Russia's Rosatom Plans To Complete Chemical Cleanup At Abandoned Siberian Plant By 2024

Rosatom is planning to completely eliminate environmental pollution resulting from an abandoned chemical plant in the town of Usolye-Sibirskoye in Russia's Irkutsk Region by 2024, the Federal Environmental Operator (FEO), a subsidiary of the Russian state nuclear energy giant, told Sputnik

USOLYE-SIBIRSKOYE (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 10th September, 2020) - Rosatom is planning to completely eliminate environmental pollution resulting from an abandoned chemical plant in the town of Usolye-Sibirskoye in Russia's Irkutsk Region by 2024, the Federal Environmental Operator (FEO), a subsidiary of the Russian state nuclear energy giant, told Sputnik.

Deputy Prime Minister Viktoria Abramchenko earlier said that the first stage of eliminating the pollution would finish by the end of 2021.

"The scale of the activities is very serious. Currently, we have the task of developing a comprehensive project to make the entire Usolyekhimprom [chemical plant] site and the surrounding area a safe place.

I think it is quite possible to solve this problem by 2024," the FEO first deputy director for environmental projects, Maxim Korolkov, said.

The Usolyekhimprom chemical plant used to be a key enterprise in Usolye-Sibirskoye since 1936. The plant ceased activities in 2010 and was declared bankrupt seven years later. A significant amount of waste was placed in underground tanks, as a result of which soil and underground waters have been saturated with hazardous chemicals.

In late July, the Russian government chose FEO as the sole contractor to eliminate the pollution in Usolye-Sibirskoye.