Not everyone knows the Techa River, and those who know about the tragedy that occurred on it, for the most part, are silent. Why? What happened on the banks of the Techa in the Chelyabinsk region? Is it possible to eliminate the consequences of the accident? Consider the facts.
Sources of the river
The Techa River originates in Lake Irtyash, which is located in the Kasli district of the Chelyabinsk region. Further, it flows as a tributary into the Iset River, which, in turn, is part of the Ob River basin. The flow itself is not wide and shallow. Its width does not exceed 20 meters, and its depth is about 5 meters. For the rivers of the Southern Urals, it is quite small, but at the same time it has three of its tributaries: these are Zyuzelga, Baskazyk and Mishelyak.
The river flows near Chelyabinsk, only 50 kilometers away. Its filling is carried out only due to the melting of snow in the spring. Like most water streams familiar from the school curriculum, the Techa River forms rapids. The height difference on it is about 145 meters, so the rapids here are quite fast. It was on the banks of this river that a terrible tragedy occurred in the middle of the last century.
Artificial reservoirs
In the area of the built chemical plant, aa whole cascade of reservoirs. These artificial structures were practically a separate system that was intended for cleaning up radioactive waste. Practically - because they are connected to the river by a dam. Four reservoirs and a network of canals were designed as settling tanks for low-level liquid radioactive waste, which was to be deposited in an insoluble form at the bottom of the reservoirs. But this is the ideal, so to speak. What really happened on the Techa River?
And the reality is that these reservoirs could not fully fulfill their purpose. Human carelessness led to tragedy throughout the region, and today the Chelyabinsk region is practically a radioactive garbage dump.
First contamination
Unfortunately, the first pollution of the Techa River occurred in 1949. At that time, plutonium production began, and the first failed experiments led to the shutdown of the evaporators at the plant, as well as to the threat of their destruction due to corrosion. The decision was made not to stop production, but instead to dump high-level radioactive waste directly into the river, although the project allowed only low- and intermediate-level waste to be dumped into Techa. Everyone knows perfectly well today that the dumping of radioactive waste, whatever it may be, is fraught with sad consequences.
From 1949 to 1956, about 76 million m33 of radioactive waste were dumped into the river. This practically destroyed the ecosystem of the river. Unfortunately, people living in the area of pollution, nothingdidn't know about it. To date, people who lived at that time along the banks of the river have special cards, which indicate the life status and cause of death. Most deaths are associated with cancer, the consequences of radioactive contamination.
Accidents
In 1957, a serious accident occurred at the plant - a container with highly radioactive waste exploded. Due to a combination of circumstances, due to heavy rains and a strong flood, a huge amount of radioactive waste entered the river. In addition, the decontamination carried out at the plant at that time led to even more pollution. It was carried out by simply flushing radioactive substances with water. So the Techa River in the Chelyabinsk region was on the verge of an environmental disaster.
As a result, severe pollution occurred in two ways. Firstly, by air, which almost reached Tyumen, and secondly, by water. The infection affected both banks of the river, and especially Lake Karachay. Only after this accident began to build treatment facilities.
10 years later, in 1967, due to dry weather, another tragedy occurred on the shores of Lake Karachay. The drought caused weathering and strong evaporation of radioactive waste that filled the lake. The result was a so-called radiation trail.
Settlements along the banks of the Techa
The construction of dams and the formation of artificial reservoirs did not lead to an improvement in the situation. The accumulation of radioactive waste has led to the fact that the Techa River is the most contaminatedtoday the river, near which people live. Due to the secrecy of the facility and the non-disclosure of truthful information about the strongest pollution, settlements ended up in the disaster zone. Let's take a look at which villages surround the Techa River and what happened to them.
The nearest village to the constructed dams is Muslimovo, located 37 kilometers from them, and 165 kilometers to the mouth of the river. The next in terms of distance are the village of Brodokalmak (68 km), the village of Russkaya Techa (97 km) and the village of Nizhnepetropavlovskoye (107 km from the dams). All these villages have a terrible level of radiation, but, unfortunately, people in them continue to live and die from the terrible consequences of chronic radiation sickness. It is hard to imagine that the Techa River, through which radiation now travels hundreds of kilometers, was once a place of rest and nourished the entire district.
Consequences of infection
To date, the effects of radiation pollution have not yet been eliminated. Unfortunately, they will exist for a very long time. Nature takes a very long time to clear itself of such thoughtless pollution. The Techa River in the Chelyabinsk region is today the most dangerous place on the planet. And it's not just about dumping waste.
The created dams were completely filled with radioactive waste. The Asanov swamps located below the dams absorbed all the same harmful substances. As a result, everything from them still flows into the Techa River. The most dangerous in this case was Lake Karachay, whichfull of radioactive waste. In addition, there are many burial grounds, trenches, cisterns and special storage facilities. The entire area in the floodplain is completely infected.
Spread of infection
As everyone knows, the river cannot stand still. Where does the Techa river flow? As already mentioned, it flows into the Iset River. Techa itself is small in length, and flows for only 243 km. Carrying contaminated water with her, she poisons everything around her, including the river into which she flows. It must be said that these waters are already diluted, but still they cannot be completely clean, which means that the Techa River, the radiation in which exceeds the permissible level by millions of times, pollutes other rivers.
It's scary to imagine what could happen if all of a sudden all the nuclear waste dumps fall into it. There will be a chain reaction: the Techa flows into the Iset, the Iset, in turn, belongs to the Tobol river basin. And the Tobol flows through the whole of Kazakhstan and Russia and flows into the Irtysh. We will not imagine further, it becomes clear to everyone that such consequences will lead to a terrible catastrophe. Let's talk about the good. What is being done today to save the river?
Activities to clean up the river
To date, measures have been taken to fill the floodplain with soil. What does it mean? This means that the Techa River, or rather, only a few kilometers of the floodplain, received new banks. As part of the environmental program, it was decided to separate the riverbed and pour clean soil in the form of a canal. This was supposed to prevent people from accessingand animals to polluted waters. It was also planned to plant trees and shrubs along the banks to restore the lost plantings.
The result of such activities was a noticeable decrease in the level of radiation. The pouring of new clean soil made it possible to conserve polluted places and deposits. These works made it possible to reduce the danger of people staying within the boundaries of the Techa River. The fact is that the events were held within the limits of the village and Muslimovo station in order to secure the living of people in this area. On the example of this infamous river, you can see what a strong radiation contamination leads to.
