Lake Karachay 3532030 201318868 2008-03-27T13:46:07Z DumZiBoT 6085301 Bot: Converting bare references, see [[User:DumZiBoT/refLinks|FAQ]] '''Lake Karachay''' ({{lang-ru|Карача́й}}), sometimes spelled '''Karachai''' is a small lake in the southern [[Ural mountains]] in western [[Russia]]. Starting in 1951<ref name="nucpedia">[http://www.kose.ee/nucbasic/nucpedia/uk/lake.htm Lake Karachay<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> the [[Soviet Union]] used Karachay as a dumping site for [[radioactive waste]] from [[Mayak]], the nearby nuclear waste storage and reprocessing facility, located near the town of [[Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast|Ozyorsk]] (then called [[Chelyabinsk]]-40). According to a report by the [[Washington, D.C.]]-based [[Worldwatch Institute]] on [[nuclear waste]], Karachay is the "most [[pollution|polluted]] spot" on Earth.<ref name="Lenssen">Lenssen, "Nuclear Waste: The Problem that Won't Go Away", Worldwatch Institute, Washington, D.C., 1991: 15.</ref> The lake accumulated some 4.44 [[exa]][[becquerel]]s (EBq) of radioactivity,<ref name="globalsecurity">[http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/chelyabinsk-65_nuc.htm Chelyabinsk-65<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> including 3.6 EBq of [[Caesium]]-137 and 0.74 EBq of [[Strontium]]-90.<ref name="nucpedia" /> For comparison, the [[Chernobyl disaster]] released from 5 to 12 EBq of radioactivity, however this radiation is not concentrated in one location. The radiation level in the region near where radioactive effluent is discharged into the lake was 600 [[röntgen]]s per hour in 1990, according to the ''Washington, D.C.''-based Natural Resources Defence Council, <ref>[http://docs.nrdc.org/nuclear/nuc_01009302a_112b.pdf NRDC (Nuclear Program Staff Publication) nuc_01009302a_112b.pdf<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>[http://www10.antenna.nl/wise/341/3409.html Wise Nc; Soviet Weapons Plant Pollution<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> more than sufficient to give a [[Radiation poisoning#Table of exposure levels and symptoms|lethal dose to a human]] within an hour. "If Lake Karachay's radioactive load leaks into the [[Arctic Ocean]], one of the planet's last great wildernesses, it could travel halfway across the globe."<ref>[http://www.sandia.gov/ASC/russia/contamination.html Sandia National Lab - Advanced Simulation and Computing Contamination Sites]</ref> ==History== Starting in the 1960s, the lake began to dry out; its area dropped from 0.5 [[Kilometre|km]]<sup>[[Square (algebra)|2]]</sup> in 1951<ref name="nucpedia" /> to 0.15 km² by the end of 1993.<ref>http://www.seattle.battelle.org/RussReg/ResourceCenter/MayakChemicalCombine-RussiaPlutonium.htm</ref> In 1968, following a drought in the region, the wind carried radioactive dust away from the dried area of the lake, irradiating half a million people with 185 [[Peta (prefix)|peta]]<nowiki>becquerels</nowiki> of radiation.<ref name="globalsecurity" /> Between 1978 and 1986 the lake was filled with almost 10,000 hollow concrete blocks to prevent sediments from shifting. The lake, which is now entirely covered by concrete, is referred to in the [[concept album]] ''[[One Hour by the Concrete Lake]]'', by [[Pain of Salvation]]. ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *http://www.sandia.gov/ASC/russia/contamination.html *[http://www.polar.mephi.ru/ru/conf/2000/6/8.html Lake Karachay - Open-Air Depository for Radioactive Waste] (in Russian) *[http://www.chelcom.ru/LANG=ru/newspapers/vecherka/archive/17-07-1998/2/2.DOC.shtml Lake Karachay: Reality and Fantasies] (in Russian) *[http://www.chrab.chel.su/archive/25-07-00/1/A108539.DOC.html Karachay Lake Will Disappear in Five Years] (in Russian) *[http://nuclearno.ru/text.asp?1421 Radioactive Lake Has Been Practically Annihilated] (in Russian) *[http://vedomosty.spb.ru/2001/arts/spbved-2409-art-22.html Lake Karachay Has Been Filled Up] (in Russian) *[http://www.american.edu/TED/ural.htm Ural Mountains Radiation Pollution] *[http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/chelyabinsk-65_nuc.htm Chelyabinsk-65] *[http://www.nti.org/db/nisprofs/russia/fissmat/pumayak/nucwaste.htm Mayak Radioactive Waste Facilities] *[http://maps.google.com/maps?om=1&t=k&ie=UTF8&ll=55.662143,60.863228&spn=0.03481,0.11467&z=14 Google Maps Image of the lake] {{coor title dms|55|39|42|N|60|51|16|E|region:RU_type:airport}} [[Category:Lakes of Russia|Karachal]] [[Category:Radioactive waste]] [[Category:Waste disposal incidents]] [[de:Karatschai-See]] [[et:Karatšai järv]] [[es:Lago Karachai]] [[hu:Karacsáj-tó]] [[nl:Karatsjajmeer]] [[pt:Lago Karachai]] [[ru:Карачай (озеро)]] [[fi:Karatšai]] [[sv:Karatjajsjön]]