What is the Kyshtym disaster?
Q: What is the Kyshtym disaster?
A: The Kyshtym disaster was a radiation contamination disaster on 29 September 1957, in Mayak, a nuclear plant in Russia (then a part of the Soviet Union). It measured as a Level 6 disaster on the International Nuclear Event Scale.
Q: Where is Mayak located?
A: Mayak is located about 150 kilometres (93 mi) from Ekaterinburg, in Russia.
Q: What did Mayak produce?
A: Mayak produced plutonium fuel that was used for the first Soviet atomic bomb, amongst other things.
Q: How many reactors were built at Mayak between 1948 and 1987?
A: A total of ten nuclear reactors were built at Mayak between 1948 and 1987.
Q: How much radioactivity was released during the Kyshtym Disaster?
A: The Kyshtym Disaster released about 20 MegaPCi (about 740 Petabecquerel) of radioactivity.
Q: How many people died from radiation sickness due to the accident?
A: At least 200 people died from radiation sickness due to the accident.
Q: What measures were taken to reduce radioactive contamination after the accident?
A: To reduce radioactive contamination after the accident, contaminated soil was removed and kept in fenced enclosures that were called "graveyards of the earth".
