Half life

Sergei Kiriyenko promises to resettle residents of the “nuclear village”

The head of the Federal Atomic Energy Agency, Sergei Kiriyenko, got involved yesterday in the history of one of the oldest villages in the Urals - Muslyumovo, Chelyabinsk region, the only village located next to the Mayak chemical plant and not closed after an industrial accident that occurred in the late 40s. He is the second federal official to visit Muslyumovo. The last time someone came to them from Moscow was in 1996 - it was President Boris Yeltsin, who during his election tour decided to visit the problematic territory.

During yesterday's meeting with the Muslims, Mr. Kiriyenko was able to appreciate the beauty of his historic visit - he was asked questions not only about the life of the village, but also about gas supplies, the construction of a water supply system, and road repairs. To note, acting Regional Governor Andrei Kosilov that such issues are best resolved with the head of the Kunashak district, which includes the village, received a simple answer - the leader elected a year ago has never been to the settlement.

As a result, Sergei Kiriyenko had to answer for everything. Currently, Muslyumovo is divided by the Techa River, which has received radioactive waste from a neighboring plant. Mr. Kiriyenko has two options: either demolish the entire village and transfer its residents to Novoe Muslyumovo, or bulldoze only three streets near the river, resettle their residents to a new settlement, and use free funds for the development of the current Muslyumovo (in the village before there is still no gas or running water). “We are ready to allocate 1 million rubles for the construction of a good-quality rural house, but in return receive an old one in order to destroy it,” Mr. Kiriyenko emphasized. He promised that roads, gas, electricity and water supply would be built to the new village. “As soon as we receive a decision on the choice of residents of Muslyumovo, we will begin to build,” concluded the head of Rosatom. The federal official wants to hear the villagers’ answer in a few months, when he returns to the Chelyabinsk region.

The head of Rosatom does not see any other options for resolving the issue - the state has no obligations to the village residents, since formally they are not victims of the Mayak disaster. According to the agency’s calculations, work on the demolition of one village and the creation of another can last two to three years and will require expenses from the federal budget from 500 million to 1 billion rubles.

Mikhail VIUGIN, Ekaterinburg