The Techa River

It is estimated that about 76 million cubic metres of radioactive waste was discharged into the open hydrographic drainage system connected to the Techa River in the period up to 1951. Since then the waste has been stored in an isolated reservoir on the plant's site at Karachai.

It is difficult to assess the severity of exposure to radiation experienced by the local population due to the high degree of secrecy surrounding the plant at the time. Epidemiological and medical

One of Techensk Cascade dams. Picture from the website of Chelyabinsk State Television and Radio Company	Picture from the website of Cheljabinsk State Television and Radio Company
	Carriages and containers for radioactive materials transportation. Picture from the website of Chelyabinsk State Television and Radio Company

research started later when recording began of the long-term affects of high level exposures to radiation on 124,000 residents. Around 7,500 people living along side the Techa River received significant radiation doses; those subsequently moved from 20 locations received doses of 0.03-1 Sv. The highest doses (up to 1.7 Gy) were received by the residents of the riverside village Metlino. According to official data there are 66 cases of chronic radiation sickness among the village's residents.

The radioactive waste has accumulated on the bottom of the river. The chain of polluted industrial reservoirs known as the Techen cascades occupies an area of about 70 square km and has a volume of about 380 million cubic meters.

Currently 90Sr and 137Cs are the main pollutants, while specific water activity in the basins is about 0.1-10 kBq/liter. The levels of silt pollution differ greatly from 1 up to 107 kBq/kilo. The Techa's floodplain areas (Asanovsk swamps), where silt pollution exceeds the allowable level, are ecologically dangerous.