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From apartment blocks to power plants we countdown
the 10 most radioactive places on the face
of the earth.
#10 Kramatorsk, Ukraine - In 1989, a small
capsule that contained the highly radioactive
cesium 137 was found inside a wall of an apartment
building in this former USSR city. It’s
believed that the capsule had been lost in
the 70’s and ended up being mixed in with
gravel that was used for concrete during the
construction of the building. Over the course
of 9 years, 2 families had lived in the apartment,
and by the time the capsule had been discovered,
6 residents of the building had died from
leukemia and 17 more had received doses of
radiation.
#9 Hanford Nuclear Reservation Site - Established
in 1943 The Hanford site was an integral part
of the Manhattan project. Plutonium that was
manufactured at the site was used in the first
nuclear bomb, and in the bomb that was detonated
over Nagasaki Japan. Plutonium manufacturing
was halted at the end of the cold war, but
years of production had left behind 53 million
gallons of highly radioactive waste. The site
is now the focus of the nation’s largest
environmental cleanup
#8 Somali Coast - In the 1980’s, a criminal
organization called the Ndrangheta was involved
in radioactive waste dumping off the coast
of Somalia and other developing countries.
During the 2004 Indian ocean tsunami, barrels
washed up along the shoreline, and testing
confirmed the presence of nuclear waste and
toxic heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury.
#7 Mayak Production Association - One of the
biggest nuclear facilities in Russia this
site was the location of one of the worst
nuclear accidents in history. In 1957 a poorly
maintained storage tank exploded, and released
up to 100 tons of highly radioactive waste.
The radioactive cloud that was generated contaminated
around 300 square miles of area and hundreds
of people became sick and died of radiation
poisoning.
#6 Sellafield Power Plant, United Kingdom
- Commissioned in 1947 this site was used
for the production of materials for nuclear
weapons. It’s said that Sellafield houses
the most hazardous industrial building in
western Europe. Now almost 70 years old, the
decaying nuclear power station is a concern
to safety experts, that state the storage
ponds are cracking and could release massive
amounts of radioactive material.
#5 Siberian Chemical Combine - Located 3000
kilometres from Moscow the facility was part
of the Russian nuclear program since the start
of the cold war. Over the course of several
decades it has produced tens of thousands
of tons of solid waste that has leaked into
the groundwater. There have been several minor
accidents at the facility, and the spread
of contamination in the area is responsible
for high mortality rates among local animals.
#4 The Polygon Kazakhstan - This site was
the primary testing venue for the soviet union's
nuclear weapons. The soviet union conducted
a total of 456 nuclear tests at the site with
little regard for the local villagers or environment.
After the soviet union collapsed fissile material
was left behind and unguarded making it vulnerable
to scavengers and potential terrorists. Over
200,000 local residents have felt a direct
impact of radioactive fallout from the site,
with scientists linking higher rates of cancer
to the area.
#3 Zapadnyi Mining and Chemical Combine - From
1946 to 1968 this site produced more than
10,000 tons of uranium ore that was used to
supply the USSR’s nuclear weapons program.
There are 36 waste dump sites in the area
that have almost 2 million cubic meters of
radioactive mining waste. The site is considered
to be the third most polluted place in the
entire world.
#2 Chernobyl, Ukraine - The site of one of
the world’s worst nuclear accidents, the
Chernobyl disaster was the largest in terms
of cost and casualties. There has been a massive
effort to battle contamination at the site,
and has involved more than 500,000 workers
and at a cost of almost 400 million dollars.
A large exclusion zone extends around the
site 30 kilometers in each direction, and
Ukrainian officials estimate the area won’t
be safe for human life again for another 20,0000
years.
#1 Fukushima Daini Nuclear Power Plant - Japan’s
worst nuclear accident, and the worst accident
since Chernobyl the Fukushima nuclear power
plant was a victim of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake
and tsunami. The plant had three core meltdowns
and three reactor building explosions following
the natural disaster. Radiation was detected
200 miles away from the plant, which also
leaked highly radioactive water back into
the ocean. Currently the reactors are all
being decommissioned, and it’s said that
all nuclear fuel debris will be removed from
the site by 2022.
