Kyshtim Mayak: A Silent Catastrophe
Late in the afternoon on September 29th, 1957, in the Chelyabinsk district of the southern Ural Mountains, the sky painted itself in hues of deep blue to violet. While local press dismissed this as an unusual appearance of the Northern Lights, the reality was far more sinister. These mesmerizing colors were the harbingers of the first large-scale nuclear accident in history, second only to Chernobyl and Fukushima in terms of severity. This was the Kyshtim disaster, a catastrophe whose true nature remained concealed for decades.
The Mayak facility, located in Kyshtim, was the epicenter of this disaster. But even before this event, the site had a notable history. During the Cold War, it was under the watchful eyes of the CIA, as it was the birthplace of the Soviet nuclear program. From 1945 to 1948, the facility was constructed primarily by forced labor, with up to 70,000 inmates from the infamous Gulag system. These laborers included political prisoners, common criminals, and prisoners of war.
In 1948, a mass relocation saw the local population and the convict workforce evacuated. Following this, settlers from all over the USSR, described as “communists and their dependents,” moved in. These individuals, likely Soviet loyalists, were there for a program so secretive that they might never leave again.
The Mayak facility sprawled over a restricted area of 2,700 square kilometers, encompassing eight small lakes. High-altitude air reconnaissance by the CIA revealed that the main atomic reactor was concealed underground, with only a smokestack visible. Interestingly, one of the lakes was drained, a structure built on its bed, and then refilled. This underwater structure, made of cement, rubber, and lead, was likely designed to contain or process hazardous nuclear waste.
Contrary to the USSR’s claims that Mayak only processed waste from other facilities, the CIA believed that Mayak had its own atomic piles and nuclear reactor. The facility was involved in the production of radioactive material for the Sungul Institute, the chief design lab for the Soviet nuclear program. Moreover, Kyshtim was reported to manufacture components for atomic weapons.
The workforce at Kyshtim was vast. By 1956, it included about 41,000 forced laborers. The security around the facility was tight, with a significant military presence. The labor force also included 25,000 Russian Liberation Army soldiers, formerly under General Vlasov, who had defected to the Axis during World War II. After the war, many of these soldiers were handed back to the Soviets and faced execution or deportation to the Gulag.
Following the construction of the Mayak plant, the Soviet government’s demand for nuclear weapons increased. This led to rushed production timelines and a disregard for safety measures. Between 1948 and 1958, 17,245 workers received radiation overdoses. Additionally, the dumping of radioactive waste into nearby rivers caused radiation sickness in downstream villages.
The disaster on September 29, 1957, was caused by the failure of cooling systems in a tank disposing of highly radioactive waste. This led to an explosion that dispersed nuclear fission products over a vast area, affecting about 270,000 people. The debris’ overall radioactivity was estimated at 20 million curies, a staggering amount. The explosion primarily released cerium and zirconium isotopes, which decayed within five years. However, 2.7% of the waste consisted of strontium-90, a long-lived radionuclide that posed a significant radiological hazard for decades.
Following the explosion, the Soviet government, under Nikita Khrushchev, tried to keep the accident a secret. However, the CIA managed to gather testimonies about the event. Reports described how food stores in Kyshtim were closed, and new supplies had to be brought in. People began to fall sick from a mysterious disease, likely radiation sickness. The affected area became a desolate landscape, with no vegetation or wildlife.
The cleanup operations were conducted using inmates from the Gulag system, who were offered shorter sentences or pardons in exchange for their work. These teams were colloquially known as “death squads” or “death brigades.”
