Report on a radiological accident in the southern Urals on 29 September 1957

In response to concern expressed by the international community about the possible consequences of a radiological accident which occurred at a military installation in the southern Urals in 1957, Soviet specialists have prepared this report containing information on this event. Owing to a fault in the cooling system used for the concrete tanks containing highly active nitrate acetate wastes, a chemical explosion occurred in these materials on 29 September 1957 and radioactive fission products were released into the atmosphere and subsequently scattered and deposited in parts of the Chelyabinsk, Svendlovsk and Tyumensk provinces. 9 tabs