Experts raise alarm: Could flood waters cause an uranium disaster in Russia? | DW News

People in Russia's Kurgan region have been dealing with weeks of unprecedented flooding that's forced thousands from their homes. Now they could be facing a new danger. Russian environmentalists are raising the alarm over a potential radioactive leak. The source: the Dobrovolnoye uranium mine located near Kurgan on the Russian-Kazakh border. The mine contains over 7,000 tons of Uranium and is in the path of rising floodwaters. Flooding means it's possible that radioactive material could poison rivers and freshwater sources in the region. The Russian nuclear energy agency Rosatom says that small amounts of uranium in drinking water are unproblematic, and they're accusing the population of “radiophobia”. Is the issue being downplayed?
Subscribe: kzbin.info...
For more news go to: www.dw.com/en/
Follow DW on social media:
►Facebook: / deutschewellenews
►Twitter: / dwnews
►Instagram: / dwnews
►Twitch: / dwnews_hangout
Für Videos in deutscher Sprache besuchen Sie: / dwdeutsch

[@irinamira6876]

How strange that the Russians have not yet accused Ukraine of this

[@foilhat1138]

The uranium was seen fleeing towards Ukraine.

[@lkklMakOffKa]

If some of these “wells” were dug during Gorbachev’s time (Ukrainian leader of Soviet Union), then technically at least one Ukrainian can be blamed for this problem. ^_^

[@TheYoutubeUser69]

@@lkklMakOffKa gorbachev wasnt ukrainian though. born in Priwolnoje...

[@sergeybebenin]

Just wait 😂

[@stevemcgowen]

They have.

[@BlueredCatalan]

"Radiaphobic" is a crazy way of labeling people who don't want to drink water that contains material used to make nuclear weapons😂😂

[@fkykas]

Well same as "rusophobic" used for anyone that disagrees with russia invading neighbouring countries.

[@PraneshSacher]

but there is also a Putophobic these are people who do not want to go to war for an imperialistic dictator.

[@CraftyF0X]

Modern N. weapons mostly use Plutonium. Radiation of uranium is pretty low. Would I drink the water ? Nope. Uranium is also a heavy metal and heavy metal posoning kills you much faster than its radiotoxicity.

[@friedrichjunzt]

​@@PraneshSachervery few, actually. Most russians love their Tzar or fear him enough to sacrifice themselfes for his needs.

[@bojangprodoktschns5428]

It's even more cynical when you know that the concept of Radiophobia has been used extensively to trivialise and play down the health issues of thousands of liquidators and civilians after Chernobyl.

[@UnitedWeStand123]

Hats off to this expert for boldly telling the truth. He being in Russia and reporting this......he has very big balls

[@f_pie]

who woudn't like some ruski uranium soup?

[@AJ-jx5gm]

He will prob be deemed a tall building enthusiast very soon...

[@OleScratch1]

very big and glowing with radioactivity type balls 😁

[@j.e3651]

Nah according to many only putin lives there no civilians, mothers, fathers, children. the only thing you hear is Putin doing stuff and its bad.

[@alexbukovsky4621]

"Truth" backed by the typical Western hysteria that inflates every news episode about how terrible things are in Russia. Feed on bile, what else can we expect from you.

[@KinkJumpYpou-kp2vm]

Dont go near the window, i am afraid he might fall out of window after this interview.

[@puraLusa]

Ya, the dude is in trouble. He probably knows and has already accepted it.

[@user-ko5ul7yi1x]

1st floor windows are fine though but still, be careful, assailant might smash him into it and use the broken glass to impale him.

[@PeterLamin-pi6rv]

Don't go near a pool if you are a cook😁🎯🎯🎯🎯🎯🤭🤭🤭🤭

[@dingoeatswolf3663]

No problem…it’s not in Moscow so who would or should care in Russia? Not Vlad, that’s for sure. 😂

[@leohorishny9561]

This!

[@user-zr1vr6tv8r]

This is special radiation operation

[@esteemedyams]

Oh no, imagine that an environmental catastrophe in russia caused by russia tsk tsk

[@PeterLamin-pi6rv]

Like East Palestine, Ohio no problem 😂😂😂 because the USFDA said so😅😅😅

[@stevemcgowen]

@@PeterLamin-pi6rvbecause trump deregulated rail safety standards.

[@walleyperch]

@@PeterLamin-pi6rvright, US is no Saint when it comes to clean drinking water either… Just google it and many places have polluted water ie Flint Michigan, Pensacola Florida etc etc…

[@kinngrimm]

Well we here in germany, by using certain vertelizers(that has trace amounts of uranium) from africa, we poisoned our agriclutural fields over decades(5 to 7) and only now very slowly it shows in the groundwater more and more. In 1-2 decades a time may come were certain areas drinking water will be therefor radioactive to a degree that it is not anylonger consumable.

[@artmaknev3738]

Massive disaster, but war is more important....

[@JohnK004]

@@nuke_Godjira 60 billion is pennies for US and you know it very well, it's literally just 1/4 of elona muskovas wealth alone, for the US as a whole it's just pocket change...

[@sergeybebenin]

​@@nuke_Godjira defenders have no options. Occupants can always leave and focus on their own problems. USA is helping defend European peace

[@michaelhorath6851]

@@nuke_Godjira 60 BILLION IS PENNIES FOR US !!! ENJOY IT !!!🤡💪💪💪

[@lorenzoblum868]

And let's not mention the carbon / toxicity boot print of the elephant in the room aka the military industrial complex....

[@bonnie7898]

@@lorenzoblum868Which one? Russian arms factories are running full bore 24/7.

[@pjhgerlach]

Putin's private military operation is more important.

[@sergeybebenin]

It's not private. Ordinary russo citizens are occupying Ukraine.

[@Thor.Jorgensen]

@@sergeybebenin I think he meant special military operation. Or alternatively the Russian special military vacation.

[@cpk313]

Typical Russian safety: zero

[@ZYX261]

😂 👍

[@brandonmesser2503]

We use ISR. Nasa invented it. Its actually safer than convetional mining as long as the geological area is correct.

[@AM._.Traveler]

its called KARMA

[@personnamed2764]

Sounds like corruption in the government. The normal civilians aren't to blame.

[@conorstapleton3183]

Sounds like that officials are huge Fallout fans.

[@friedrichjunzt]

Who could have known that being "not interested in politics" and having the same strongman in Power for 20 yrs would result in Desaster! 😮

[@user-xt5yz8wm7z]

Western troll 🤣🤣

[@davidallen6434]

Disaster And Its Going To Get Much Worse Before It Gets Better. I'm Checking The News Everyday Waiting For Armageddon Right Now.

[@sergeybebenin]

Same thing happened during Chernobyl disaster. Government was hiding the truth and saying people are panicking for no reason.

[@jptrainor]

There's absolutely no comparison to be made between Chernobyl and this situation. This old mine site, BTW, has flood in the past.

[@sergeybebenin]

@@jptrainor 🤦‍♂️ I'm not comparing accidents. I'm comparing government reactions to downplay dangers. Get it now? If not, I can't help you. I was there during 1986 and now see direct parallels.

[@jptrainor]

@@sergeybebenin They're too different to compare any aspect.

[@sergeybebenin]

@@jptrainor Actually no. In both cases radiation is involved. In both cases it's caused by government negligence. In both cases the government is authoritarian. In both causes the government is trying to downplay the danger.

[@jptrainor]

@@sergeybebenin Totally different concentrations, totally different elements and Isotopes.

[@andrewpower9574]

“…if monkeys can spook.” This guy is great.

[@sockhal4595]

Too late, the radioactive mud already flowed into their river...

[@gr83172]

😂😅😂

[@bjrnhjjakobsen2174]

The river is part of the drinking water supply.

[@user-hk1me8mh3l]

Everyday they talk about nuclear now they see even the waste is a danger to them

[@mantaskatleris8261]

"Well well well..."

[@PeterLamin-pi6rv]

DU, Agent Orange is fine😂😂😂. Western hypocrisy 😁😁🎯🎯🎯

[@gr83172]

… and wells of contaminated waters! 😂😅😂

[@Magurae]

Explaining such a complex and complicated issue in such a short amount of time is a masterpiece. Your expert is really awesome. Thank you!

[@hermes667]

Will be forgotten tomorrow by those "nuclear is safe and clean" advocates.

[@davecooper3238]

Handled properly there is no reason that should not be the case.

[@fenrirgg]

​@@davecooper3238 _"handed properly communism works."_ That's how nuclear nuts sound.

[@johnhmielewski1230]

Man Russia sure does have it's hands full.

[@shaiaheyes2c41]

''Radiophobia''😂🤣😅 The Soviets/russians are something else.

[@Mark-mo7rv]

no problems russians will never know about this news unless it will be aired in their local goverment news.

[@hakkebrakke8575]

It’s not only radioactive material, but all kind of heavy metals being released in the mining process. Uranium obviously also being severely toxic as a heavy metal. I would argue mining is the primary reason to why we shouldn’t use nuclear power. It’s environmentally horrible to mine. And people working there and living nearby is always affected. Native Americans and Aboriginals in Australia have suffered horrible fates. And God knows who have being harmed in Russia. But no one strangely talks about this issue. “Only” about possible nuclear plant accidents and the problems with storing of nuclear waste. Also much of the uranium used in Europe seems to be imported from Russia. Minerals in Africa also to a large extent being controlled by Russian thugs. Why… Because we don’t want to mine it ourself due to the environmental hazards.

[@TheShadowOfZama]

You can make that case for mining in general though and we need mining to keep our technology even bronze age people were mining. Without proper protection there's not much difference in the health dangers to mining coal and mining uranium as both will lead to you succumbing to nasty diseases. Not to mention whilst environment hazards did indeed lead to the shutting down of many European Uranium mines it is not the sole reason for European mines being phased out. There were also those that shut down due to no longer being competitive with for example African and Russian mines. If you complain about nuclear power then you should also realize what taking nuclear power away would mean. It would mean all that energy would need to come from other sources and not all nations have good conditions for green power to really take over. This would make those nations highly dependent on the nations that do have a good climate for solar and/or wind and/or hydro) and Europe is a good example of what can happen when nations are too dependent on others (*cough* Russia *cough*) for their energy. Or energy costs would sky rocket due to there not being sufficient supply. If there hadn't been an irrational fear of nuclear power for decades imagine how much better nuclear power could have been now with improved technologies similar to how you can't compare an old Ford model T's emissions with modern car emissions.

[@matthewdolan5831]

Uranium fountains? Wow.

[@janeverschuere]

it's not a flooding , it's a special radioactive cleaning operation 😂

[@al774]

orcs are not afraid of radiation. They even dug in in chernobyl

[@blackmantis3130]

Wouldn't that make Ukranians orcs as well?

[@schloops8473]

@@blackmantis3130 no as Ukrainians haven't done that

[@pillcard]

@@blackmantis3130 simple logic is too much for him

[@blackmantis3130]

@@pillcard so people who used to live in Chernobyl weren't Ukranian?

[@samaelingressio525]

yeah, it was so convenient, cause some of them have already prepared a pit for yourself...😂

[@steveb890]

Probably blame the UK or US as usual !

[@joaopc1747]

Russia seems to be a country founded on nuclear stuff but they can't deal with that properly.

[@icu17siberia]

low skill levels make maintenance hard for Russia

[@JamesBond-su7hj]

Solar and wind energy does not have radiation

[@trickyd499]

Nuka Cola

[@mooshroom53]

Hope this man stays safe

[@JRead0691]

Welp, it was nice knowing that guy... guaranteed he's gonna "disappear" pretty soon...

[@JohnSnow-vf8jo]

Don't worry, everything is going according to plan😷

[@givemeabreak8784]

God doesn't sleep. Orcs will get blessed water!!

[@stevemcgowen]

Karma.

[@MartinMenge]

"A uranium..." It sounds like it starts with a consonant sound, thus it retains the "a".

[@80-80.]

Where is Putin? .. Down in his bunker … He doesn’t care.

[@user2kffs]

Radioactive water? Cope..

[@stefanritchie7667]

Well a guess that's a little bit of karma 😅

[@walleyperch]

As long as it just affects Russia, no problem…

[@celestinaalmeida6041]

A justiça Divina nunca falha.

[@JinX-so5yv]

PROTECT THIS MAN AT ALL COSTS!!!

[@user-fs1hv7dk7o]

Karma

[@robwyyi]

Not a corner of Russia without a “super fund”site. Not to mention International waters. Arctic dotted with Russian/Soviet haz waste site, toxic chemicals, nuclear waste and worse reactors in sunken nuclear vessels. The world would be a better place if Russians return to the former size of a Duchy on smaller tributary of Volga, Moscow. Lets make it happen.

[@johnnyb1368]

Any chernobyl liquidators left to clean up radiation.

[@trevsmith5825]

That’s the problem during a war declaring, Mission Accomplished. Live and learn, or not?

[@user-hs4ei2lw3p]

Happy days

[@oldschool8432]

No such things as alians its russians glowing green

[@arturasstatkus8613]

Thank You,DW.

[@berndhofmann752]

Russias decline will continue quicker A land on the edge of desaster. A consequence when a government decides to go to war to other countries. Hasta la Vista Russia 😂😂😂

[@sa.377]

Kudos to the expert, now who knows if he will still be alive a few days from now...russian ''democracy'' doesn't allow such mistakes...

[@veffwizz]

Hats off to the Balls of this Russian Nuclear Waste Expert. 👏👏

[@yomajo]

Great guy!

[@from_aer_to_everywhere]

I went to the Kurgan a few days ago, there were people bagging the road. The water was a little bit on the road, but it was on the side of the Tyumen, and there was no flood.

[@Kodakcompactdisc]

russia, the gift that keeps on giving 🙄

[@hermes667]

Climate change make the use of nuclear energy a challenge. But maybe the Russians find a way to get uranium with submarines and the French cool down river water with renewable energy, so nuclear power plants have enough cool water to operate... And what about E-fuels? Use a lot of renewable to take carbon from the athmosphere and throw it in again, so you dant have to wait 30 minutes to recharge an EV for 1/3 of the amount of energy. Makes total sense.

[@t.kmichaelwilliams22]

FREE UKRAINE.

[@vectorfox4782]

I thought Radiophobia is what you get when a Bruno Mars song comes on.

[@TheKingofTruth]

The area has been cleaned 10 years ago

[@anish.p.samuelp.samuel7823]

Very Special..nice

[@GeorgePerry-jc4gf]

why does he seem not afraid to say this... its usually followed by him taking up cigarette smoking as other b4 him

[@tommytran2581]

Yes please

[@artfx9]

A uranium..

[@farmiap]

Ой, кажется тут вырисовывается состав статьи "госизмена" 🙈

[@arturasstatkus8613]

All time russian ,,bordak"

[@hyndriandelmundo6855]

That location fallout zone for long time i meant for a long thousand years .add place should not go or be aware in future

[@PeterLamin-pi6rv]

Blinki Islands 😮😮😮

[@jptrainor]

It's not a "fallout zone". They're mining not exploding the stuff.

[@hyndriandelmundo6855]

@@jptrainor ok .but ⁉️ question how toxic and dangerous are for long term .that my cost cancer and other health issue long term .we are not talking about name and type disaster. terms my similar calamity ☢️ fallout calamity

[@jptrainor]

@@hyndriandelmundo6855 Good question. We need numbers for that. Not emotional hand waiving.

[@RalphDavis-qk2xy]

C'mon floods and plagues.

[@strange4you]

Let it go......

[@jools2323]

"is the issue being downplayed by the goverment?" 😂😂

[@kubofromsk]

My question is did some CIA agent dug those wells? 🤔

[@user-yf3os4ww2z]

they can ask putin to stop that madness in Ukraine and do smt in their own country

[@renatob9909]

I fear for this guy, for speaking about ruSSia disaster with Western media

[@robsin2810]

And a third of the earth is polluted.

[@Seawithinyou]

And all rivers lead to the sea eventually so the rest of the marine life will have dire consequences too 🐟🌊🧐

[@MrTomtomtest]

Not like Putin cares about his serfs...

[@Pyramidalist]

The ruler will not care about ... or asking for technical and financial aid from taxpayers ... But of course germany will support ... for press-footages and solidarity of our pupet-government with the pupeteer Putin.

[@MrOptimusheath]

Nature gets the last laugh.... always

[@rogerrantz2024]

Could be karma

[@Siranoxz]

Radiophobia?, OMG! 🤪🤪

[@LoveFactorySweatShop]

Kremlin thinking of ways to blame this on NATO..

[@legatilegions8055]

"Move along, nothing to see here".. Amazing how he can find the money to run his war, while their pipes blow in the winter and his dam burst in the spring. cant wait to see what surprise waits for the russian people when summer hits

[@shubashuba9209]

This is Russia's strategy to create Hulks to win the war.

[@Lyn-cs7xp]

When mother nature gives back what you have done to it a. Disaster

[@ednaburger4476]

That people is not looking after the mines at all that is way.That is so sick of people playing around with people and the animals lifes What sort or people are you over there in that mines . This is so sick really . The mine people must doing something to pup the water out , to clean up the mines.The mines is not a loud to doing that in the first place.The mine people must leaning up the mine that is the right way to doing in the fist place.Stand up and doing something.This is really sick of people on the mine working place, not thinking to doing not dangerous minening. They must working save at the mines to. The the people and animal's coming first.Not the mine's🙏🙌🙋

[@squeaker19694]

Humans are very short-sighted when it comes to nuclear. We assume we will always have the capacity to manage nuclear plants and waste. There are many things that can go wrong. When we run out of cheap fossil fuels for example, how will we manage a complex society. Or a carrington event, or asteroid strike, supervolcano eruption, lethal pandemic, extreme climate change. One of these is very likely to happen in the next couple of hundred years, and humanity will be stuck with a planet riddled with nuclear plants and waste that can't be managed.

[@myboysd5772]

Eh its the cheapest and safest energy we currently have, and the waste is handled a LOT more careful than lets say, coal, which kills more people than nuclear power. Id say lets just keep at it and try to invent more ways to use it more safely.

[@user-qf4uo9wd1e]

you all are talking about climate but disaster alone you all are making in this world we are leaving

[@igorsnizhko8951]

Prost! 😂

[@thechristianmorganshow]

So they don’t want to drink the water well they shouldn’t of opened the mine😂😂😂😂

[@TokenTombstone]

Maybe worry about your own country?

[@jptrainor]

Its an old mine site. It flooded once in the 1990s as well. There should be concrete data from that event.

[@ozzylad2497]

Pootin loves Russia just look at the help the flood victims are getting.

[@jacekpaszkowski2000]

I WOULDN'T BE SURPRISED IF THIS MAN WERE TO DISAPPEAR OR HAVE AN ACCIDENTAL ALL COURTESY OF THE RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT.

[@TalibanAtrocities]

Could it be those "rodents" again 🤔🤔 Must be Ukraine then 🤔

[@Neutrinum]

A bloke from Chelsea is reporting about russian problems on a EU channel 😂 Source: Trust me, Bro 👌🏻

[@AA-tb4ff]

Deal with it. cope

[@christiangilbert5672]

its part of putin human experimentation to creates super human like hulk to fight his war

[@Peter-or7wl]

Skoll😂😂😂

[@DK-ev9dg]

So called goofy experts and clowns.

[@xxxxLidiyaxxxx]

This is good news… now Ukrainian forces can see the enemy glowing in the fields 😂 from all the radiation😅 they will have to now go sign a military contract because they’re broke and theirs homes are destroyed. The government gave them a couple hundred dollars as a recovery effort for damages 🎉