Notable case, Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine
Kamianske (Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant)
Придніпровський хімічний завод
From 1948 to 1991 this plant processed up to about 65% of Soviet uranium ore. It left nine tailings sites in and around the city, holding some 42 million tonnes of radioactive residues.
At a glance
- Status
- Not addressed
- Area
- 268 ha on land1
- Activity
- 1948–1991
- Media
- soil, groundwater, air
- Kind of site
- nuclear, mining, chemical works
- Area. 2.68 million m² occupied by the tailings sites (Wikipedia).
Contaminants
Radionuclides
Status
Not addressed
Four state safety programmes (2005–2014, 2010–2014, 2015–2017, 2019–2023) were left largely unfunded or without practical results. International aid, from Sweden, the European Union and Norway, amounts to about 12 million US dollars (Wikipedia).
Story
The plant at Kamianske (Dniprodzerzhynsk until 2016) processed uranium ore. The residues were piled in nine sites: the oldest, Zakhidne, closed in 1953, holds about 770,000 tonnes; Dniprovske, used from 1954 to 1968, about 12 million; the first section of Sukhachivske 19 million.
Uranium at 455 to 710 Bq/l has been measured in groundwater, against a standard of 10. In some disused buildings radon reaches 6,570 Bq/m³ and the gamma dose rate runs to a few thousand µSv/h.
Timeline
- 1948Uranium processing begins.
- 1991Uranium processing ends.
- 2005First state safety programme.
From the literature
Species that acted on one of this site's contaminants in at least one study. The list is automatic and takes no account of this site's soil, concentrations or climate.
Plants
- Helianthus annuusSunflowerUraniumEvidence: field
Fungi
- Funneliformis mosseaeUraniumEvidence: greenhouse
- Cladosporium sphaerospermumRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
- Rhizophagus irregularisUraniumEvidence: laboratory
- Rhodotorula taiwanensisRadionuclides (mixed)Evidence: laboratory
- Saccharomyces cerevisiaeBaker's yeast, brewer's yeastUraniumEvidence: laboratory
Sources
- Prydniprovsky Chemical Plant, Wikipedia, 2026
Draft compiled from public sources, not yet reviewed.