Elimination of the consequences of radiation accidents in the Urals in the memories of their participants

Implementation of the atomic project in the USSR is considered as one of the greatest events of Russian history. The path that our country took by creating high-tech nuclear industry was difficult, full of victories and errors, achievements and tragic events of accidents and incidents. Radiation incidents that occurred at nuclear facilities due to imperfect technology, not properly studied issues of radiation safety, combined with a rigid target of creation of nuclear weapons in a short time led to a significant radiation exposure of the personnel, the public, to the radioactive contamination of the environment, especially in the early years of the project. So, as a result of a major accident in 1957, the Kyshtym Nuclear Disaster, more than 20 thousand sq. km of Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, Kurgan and Tyumen regions were contaminated with radioactive waste. In order to eliminate the effects of radiological incidents and accidents it was required to implement urgent measures to limit the exposure of the population and the production staff, to relocate nearby settlements, to rehabilitate land affected by radiation. The liquidation activities, along with the production staff of the chemical plant "Mayak", involved thousands of workers and engineers, soldiers and officers, military and civilian construction workers who worked selflessly in difficult conditions, irrespective of the danger of radioactive exposure, risk to their own health. As a result, many of them received substantial doses of radiation, which subsequently led to various chronic diseases caused by radiation. At the same time, to get social support from the state, benefits were needed to confirm the status of the liquidator from the company, i.e., from the chemical plant "Mayak", or from a construction company. Therefore, numerous letters from those who worked on the construction of various nuclear facilities in the Urals in the 1940s-1950s were sent to the personnel departments of these organizations requesting confirmation of the status of the liquidator. These people also participated in the liquidation of the consequences of radiation accidents, and they suffered as a result of exposure to radiation. To date, more than two hundred complaints, called "letters of the victims", are stored in the United State Archive of Chelyabinsk Region. Due to the fact that social aspects of the radiation accident long hidden behind a veil of secrecy are still poorly understood, these letters have special information and historical significance. They contain information about the conditions of work and life of the participants of the nuclear saga, and allow to more fully reconstruct the events of that time according to witnesses. On the other hand, these letters show the fate of many people for whom the atomic project was the project paid by the highest price - health. These letters made the documentary basis for the publication.

Keywords

Authors

References