Sergey Baranovsky, President of the “Green Cross” ecological organization

— The Rosatom management is trying to solve the ecological problems of the nuclear power sector inherited from the Soviet times

We have talked with the president of the “Green Cross” ecological organization, academic of the Russian Academy of Natural Science, member of the Rosatom Public Council, professor Sergey Baranovsky about the future of the territory of Muslumovo, a village that is being left by its residents according to a relevant resettlement program.

Correspondent: In 2007 the residents of the village of Muslumovo will leave it and will go to live somewhere far from this territory. What will happen with the territory? Is it necessary to fence it? Is it necessary to clean it, to recultivate the land, to clean the bottom of the Techa river from heavy metals?

Baranovsky: The whole problem is that there is no specific decision on what to do with the territory. The Rosatom management has been instructed to satisfy the request of the villagers to exercise their constitutional right to change their residence and to move to some other place or to go far from Muslumovo. We are successfully solving this problem, while the future of the territory is a matter of through consideration. I think that already today it is necessary to measure the background radiation level on the Techa river and in the nearby area, particularly, by examining the possible migration of the bottom sediments containing most of the heavy metals. It is necessary to test the ground, the sediments, to reveal pollution epicenters. All this work requires serious financing – such research is quite expensive. 

Of course, the territory must be fenced, first of all, to prevent anybody from settling there again. However, we can’t fence the whole territory. We should carry out a radiation dose analysis and to close access only to really contaminated spots. I am not very much optimistic about the full recovery of the Techa basin, but this land can well be recultivated and, theoretically, there is a chance that the potential of this territory can be restored.

Correspondent: And when may the research start?

Baranovsky: I think we may start them in 2007. It should be noted that there is no order for recovering this territory. It is not clear who should order this project: the local administration, the regional authorities or the Rosatom management. The resettlement of Muslumovo residents from the potentially dangerous zone is Rosatom’s good will gesture. Not only the Federal Atomic Energy Agency but also a number of other departments should be involved in the recovery of the Techa basin. For example, the migration of bottom sediments should be the headache of the Ecological Inspection: various floods and water releases may set the heavy elements moving. Today, we have no concept of the whole Techa cascade recovery but we need it desperately. We also need a concept for resolving the ecological problems caused by the development of the nuclear power sector and in other regions, for example, Krasnoyarsky krai, where there are similar problems caused by the operation of the Zheleznogorsk plants.

Correspondent: You have mentioned the problem of financing. Perhaps, it is necessary to work out a special federal target program for rehabilitating such areas?

Baranovsky: Only the state – and not the business or civil society — can solve pollution problems in Russia. We can only point to them, but we need a federal target program to solve the ecological problems of Chelyabinsk region and Kranoyarsk krai.