Head of Nuclear Waste Disposal Facility Charged

YEKATERINBURG. Feb 26 (Interfax) – Charges have been officially brought against Mayak Nuclear Waste Disposal Facility General Director Vitaly Sadovnikov.

Sadovnikov is accused of violating environmental safety regulations while handling environmentally hazardous substances and waste, the press service of the deputy prosecutor general in the Urals Federal District has reported.

The charges cover offences which “in 2001-04 caused several dozen million cubic meters of liquid radioactive waste to spill into the Techa River,” the press service said.

Travel restrictions have been imposed on Sadovnikov.

“Possessing authentic information about radioactive waste leaks into an open hydrographic system, Sadovnikov failed to take any effective measures to protect the natural environment, even though he had sufficient financial resources to do so,” the press service said.

Checks revealed that the Mayak management spent part of the revenues to maintain their representative office in Moscow and to provide financial aid to various organizations, or spent the money otherwise, instead of putting it into environmental protection programs.

Mayak is a major Russian center for the recycling of radioactive materials. It handles nuclear waste from the Kola, Novovoronezh and Beloyarsk nuclear power plants, as well as from nuclear submarines.