Press
After the flood disaster in Russia, chaos appears to reign in the affected Kurgan region. Now Putin was also surprised during a visit.
Moscow – After the severe flood disaster in the Russian region of Orenburg in the south of the Ural Mountains and in the Siberian region of Kurgan, fear of nuclear contamination is apparently growing among the population. According to Russian media reports, environmentalists warned that flooding in Kurgan had leaked uranium into a nearby river that supplies the population with drinking water. The responsible authority rejected the allegations as “misinformation”.
Tobol River in Kurgan affected by record flooding – were uranium wells also flooded?
First, the Russian news portal RBC News reported on the tense situation on site. So should the local Kurgan–Foundation for Public Control of the State of the Environment and the Welfare of the Population reported on April 12, shortly after the floods, that due to the floods, among other things, radionuclides from the Dobrovolnoye deposit (Kurgan region) were washed into the nearby Tobol River.
The Tobol River is located in the regional capital of the same name, Kurgan, and swelled by almost one and a half meters within a day due to flooding – a historic high. According to the authorities' count, almost 18,000 houses were under water on April 18th. The flood spread mainly in the Orenburg region in the south of the Ural Mountains and in the Kurgan region of Siberia.
Environmental experts worried about nuclear contamination with uranium after flooding in Kurgan
Andrei Ozharovsky, an expert in the program for the safety of radioactive waste of the Russian Social-Ecological Union, also commented in an interview with the German wave (DW) on Thursday had major concerns. Parts of the uranium mine are “already under water,” said Ozharovsky. “Part of these uranium reserves, which are already under water, were extracted in the 1980s, during the Soviet era. Many old uranium drilling sites are simply no longer operational,” Ozharovsky said. “The underground pressure drives the uranium solutions upwards, and I measured myself a few years ago that the radiation in the area around these drillings is increasing.” The newer wells are therefore not under water. But the danger comes much more from the old wells.
The state nuclear agency responsible for the dismantling Rosatom described the announcement about possible uranium in the river as misinformation and emphasized that there was no risk of the boreholes being flooded. The wells would be on a hill and away from the water so they would not be affected by flooding. The state company also provided information to the state news agency Tass Photos available. The images show the disused wells in the uranium deposit, which are intended to prove their integrity.
Putin 'surprised' by policy changes during visit to flooded Kurgan
In the midst of the consequences of the flood disaster, the Russian President was also searching Wladimir Putin for answers. During a visit to Kurgan, the focus was initially on local flood protection measures. During a meeting on Wednesday (April 24), Putin said RBC News noticed that the mayor of Kurgan was missing. The acting head, Anastasia Nikolaevna, then informed Putin that the mayor had already resigned in January. Putin was “surprised,” the report continues. “We must take appropriate measures and organize elections,” the president is quoted as saying.
After a snowy winter and a lot of rain, the spring floods in parts of Russia are unusually severe. Tens of thousands of people have already lost their belongings. Residents of the affected regions complain that the authorities have ignored the impending danger for a long time. Protective measures were taken too late. In the neighboring Central Asian state of Kazakhstan, the floods are of similar magnitude. However, the evacuation of threatened areas began earlier there. More than 100,000 people were brought to safety from the flood. (nz with dpa)
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