The members of the initiative group, which opposes the construction of burial site under Ukhta, visited the radioactive waste repository in Vodny once again and set the warning signs on the territory of former factories 1 and 7, informing the public that it is not desirable to be here.
According to a member of the working group Yekaterina Rudenko, social activists armed with dosimeters measured the background radiation dose identified the most dangerous area and attracted interest of local people: some of them asked to measure their suburban areas.
A week later, activists visited the repository in the presence of the "RosRAO" and "RAOPROEKT" experts who told about what is happening in its territory.
“Now professionals from Omsk are working there. In protective suits, with dosimeters. The checkpoint area is fenced,” she added.
However, the first thing that worried members of the initiative group is that tanks that used to evaporate the water with a high content of radium are still at the store: there are more of them than it was specified in the project.
“3.2 tons of tanks, the export of which has been financed, were sawed and evacuated. And more than a dozen is still lying. Earmarked funds for export have been already spent, so now they will be looking for a new source of financing. Although representatives of the "RosRAO" are fully responsible for the facility, promised to take out the tanks,” social activist said.
This year, there will be a radial drainage for bleeder, and a sump to accumulate water. Moreover, experts will strengthen the bank, establishing a special locking structure. In general, now there is work to prepare for the winter.
And the most important thing — in September on the territory of former factories 1 and 7, in Ukhta, in Vodny and on the road Ukhta-Vodny experts of the "RosRAO" will conduct, as Yekaterina Rudenko has put it, a crucial research. Laboratory specialists are expected in 7-10 days of September.
“According to the results of measurements it will be clear how to classify the waste and, therefore, what to do with them on: to evacuate the first category of waste disposal to SMW, and more dangerous — on existing specialized companies outside of the Republic of Komi. In any case, "RosRAO" is only concerned with the storage of such waste, but not the construction of the burial site. We are looking forward to these studies, and, although there is no final decision yet, we hope that the construction won't be necessary,” Yekaterina Rudenko concluded.
Yaroslava Parkhacheva, «7x7»
