Chernobyl, exclusion zone… These words serve as a reminder of the terrible tragedy that occurred in Ukraine in 1986. And the radioactive burial grounds in the contaminated area are nothing more than a dump, completely littered with equipment used during the liquidation of the accident at the nuclear power plant. There are several similar places in the restricted area.
History of the accident and its consequences
The city of Chernobyl (Ukraine) in the 1970s became the site where it was decided to build a nuclear power plant consisting of four power units. On February 4, 1970, the city of Pripyat was founded for Chernobyl workers and their families. 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 testing of the turbogenerator in the fourth power unit, on the night of April 26, 1986 at 01:23, the world-famous disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant occurred. Not only Pripyat, Chernobyl (Ukraine), but also part of the settlements of Belarus suffered from the unfortunate explosion. Cities, villages and towns within a thirty-kilometerthe exclusion zone is still considered "dead", that is, uninhabited people.
The radiation background in the first days of the accident was practically equal to the explosion of a nuclear bomb, which, of course, was hidden by the USSR government not only from the inhabitants of the city, but from the whole country. Nobody lives in Pripyat today. But in the place where the accident happened, people serving the station are still working. Therefore, Chernobyl cannot be called deserted. Today, the exclusion zone is also inhabited in some places, but already by self-settlers - the radiation level is getting lower every year, so some places may be quite suitable for life.
Chernobyl waste burial ground is usually a place of accumulation of various types of vehicles, such as Mi-26 and Mi-8 helicopters, barrier vehicles, recovery and chemical reconnaissance vehicles, tracked transporters, cars, armored personnel carriers, ambulances, excavators and more. The total cost of "radioactive" equipment is about 46 million US dollars in accordance with the prices of 1986 (1 dollar - 72.5 kopecks).
The burial grounds of Chernobyl are filled not only with the vehicles that participated in the elimination of the fire, but also with the cars of the inhabitants of Pripyat. By the way, some of them were still used at the very beginning of the fire.
PZRO Podlesny
The radioactive waste disposal facility was established to isolate highly radioactive equipment from the environment, which participated in the liquidation of the consequences of the accident at the fourthpower unit. It was built within a very short time, thanks to which it was put into operation in December 1986. The RWDF is located 1.5 km from the power plant, on the territory of the Podlesny farm.
The place for the burial ground was chosen unfortunate, since it is the shore of the Pripyat backwater, which is literally a kilometer from the river. It should be noted that such an arrangement is dangerous because containers and concrete containers with waste may lose their tightness over time.
Environmental threat
At the moment, all storage facilities, such as Podlesny RWDS, are carefully monitored. For this, special wells were created, with the help of which groundwater pollution is checked.
The burial ground's concrete structures are gradually deteriorating. Waste containers produce a large load on the foundation slab, and this is fraught with the appearance of cracks. Every year this prospect increases the probability of penetration of radioactive substances into the soil and groundwater. In addition, the RWDF is located in the floodplain area, which can be flooded at the time of the flood of the Pripyat River. This situation will negatively affect the general radioecological situation in the exclusion zone.
PZRO "Buryakovka"
The burial grounds of Chernobyl are not only the territory under Podlesny. There is also a near-surface point "Buryakovka", created by the VNIPIET Institute, which is based on storage facilities that were still operating in the Soviet Union. This item is included incommissioned in February 1987. It stores equipment of radioactive waste of the first group.
The storage area 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 RWDF is located at a sufficiently large distance from open water bodies.
Until now, various items from Pripyat and Chernobyl are being delivered to the territory of Buryakovka, in connection with which, in 1996, it was decided to expand the storage. This made it possible to bring here another 120,000 m³ of radioactive waste.
PZRO "3rd stage of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant"
As a rule, the burial grounds of Chernobyl were built directly next to the damaged power plant, which created conditions for the rapid movement of contaminated equipment and the wreckage of the fourth unit. Thus, the RWDS "3rd stage of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant" is located on the industrial site of the plant itself.
The start of operation of the storage fell on 1986. This point partly consists of concrete chambers, which, in turn, are divided into cells. From above, the sections are covered with a layer of concrete, compacted soil and clay. Outside, the vault is surrounded by barbed wire. Since December 1988, the PZRO has been a mothballed facility guarded by the police.
The 3rd stage radioactive waste burial site, like all Chernobyl burial sites, is a serious danger to the environment. To solve this problem, environmentalists are advised to completely stopwork of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. In this case, the cooling pond will be lowered next to the foreshore. Thus, there will be a decrease in groundwater to a level of almost four meters. These actions will help to significantly reduce the amount of radionuclides in the ground.
Rassokha as another burial ground
Before the catastrophe, the population of this Ukrainian village was 416 people per 188 households. At the moment, in this former settlement there are about one and a half thousand pieces of various equipment - from helicopters to buses, most of which were disposed of in 2013.
During the days of liquidation of the consequences of the accident, near Rassokha there was a point for processing equipment contaminated with radiation. As a result, all machines and robots were either buried or left on the surface of the earth.
