Lake Karachay was a small natural lake in eastern Russia. It is best known for its use as a dumping ground by the Soviet Union's Mayak nuclear weapons laboratory and fuel reprocessing plant. A string of accidents and disasters at the Mayak facility has contaminated much of the surrounding the area with highly radioactive waste. In the 1960s, the lake began to dry out and its area had dropped from 0.5 km2 in 1951[1] to 0.15 km2 by the end of 1993.[2] In 1968, following a drought in the region, the wind carried 185 PBq (5 MCi) of radioactive dust away from the dried bed of the lake, irradiating half a million people.[3] Lake Karachay has been described as the "most polluted spot on Earth" by the Worldwatch Institute.[4][5]
- ^ "Lake Karachay". Nuclear Encyclopedia. Kose Parish, Estonia. Archived from the original on 12 March 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- ^ "Russia's Plutonium". Battelle Seattle Research Center. 20 May 2005. Archived from the original on 4 October 2006. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- ^ Pike, J. "Chelyabinsk-65 / Ozersk". WMD Information - GlobalSecurity.org. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
- ^ Lenssen, "Nuclear Waste: The Problem that Won't Go Away", Worldwatch Institute, Washington, D.C., 1991: 15.
- ^ Andrea Pelleschi (2013). Russia. ABDO Publishing Company. ISBN 9781614808787.
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