards. Nevertheless, the probability of acquiring a thing or even a food product, the radiation background of which does not meet the standards, still exists. Usually such goods are brought from the infected territories illegally. Do you want to feed your child foods containing radioactive substances? Obviously not. Then buy products only in trusted places. Better yet, buy a device that measures radiation, and use it to your health!
How to deal with radiation? The simplest and most obvious answer to the question "How to remove radiation from the body?" is the following: go to the gym! Physical activity leads to increased sweating, and radiation substances are excreted along with sweat. You can also reduce the effect of radiation on the human body if you visit the sauna. It has almost the same effect as physical activity - it leads to increased sweating. The consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits can also reduce the impact of radiation on human health. You need to know that to date, the ideal means of protection against radiation has not yet been invented. The easiest and most effective way to protect yourself from the negative effects of deadly rays is to stay away from their source. If you know everything about radiation and know how to use the instruments to measure it correctly, you can almost completely avoid its negative impact. What can be the source of radiation? We have already said that it is almost impossible to completely protect yourself from the effects of radiation on our planet. Each of us is constantly under the influence of radioactive radiation, natural and man-made. Anything can be a source of radiation, from a seemingly harmless children's toy to a nearby enterprise. However, these objects can be considered temporary sources of radiation that can be protected from. In addition to them, there is also a general background radiation created by several sources that surround us at once. Background ionizing radiation can create gaseous, solid and liquid substances for various purposes. For example, the most massive gaseous source of natural radiation is radon gas. It is constantly emitted in small quantities from the bowels of the Earth and accumulates in basements, lowlands, on the lower floors of premises, etc. Even the walls of the premises cannot completely protect against radioactive gas. Moreover, in some cases, the walls of buildings themselves can be a source of radiation. Radiation environment in the premises Radiation in the premises, created by the building materials from which the walls are built, can pose a serious threat to the life and health of people. To assess the quality of premises and buildings in terms of radioactivity, special services have been organized in our country. Their task is to periodically measure the level of radiation in houses and public buildings and compare the results with existing standards. If the level of radiation from building materials in the room is within these limits, then the commission approves its further operation. Otherwise, the building may be ordered to repair, and in some cases, demolition with subsequent disposal of building materials. It should be noted that almost any structure creates a certain radiation background. Moreover, the older the building, the higher the level of radiation in it. With this in mind, when measuring the level of radiation in a building, its age is also taken into account.
Enterprises - technogenic sources of radiation household radiation There is a category of household items that emit radiation, although within acceptable limits. This is, for example, a watch or a compass, the hands of which are coated with radium salts, due to which they glow in the dark (a familiar phosphor glow). It is also safe to say that there is radiation in the room where a TV or monitor based on a conventional CRT is installed. For the sake of the experiment, the experts brought the dosimeter to a compass with phosphoric arrows. We got a slight excess of the general background, however, within the normal range.
Radiation and medicine A person is exposed to radioactive irradiation at all stages of his life, working at industrial enterprises, being at home and even undergoing treatment. A classic example of the use of radiation in medicine is FLG. According to the current rules, everyone must undergo fluorography at least once a year. During this examination procedure, we are exposed to radiation, but the radiation dose in such cases is within the safety limits.
Infected products It is believed that the most dangerous source of radiation that can be encountered in everyday life is food, which is a source of radiation. Few people know where it was brought from, for example, potatoes or other fruits and vegetables, from which the shelves of grocery stores are now literally bursting. But it is these products that can pose a serious threat to human health, storing radioactive isotopes in their composition. Radiation food is stronger than other sources of radiation affects the body, as it gets directly into it. Thus, a certain dose of radiation emits most of the objects and substances. Another thing is what is the magnitude of this radiation dose: is it dangerous for health or not. It is possible to assess the danger of certain substances from a radiation point of view using a dosimeter. As you know, in small doses, radiation has practically no effect on health. Everything that surrounds us creates a natural radiation background: plants, earth, water, soil, sun rays. But this does not mean at all that ionizing radiation should not be feared at all. Radiation is only safe when it is normal. So what are the safe rules? Standards for general radiation safety of premises From the point of view of the radiation background, the premises are considered safe if the content of thorium and radon particles in them does not exceed 100 Bq per cubic meter. In addition, radiation safety can be assessed by the difference between the effective dose of radiation in the room and outside it. It should not go beyond 0.3 µSv per hour. Such measurements can be carried out by anyone - for this it is enough to buy a personal dosimeter. The level of radiation background in the premises is strongly influenced by the quality of materials used in the construction and repair of buildings. That is why, before carrying out construction work, special sanitary services perform appropriate measurements of the content of radionuclides in building materials (for example, they determine the specific effective activity of radionuclides). Depending on the category of the object for which one or another building material is supposed to be used, allowable norms of specific activity vary over a fairly wide range. For building materials used in the construction of public and residential facilities ( I class) the effective specific activity should not exceed 370 Bq/kg. . For building materials II class, that is, industrial, as well as for the construction of roads in populated areas, the threshold of permissible specific activity of radionuclides should be at around 740 Bq/kg and below. . Roads outside built-up areas related to III class should be built using materials, the specific activity of radionuclides in which does not exceed 1.5 kBq/kg. . For the construction of facilities IV class materials with specific activity of radiation components not more than 4 kBq/kg can be used. The site specialists found out that today building materials with higher levels of radionuclides are not allowed to be used. What kind of water can you drink? The maximum permissible levels of radionuclides have also been established for drinking water. Water is allowed for drinking and cooking if the specific activity of alpha radionuclides in it does not exceed 0.1 Bq/kg, and of beta radionuclides - 1 Bq/kg. Radiation Absorption Rates It is known that each object is capable of absorbing ionizing radiation, being in the zone of action of a radiation source. Man is no exception - our body absorbs radiation no worse than water or earth. In accordance with this, the standards for absorbed ion particles for humans have been developed: . For the general population, the permissible effective dose per year is 1 mSv (in accordance with this, the quantity and quality of diagnostic medical procedures that have a radiation effect on humans are limited). . For group A personnel, the average may be higher, but should not exceed 20 mSv per year. . For the working personnel of group B, the permissible effective annual dose of ionizing radiation should be on average no more than 5 mSv. There are also norms for the equivalent dose of radiation per year for individual organs of the human body: the lens of the eye (up to 150 mSv), skin (up to 500 mSv), hands, feet, etc. Norms of the general radiation situation Natural radiation is not standardized, since depending on the geographical location and time, this indicator can vary over a very wide range. For example, recent measurements of the radiation background on the streets of the Russian capital showed that the background level here is in the range from 8 to 12 microroentgens per hour. On mountain peaks, where the protective properties of the atmosphere are lower than in settlements located closer to the level of the world ocean, the indicators of ionizing radiation can be even 5 times higher than Moscow values! Also, the level of background radiation can be above average in places where the air is oversaturated with dust and sand with a high content of thorium and uranium. You can determine the quality of the conditions in which you live or are just going to settle in terms of radiation safety using a household dosimeter-radiometer. This small device can be powered by batteries and allows you to evaluate the radiation safety of building materials, fertilizers, food, which is important in the conditions of the already poor ecology in the world. Despite the high danger that almost any source of radiation carries, methods of protection against radiation still exist. All methods of protection against radiation exposure can be divided into three types: time, distance and special screens. time protection The meaning of this method of protection against radiation is to minimize the time spent near the radiation source. The less time a person is near a source of radiation, the less harm to health it will cause. This method of protection was used, for example, in the liquidation of the accident at the nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. The liquidators of the consequences of the explosion at a nuclear power plant were given only a few minutes to do their job in the affected area and return to safe territory. Exceeding the time led to an increase in the level of exposure and could be the beginning of the development of radiation sickness and other consequences that radiation can cause. distance protection If you find an object near you that is a source of radiation - one that can pose a danger to life and health, you must move away from it at a distance where the radiation background and radiation are within acceptable limits. It is also possible to remove the source of radiation to a safe area or for disposal. Anti-radiation screens and overalls In some situations, it is simply necessary to carry out some kind of activity in an area with an increased background radiation. An example could be the elimination of the consequences of an accident at nuclear power plants or work at industrial enterprises where there are sources of radioactive radiation. Being in such areas without the use of personal protective equipment is dangerous not only for health, but also for life. Especially for such cases, personal protective equipment against radiation has been developed. They are screens made of materials that trap various types of radiation and special clothing. Protective suit against radiation What are radiation protection products made of? As you know, radiation is classified into several types depending on the nature and charge of the radiation particles. To resist certain types of radiation, protective equipment against it is made using various materials: . Protect a person from radiation alpha, rubber gloves, a paper "barrier" or a regular respirator help.
. If the infected zone is dominated by beta radiation, then in order to protect the body from its harmful effects, you will need a screen made of glass, a thin aluminum sheet, or a material such as plexiglass. To protect against beta radiation of the respiratory system, a conventional respirator is no longer enough. Here you will need a gas mask.
. The hardest thing is to protect yourself from gamma radiation. Uniforms that have a shielding effect from this kind of radiation are made of lead, cast iron, steel, tungsten and other metals with a high mass. It was lead clothing that was used during work at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the accident.
. All kinds of barriers made of polymers, polyethylene and even water effectively protect against harmful effects neutron particles.
Food supplements against radiation Very often, food additives are used in conjunction with overalls and screens to provide protection against radiation. They are taken orally before or after entering an area with an increased level of radiation and in many cases can reduce the toxic effects of radionuclides on the body. In addition, certain foods can reduce the harmful effects of ionizing radiation. Eleutherococcus reduces the effect of radiation on the body 1) Food products that reduce the effect of radiation. Even nuts, white bread, wheat, radishes can reduce the effects of radiation exposure on humans to a small extent. The fact is that they contain selenium, which prevents the formation of tumors that can be caused by radiation exposure. Very good in the fight against radiation and dietary supplements based on algae (kelp, chlorella). Even onion and garlic can partially rid the body of the radioactive nuclides that have penetrated into it. ASD - a drug for protection against radiation 2) Pharmaceutical herbal preparations against radiation. Against radiation, the drug "Ginseng Root", which can be bought at any pharmacy, has an effective effect. It is used in two doses before meals in the amount of 40-50 drops at a time. Also, to reduce the concentration of radionuclides in the body, it is recommended to use Eleutherococcus extract in a volume of a quarter to a half teaspoon per day, along with tea drunk in the morning and at lunchtime. Leuzea, zamaniha, lungwort also belong to the category of radio-protective drugs, and they can be purchased at pharmacies.
Individual first aid kit with drugs to protect against radiation But, again, no drug can completely resist the effects of radiation. The best way to protect yourself from radiation is to not have contact with contaminated objects at all and not to be in places with an increased background radiation. Dosimeters are measuring instruments for numerical assessment of the dose of radioactive radiation or the rate of this dose per unit of time. The measurement is made using a built-in or separately connected Geiger-Muller counter: it measures the dose of radiation by counting the number of ionizing particles passing through its working chamber. It is this sensitive element that is the main part of any dosimeter. The data obtained during the measurements are converted and amplified by the electronics built into the dosimeter, and the readings are displayed on an arrow or numeric, more often a liquid crystal indicator. By the value of the dose of ionizing radiation, which is usually measured by household dosimeters in the range from 0.1 to 100 μSv / h (microsievert per hour), it is possible to assess the degree of radiation safety of a territory or object. To check substances (both liquid and solid) for compliance with radiation standards, a device is needed that allows the measurement of such a quantity as a micro-roentgen. Most modern dosimeters allow measuring this value in the range from 10 to 10,000 μR/h, which is why such devices are often called dosimeters-radiometers. Types of dosimeters All dosimeters are classified into professional and individual (for domestic use). The difference between them lies mainly in the limits of measurement and the magnitude of the error. Unlike household dosimeters, professional dosimeters have a wider measurement range (usually from 0.05 to 999 µSv/h), while personal dosimeters are mostly unable to determine doses greater than 100 µSv per hour. Also, professional devices differ from household ones in terms of error: for household, the measurement error can reach 30%, and for professional ones, it cannot be more than 7%.
A modern dosimeter can be carried with you everywhere! The functions of both professional and household dosimeters may include an audible alarm, which turns on at a certain threshold of the measured radiation dose. The value at which the alarm is triggered can be set by the user in some devices. This feature makes it easy to find potentially dangerous items. Purpose of professional and household dosimeters: 1. Professional dosimeters are intended for use in industrial facilities, nuclear submarines and other similar places where there is a risk of receiving a high dose of radiation (this explains why professional dosimeters generally have a wider measurement range). 2. Household dosimeters can be used by the population to assess the radiation background in an apartment or house. Also, with the help of such dosimeters, it is possible to check building materials for the level of radiation and the territory on which it is planned to build a building, to check the "purity" of purchased fruits, vegetables, berries, mushrooms, fertilizers, etc.
Compact professional dosimeter with two Geiger-Muller counters Household dosimeter has a small size and weight. Works, as a rule, from accumulators or batteries of food. You can take it with you everywhere, for example, when going to the forest for mushrooms or even to the grocery store. The radiometry function, which is available in almost all household dosimeters, allows you to quickly and efficiently assess the condition of products and their suitability for consumption. Dosimeters of the past years were inconvenient and cumbersome Almost everyone can buy a dosimeter today. Not so long ago, they were available only to special services, had a high cost and large dimensions, which greatly hampered their use by the population. Modern advances in the field of electronics have made it possible to significantly reduce the size of household dosimeters and make them more affordable. The updated instruments soon gained worldwide recognition and are currently the only effective solution for assessing the dose of ionizing radiation. No one is immune from a collision with sources of radiation. You can find out that the level of radiation has been exceeded only by reading a dosimeter or by a special warning sign. Typically, such signs are installed near man-made sources of radiation: factories, nuclear power plants, radioactive waste burial sites, etc. Of course, you will not find such signs in the market or in the store. But this does not mean at all that there can be no sources of radiation in such places. There are cases when food, fruits, vegetables and even medicines were the source of radiation. How radionuclides can end up in consumer goods is another question. The main thing is to know how to behave in case of detection of radiation sources. Where can I find a radioactive item? Since at industrial facilities of a certain category the probability of encountering a source of radiation and receiving a dose is especially high, dosimeters are issued to almost all personnel here. In addition, workers undergo a special training course in which they explain to people how to behave in the event of a radiation threat or when a dangerous object is detected. Also, many enterprises working with radioactive substances are equipped with light and sound alarms, when triggered, the entire staff of the enterprise is quickly evacuated. In general, industry workers are well aware of how to act in the event of a radiation threat. Things are quite different when sources of radiation are found in the home or on the street. Many of us simply do not know what to do in such situations and what to do. Warning label "radioactivity" How to behave when a source of radiation is detected? When detecting an object of radiation radiation, it is important to know how to behave so that the radiation find does not harm either you or others. Please note: if you have a dosimeter in your hands, this does not give you any right to try to eliminate the detected source of radiation on your own. The best thing you can do in such a situation is to move to a safe distance from the object and warn passers-by about the danger. All other work on the disposal of the object should be entrusted to the appropriate authorities, for example, the police. Relevant services are engaged in the search and disposal of radioactive items. We have already said more than once that a source of radiation can be detected even in a grocery store. In such situations, it is also impossible to remain silent or try to "deal" with the sellers on your own. It is better to politely warn the store administration and contact the Sanitary and Epidemiological Supervision Service. If you have not made a dangerous purchase, this does not mean that someone else will not buy a radiation item!

In one form or another, people are regularly exposed to radiation. We have collected 10 places that are among the most radioactive territories on the planet. Being there is life-threatening. And extreme people who stop at nothing should take care of safety.

1. Natural Radiation Ramsar (Iran)

This part of the country is known for having high natural radiation exposure. There are few such places on the planet, radiation activity indicators often exceed 250 m3.

2. Infected sand Guarapari (Brazil)

Due to the natural radioactivity of the natural element monazite, the beaches of Guarapari are considered highly radioactive. The level of radiation activity in places reaches 175 m3.

3. Underground springs from Paralan Ercarolla (Australia)

The hot underground springs of Paralan flow through rocks enriched with uranium. As a result, the hot waters of the springs bring radiation to the surface with their flows.

4. Hanford, Washington (United States of America)

Hanford is part of a research project to develop an atomic bomb. This is where the plutonium used to build the nuclear weapons that hit Nagasaki was produced. Despite the fact that the site has not been operated for a long time, about 2/3 of the radioactive material remained directly in Hanford, which led to the contamination of the soil and groundwater.

5. Central Mediterranean

Researchers suggest that a crime syndicate controlled by influential Italian mafiosi used the Mediterranean Sea as a dumping ground for nuclear waste. A huge amount of recycled radioactive and toxic materials was dropped here - about forty ships.

6. Sea coast of Mogadishu (Somalia)

According to experts, for a long time the coast of the island was used as a cemetery for nuclear waste by various criminal structures. More than 600 barrels of radioactive material have been found here. No one would have known about this if the tsunami had not hit Srmali in 2004. As a result, the find was made public and reburied.

7. Production plant Mayak (Russian Federation)

For a long time, the Russian Federation remained home to a nuclear enterprise called Mayak. At the beginning of 1957, as a result of an accident, about a hundred tons of radioactive waste were “thrown out” into the atmosphere. As a result, there was a big explosion. Up until the 80s. the details of the explosion were kept classified. It turned out that back in the 50s, processed products were dumped into the natural environment. The inhabitants of Karachay suffered - more than four thousand people.

8. Mining and chemical plant Mailuu-Suu (Kyrgyzstan)

Mailuu-Suu is one of the most radiation places on the planet Earth. No, nuclear tests were not conducted here and not a single nuclear power plant was built. Radiation in the area is high due to the mining and processing industries. This is a uranium mining site. The territory of infection is 1,960,000 m2.

Due to the extensive earthquake, the Fukushima nuclear power plant (Japan) was destroyed. To date, this accident is considered one of the worst in the world. The incident caused the meltdown of three nuclear reactors. At a distance of two hundred miles from the station, everything is infected and will be a danger to humans for many decades to come.

10. Chernobyl nuclear power plant (Ukraine)

Chernobyl was home to an accident that horrified the entire world. Six million people were affected that year alone. The number of deaths is ninety-three thousand people. The level of radiation exceeded the levels recorded as a result of the nuclear attack in Nagasaki by a hundred times.

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Check if there is a nuclear power plant, a plant or an atomic research institute, a storage facility for radioactive waste or nuclear missiles near you.

Nuclear power plants

There are currently 10 nuclear power plants operating in Russia and two more under construction (the Baltic NPP in the Kaliningrad region and the floating nuclear power plant Akademik Lomonosov in Chukotka). You can read more about them on the official website of Rosenergoatom.

At the same time, nuclear power plants in the former USSR cannot be considered numerous. As of 2017, there are 191 nuclear power plants in operation worldwide, including 60 in the US, 58 in the European Union and Switzerland, and 21 in China and India. There are 16 Japanese and 6 South Korean nuclear power plants operating in the immediate vicinity of the Russian Far East. The entire list of existing, under construction and closed nuclear power plants, indicating their exact location and technical characteristics, can be found on Wikipedia.

Factories and scientific research institutes of nuclear subjects

Radiation-hazardous objects (RHO), in addition to nuclear power plants, are enterprises and scientific organizations of the nuclear industry and ship repair plants specializing in the nuclear fleet.

Official information on ROO in the regions of Russia is available on the website of Roshydromet, as well as in the yearbook "Radiation Situation in Russia and Neighboring States" on the website of NPO Typhoon.

radioactive waste

Radioactive waste of low and intermediate level is generated in industry, as well as in scientific and medical organizations throughout the country.

In Russia, Rosatom's subsidiaries RosRAO and Radon (in the Central Region) are engaged in their collection, transportation, processing and storage.

In addition, RosRAO is engaged in the disposal of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel from decommissioned nuclear submarines and Navy ships, as well as the environmental rehabilitation of contaminated areas and radiation hazardous facilities (such as the former uranium processing plant in Kirovo-Chepetsk).

Information about their work in each region can be found in environmental reports published on the websites of Rosatom, branches of RosRAO, and the Radon enterprise.

Military nuclear facilities

Among military nuclear facilities, nuclear submarines seem to be the most environmentally hazardous.

Nuclear submarines (NPSs) are so called because they run on nuclear energy, which powers the boat's engines. Some of the nuclear submarines are also carriers of missiles with nuclear warheads. However, major accidents on nuclear submarines known from open sources were associated with the operation of reactors or with other causes (collision, fire, etc.), and not with nuclear warheads.

Nuclear power plants are also available on some surface ships of the Navy, such as the nuclear cruiser Peter the Great. They also pose a certain environmental risk.

Information on the locations of nuclear submarines and nuclear ships of the Navy is shown on the map according to open sources.

The second type of military nuclear facilities are the subdivisions of the Strategic Missile Forces armed with ballistic nuclear missiles. No cases of radiation accidents associated with nuclear ammunition have been found in open sources. The current location of the Strategic Missile Forces formations is shown on the map according to the information of the Ministry of Defense.

The map does not contain storage facilities for nuclear weapons (rocket warheads and air bombs), which can also pose an environmental threat.

nuclear explosions

In 1949-1990, an extensive program of 715 nuclear explosions for military and industrial purposes was implemented in the USSR.

Atmospheric nuclear testing

From 1949 to 1962 The USSR carried out 214 tests in the atmosphere, including 32 ground tests (with the greatest environmental pollution), 177 air tests, 1 high-altitude test (at an altitude of more than 7 km), and 4 space tests.

In 1963, the USSR and the USA signed an agreement banning nuclear tests in air, water and space.

Semipalatinsk test site (Kazakhstan)- the test site of the first Soviet nuclear bomb in 1949 and the first Soviet prototype of a 1.6 Mt thermonuclear bomb in 1957 (it was also the largest test in the history of the test site). In total, 116 atmospheric tests were carried out here, including 30 ground and 86 air tests.

Polygon on Novaya Zemlya- the site of an unprecedented series of super-powerful explosions in 1958 and 1961-1962. A total of 85 charges were tested, including the most powerful in world history - the "Tsar bomb" with a capacity of 50 Mt (1961). For comparison, the power of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima did not exceed 20 kt. In addition, in the Chernaya Bay of the Novaya Zemlya test site, the damaging factors of a nuclear explosion on naval facilities were studied. For this, in 1955-1962. 1 ground, 2 surface and 3 underwater tests were carried out.

Missile test polygon "Kapustin Yar" in the Astrakhan region - the operating training ground of the Russian army. In 1957-1962 5 air, 1 high-altitude and 4 space rocket tests were carried out here. The maximum power of air explosions was 40 kt, high-altitude and space - 300 kt. From here, in 1956, a rocket with a nuclear charge of 0.3 kt was launched, which fell and exploded in the Karakum near the city of Aralsk.

On the Totsk training ground in 1954, military exercises were held, during which an atomic bomb with a power of 40 kt was dropped. After the explosion, the military units had to "take" the objects that had been bombed.

Apart from the USSR, only China carried out nuclear tests in the atmosphere in Eurasia. For this, the Lobnor test site was used in the north-west of the country, approximately at the longitude of Novosibirsk. In total, in 1964-1980. China has carried out 22 ground and air tests, including thermonuclear explosions with a yield of up to 4 Mt.

Underground nuclear explosions

The USSR carried out underground nuclear explosions from 1961 to 1990. Initially, they were aimed at the development of nuclear weapons in connection with the ban on testing in the atmosphere. Since 1967, the creation of nuclear explosive technologies for industrial purposes also began.

In total, out of 496 underground explosions, 340 were carried out at the Semipalatinsk test site and 39 at Novaya Zemlya. Tests on Novaya Zemlya in 1964-1975. were distinguished by high power, including a record (about 4 Mt) underground explosion in 1973. After 1976, the power did not exceed 150 kt. The last nuclear explosion at the Semipalatinsk test site was carried out in 1989, and at Novaya Zemlya in 1990.

Polygon "Azgir" in Kazakhstan (near the Russian city of Orenburg) was used to develop industrial technologies. With the help of nuclear explosions, cavities were created here in the layers of rock salt, and during repeated explosions, radioactive isotopes were produced in them. A total of 17 explosions with a power of up to 100 kt were carried out.

Outside the landfills in 1965-1988 100 underground nuclear explosions were performed for industrial purposes, including 80 in Russia, 15 in Kazakhstan, 2 each in Uzbekistan and Ukraine, and 1 in Turkmenistan. Their purpose was deep seismic sounding to search for minerals, the creation of underground cavities for storing natural gas and industrial waste, the intensification of oil and gas production, the movement of large areas of soil for the construction of canals and dams, and the extinguishing of gas fountains.

Other countries. China carried out 23 underground nuclear explosions at the Lop Nor test site in 1969-1996, India - 6 explosions in 1974 and 1998, Pakistan - 6 explosions in 1998, North Korea - 5 explosions in 2006-2016.

The US, UK, and France have conducted all of their testing outside of Eurasia.

Literature

Many data on nuclear explosions in the USSR are open.

Official information about the power, purpose and geography of each explosion was published in 2000 in the book of the team of authors of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russia "Nuclear Tests of the USSR". It also contains the history and description of the Semipalatinsk and Novaya Zemlya test sites, the first tests of nuclear and thermonuclear bombs, the Tsar Bomba test, a nuclear explosion at the Totsk test site, and other data.

A detailed description of the test site on Novaya Zemlya and the test program on it can be found in the article "Review of Soviet nuclear tests on Novaya Zemlya in 1955-1990", and their environmental consequences - in the book "

List of atomic objects compiled in 1998 by the Itogi magazine, on the site Kulichki.com.

Estimated location of various objects on interactive maps