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The main radioactive waste storage facility in Azerbaijan
is the Izotop Industrial Complex, located 30km from
Baku. Izotop was constructed in the 1950s and holds 510 tanks of
radioactive waste in 10 storage tanks designed to hold only low-level
radioactive waste. However, as of March 2000, nine of the 10 tanks
were full and, in many
cases, the level of radiation is above 1,000 roentgens.[1,2] Data
collected before 1988 suggest that approximately 350 organizations have a
total of 950 radiation sources in their possession. These organizations
include military facilities, research institutes, production plants and
health services-related enterprises. [3] Spent radioactive sources from these
organizations never reached the Izotop storage
facility. Instead they are spread throughout the Baku region.
Out of 157 radioactive contamination sites discovered in 1988 as a result
of a special inspection in the Baku region, only 31 had been cleaned as of
early 1996. Many of these radioactive sources were left behind by the
chemical weapons divisions stationed in Baku, Lenkoran, Gyandzha and
Nakhichevan during the Soviet period.[3]
For more information on smuggling developments please see the NIS
Nuclear Trafficking Database.
1/30/2001: AZERBAIJAN ALLEGES ARMENIA DUMPING
WASTE IN KARABAKH
On 30 January 2001 Azerbaijani Deputy Prime Minister Ali Hasanov
alleged that Armenia is burying nuclear waste on territory it has annexed
from Azerbaijan.[1] A 1997 report in Avrasiya reported that 86kg
of radioactive waste from Metsamor
were buried in three districts of the occupied territories in 1996, and that
Azerbaijani prisoners of war were used to dig concrete silos for the
waste.[2]
3/25/2000: BAKU NEWSPAPER EXPRESSES CONCERN OVER RADWASTE HANDLING
Although Azerbaijan does not have any nuclear reactors, research
facilities, or uranium mines, the Baku newspaper Zerkalo reports that
the level of radiation emissions in the country is much higher than normal.
The article attributes this contamination to "orphaned"
radioactive sources that were left behind by the Soviet military. These
include "sources from gamma ray detectors, radioactive devices,
radiopharmaceutical preparations and applications, and gamma and neutron
sources used in geological research." According to the article, testing
has discovered 157 contaminated areas in Baku, of which only 31 have been
cleaned up. The remaining contaminated areas still have radiation levels of
120-3000 microroentgens per hour, compared with the normal background level,
which should not exceed 50 microroentgens per hour. Over 200 ministries,
enterprises, and other institutions in Azerbaijan use radiation sources in
their work, and Zerkalo argues that these sources are not adequately
monitored, nor are necessary safety precautions being taken. The paper
charges that problems are especially severe in the oil industry in
Azerbaijan, saying that radiation levels of 8000-1200 microroentgens per
hour have been measured at the Surakhanyneft oil and gas extraction
enterprise. Furthermore, the Azeri Medical University conducted tests on oil
workers and discovered that the level of radioactive isotopes in their tooth
enamel was equivalent to that of residents of the Chornobyl area in Ukraine.
Currently all radioactive waste in Azerbaijan, including
"orphaned" sources, should be disposed of at the Izotop
industrial complex, located 30km from Baku. The facility is almost filled to
capacity, however; nine of the existing ten waste storage tanks are full,
while the tenth tank is half full. The article cites the director of the
facility, Baba Huseynov, as saying that "every compartment has a
strictly limited capacity- 200 Curie. Today we cannot bury the ownerless
sources of radiation we have found because we will thus fill up the last
tank. What should we do if we suddenly find a 200-Curie source? It is
impossible to keep such a powerful source temporarily in laboratories where
less powerful [orphaned] sources are [currently] being kept." After
appealing to several donors to help build a new waste repository, the Izotop
complex finally received a EUR1.4 million grant from the European Union's
TACIS program in 1999. However, the EU requires its own experts to oversee
the construction of the new facility. Zerkalo added that these
experts have not yet arrived so the facility still remains incomplete.
Further aggravating the situation, Izotop has lost a great majority of its
nuclear experts, many of whom have left their low paying jobs for better
prospects abroad. The remaining workers continue to be poorly paid and work
under dangerous conditions.
6/19/99: IRAN REACTS TO REPORTS OF NUCLEAR WASTE
DUMPING IN CASPIAN BY AZERBAIJAN
Iranian media denounced Azerbaijan after reports
appeared in
two Baku daily newspapers, Ekspress and Yene Musavat, alleging
that Azerbaijani officials were to receive $260,000 from a foreign entity
for each container of foreign nuclear waste dumped into the Caspian Sea. The Ekspress
article allegedly reported that the Justice Department of Azerbaijan was
launching an investigation into the matter.[1,2] The Azerbaijani state
committee responsible for the protection of the environment issued a
statement denying the reports.[2]
2/16/98: SWEDISH EXPERTS TO HELP AZERBAIJAN
ON NUCLEAR SAFETY LAWS
Swedish experts have agreed to help Azerbaijan
draft legislation governing nuclear and radiation safety. Only one
piece of related legislation, On the radiation safety of the population, is
in force in Azerbaijan. The Azerbaijani State Committee for the
Environment is
working with international experts to draw up additional regulations and
standards on the transit of radioactive materials and burial of toxic
wastes. The US Departments of Defense and Energy have also expressed
their willingness to help set up border checkpoints in Azerbaijan to control
the export and import of radioactive materials.
2/17/96: RADIOACTIVE WASTE FOUND IN FOREST
173 containers with radioactive sources, including cesium-137, were
discovered in the forest near Baku. The material is believed to have come
from a "mobile chemical repair shop." Military units of the
Ministry of Defense are currently guarding the radioactive heap.
2/17/96: CONCERN OVER RADIOACTIVE WASTE
Planned expansion of oil extraction and refining is likely to cause an
influx of radioactive waste. Radium, thorium and radioactive potash,
contained in oil and stratal water, accumulate in pipes and various sections
of purification and refining equipment. Azerbaijani experts have expressed
concern that a lack of centralized material control and accounting, coupled
with weak border control, may lead to illegal import of radioactive waste
from abroad, specifically from the recently restarted Metsamor
nuclear power plant in Armenia.
Page last updated 7 March 2001
Comments or questions? Contact Kenley Butler at
MIIS CNS: Kenley.Butler@miis.edu
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