The disaster of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in 1986 have left the world with disastrous effects a good set of lessons to learn. Soviet officials, then, only reported to the public of the accident and said that they are trying to stabilize the situation to put it under control. The world learned that the incident killed two people.
By the time the report has been made, the explosion has already released radioactive particles that may be toxic to the environment. Subsequent fires were reported then and it has only led to the spread of radioactive materials for miles across cities in Europe. The accident ended up to be the most disastrous of all nuclear-related events all over the world.
In fact, it was so bad that its environmental consequences still lingers up until this day. The water and soil near the nuclear plant remains to be contaminated that the children who are living around the area have seen health problems that are far worse for their young age. Some of them are suffering from thyroid enlargement, respiratory illnesses and worse, cancer.
Now, it seems as if the same risk is brewing to happen in one of the chemical plants in Russia -- The Usolyekhimprom. In late July, the head of Russia's Environmental Safety Agency, Svetlana Radionova, sent out a warning stating that the abandoned chemicals in the plant in Siberia is a disaster waiting to happen. The mercury and other chemicals in the power plant could bring about a disastrous situation that can be likened to the world's experience of the Chernobyl.
The plant, according to the statement she released, says that "it is a setting of an ecological Chernobyl, only it may be much worse."
The The Usolyekhimprom used to be a manufacturer of chlorine, among other chemicals that it produces. It is owned by a private chemical company who owns hundreds of plants and other industrial facilities. The particular plant sited to be posing danger is located at the Irkutsk region of Siberia that was in full operation in 1933. It takes about 1,500 acres of land area. The plant was closed down in 2017 when it went bankrupt.
Now the empty plant may seem like just another abandoned building in a piece of land, but it is more than just that. It is located in the middle of the town with a population of 80,000 people. The environmental agency of Russia is currently monitoring the actions taken to deal with the abandoned property to ensure that the negative impacts that it has on the environment is carefully measured.
