Radioactive Dust Might Be Launched From New Highway in Russia That Could Toxin People in Moscow, Greenpeace Alerts

Environmental campaigners in Russia have alerted that the building of a 23- mile highway in Moscow will release buried radioactive dust left over from a factory that mined uranium and thorium more than 20 years back.

Greenpeace employed professionals who stated that up to 8 times the normal levels of radiation were discovered in parts of the proposed route between the Moscow Polymetals Plant and the Moskvorechye commuter rail station in the south of the city.

Activists very first sounded the alarm in July about the risks of the construction of the roadway which would skirt the plant that stopped production in 1996 and now makes military devices.

But as a testament to its previous, a slag stack of radioactive waste left over from the website now lies nearby, next to the banks of the Moscow River. The debris would be disinterred during the building and construction of the highway which is set up for conclusion in 2024.

According to Greenpeace, alpha-active thorium-232 and radium-226 were discovered on the planned construction site in 5 locations. Specialists state there is a threat that during construction, infected soil might be spread into the air as well as into the river that runs through the Russian capital.

“Borehole measurements half a meter deep showed greater [radiation] values than on the surface … People who breathe it will face an increased threat of cancer,” Greenpeace stated.

Local residents state they were not notified about the radiation risks when they attended public hearings discussing the roadway which was very first mooted last year.

Pavel Tarasov, a Communist Celebration community deputy, told The Moscow Times: “I believe the authorities understand complete well the risks however it’s a lot much easier to steal state budget plan funds allocated to building than to clean up radioactive waste.”

Greenpeace has required Moscow’s City Hall to “immediately take steps to secure human life and health from the risk of radiation.” The group stated it is ready to take the case to court.

However city authorities have denied that the roadway positions any risk.

Acting head of Moscow’s construction department, Rafik Zagrutdinov stated that the needed geological studies had actually been carried out which “showed no excess in background radiation,” the paper RBC reported.

But locals fear that the absence of authorities recognition about any radiation danger has echoes of Chernobyl, the nuclear power station in contemporary Ukraine.

Katya Maximova, 32, who lives throughout the river from the site and has been pushing the cause on social media informed The Moscow Times in July that Russia has a history of “preventable tragedies” triggered by “negligence.”

“We’re not versus the authorities or against the building. What we desire is a full-blown assessment initially.”

Her pal Ruslana Lugovaya informed the paper: “Why go see Chernobyl when we have our own Chernobyl right here in Moscow?”