50 Laura Sembritzki
States as one important contribution toward radiation knowledge production. 6 Thus, first considerations regarding biomedical radiation research and
occupational radiation safety were tackled. However, facing basic problems
to ensure a successful operation and to be eager to collect as much scientific
data as possible, further problems like uncontrolled releases of radioactivity in
the environment and long-term health effects were neglected. As the atomic
program was introduced and implemented in a great hurry and under even
greater pressure, the immediate aim – to develop a nuclear bomb as soon
as possible – overshadowed the long-term consequences, such as radiation
effects on public health and the environment. 7
This chapter focuses on the evolving nuclear landscapes in the Southern
Urals. Starting from the administrative management of domestic nuclear disasters in the Southern Urals, this chapter will discuss a window of opportunity of radiation expertise in the late 1950s and early 1960s and raise the
question of to which extent the experience in the Southern Urals helped
some scientists to make their carrier in Moscow.
Nuclear Disaster in the Southern Urals –
Administration Challenged
In the Southern Urals, three secret cities belonging to the Soviet nuclear
program were established in the end of the 1940s and in the early 1950s. One
of those cities, then known as Chelyabinsk-40, and today known as Ozersk,
housed the first uranium-graphite reactor “A” and a radiochemical plant “B”
to produce weapon-grade plutonium. In the period from the end of the 1940s
up to the end of the 1960s, three major nuclear disasters occurred, originating from the city’s nuclear industry.
In consequence of the regular procedure of the dumping of highly radioactive liquid waste into the local river system, conducted mainly from 1949
to 1956, the river Techa was heavily contaminated. Approximately 76 cubic
meters of radioactive liquid waste with an activity of 2,750,000 Curie contaminated not only the river Techa but also the river system belonging to
the rivers Karabolka and Iset’. On the river Techa, 37 villages with residents
amounting to some 25,000 persons were affected by the radioactivity. 8
The second and best-known accident in the region occurred in September
1957. Only five days before the successful launch of Sputnik, one of the greatest technological successes of the Soviet Union, which trumped the United
States in the field of space travel and put the country in a state of ecstasy,
one of the greatest technological catastrophes also occurred. The “radiant”
legacy of this catastrophe still makes the affected areas in the Southern Urals
to one of the most contaminated places in the world. On September 29, 1957,
an explosion of nuclear waste led to a fallout with an overall activity of more
than 2,000,000 curies. The explosion occurred in the underground nuclear
waste storage from the radiochemical plant that processed weapons-grade
uranium due to a failure of the cooling and surveillance system. 9
States as one important contribution toward radiation knowledge production. 6 Thus, first considerations regarding biomedical radiation research and
occupational radiation safety were tackled. However, facing basic problems
to ensure a successful operation and to be eager to collect as much scientific
data as possible, further problems like uncontrolled releases of radioactivity in
the environment and long-term health effects were neglected. As the atomic
program was introduced and implemented in a great hurry and under even
greater pressure, the immediate aim – to develop a nuclear bomb as soon
as possible – overshadowed the long-term consequences, such as radiation
effects on public health and the environment. 7
This chapter focuses on the evolving nuclear landscapes in the Southern
Urals. Starting from the administrative management of domestic nuclear disasters in the Southern Urals, this chapter will discuss a window of opportunity of radiation expertise in the late 1950s and early 1960s and raise the
question of to which extent the experience in the Southern Urals helped
some scientists to make their carrier in Moscow.
Nuclear Disaster in the Southern Urals –
Administration Challenged
In the Southern Urals, three secret cities belonging to the Soviet nuclear
program were established in the end of the 1940s and in the early 1950s. One
of those cities, then known as Chelyabinsk-40, and today known as Ozersk,
housed the first uranium-graphite reactor “A” and a radiochemical plant “B”
to produce weapon-grade plutonium. In the period from the end of the 1940s
up to the end of the 1960s, three major nuclear disasters occurred, originating from the city’s nuclear industry.
In consequence of the regular procedure of the dumping of highly radioactive liquid waste into the local river system, conducted mainly from 1949
to 1956, the river Techa was heavily contaminated. Approximately 76 cubic
meters of radioactive liquid waste with an activity of 2,750,000 Curie contaminated not only the river Techa but also the river system belonging to
the rivers Karabolka and Iset’. On the river Techa, 37 villages with residents
amounting to some 25,000 persons were affected by the radioactivity. 8
The second and best-known accident in the region occurred in September
1957. Only five days before the successful launch of Sputnik, one of the greatest technological successes of the Soviet Union, which trumped the United
States in the field of space travel and put the country in a state of ecstasy,
one of the greatest technological catastrophes also occurred. The “radiant”
legacy of this catastrophe still makes the affected areas in the Southern Urals
to one of the most contaminated places in the world. On September 29, 1957,
an explosion of nuclear waste led to a fallout with an overall activity of more
than 2,000,000 curies. The explosion occurred in the underground nuclear
waste storage from the radiochemical plant that processed weapons-grade
uranium due to a failure of the cooling and surveillance system. 9