8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

1/38

MAR C H

991

W

p

^

Vfl

k\l

B J

NNIVERSARY

1941

-

1991

PRS

Report

Science

Technology

USSR hemistry

9 9 9 3 5O tt

1 110

DffiTftBTlk

,,

i H M E N TA

a.

Approved

or

public

elease;

^

Distribution

Unfimited:

if c

M

r

L

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

2/38

Science

Technology

USSR:Chemistry

JPRS-UCH-91-004 ONTENTS 7

March

1 9 9 1

E N V IR O N M E N T A L

C HE M IS T R Y

A

Good

Thing

ItHasn'tBroken.

So

Far...

[U .Bogdalov;RABOCHAYA

TRIBUN

A,No

216 ,

1Sep90 ]

What

AnalysisHas

Shown [Yu.Kirinitsivanov;RABOCHAYATRIBUNA,No

216,

1Sep90 ]

Beforean d

Afterth eAccident [Yu.Kirinitsivanov;

RABOCHA

YA

TRIBUNA,

No

227 ,

Oc t90 ]

T w oMinutes

Before

Explosion

[RABOCHAYATRIBUNA,No

258 ,

3Nov90 ]

Chemistry

Against'Chemistry' /R .

Fedorov;

PRAVDA,

Ap r

90 ]

'Wrap

up

America '

[A.

inyukov;

RABOCHAYA

TRIBUNA,

2

Mar90 ]

In

th e

USSR

Council

of

Ministers

State

Commission

fo r

Extraordinary

Situations

[RABOCHAYA

TRIBUNA,

Ap r

90 ] 1

Shop

Explosion

[M .

Berezovskiv;

PRAVDA

UKRAINY,

1

Feb90 ] 1

PoisonersasNeighbors [V .Luchin;

RABOCHAYA

TRIBUNA,

Ap r90 ]

2

Legends

of'Living

Water'

[A.

Sokolov;

RABOCHAYATRIBUNA,

Ap r

90 ]

2

LASERMATERIALS

Effect

of

th e

tructure

of

onmplantation

n

he

tructure

of

th eSurface

ayers

ofHigh-Strength

Alloys

[N.A.

Olshevskiv,L.Ye.

Rodkina,

etai;FIZ1KAI

KHIMIYA

OBRABOTK1

MATERIALOV,

No

6 ,

Dec90 ] 1 5

DistinctiveFeatures

of

Mixing

aCopper

Layer

on

MolybdenumUnderth e

Effect

of

Argon

on sWith

an

Energyof

4 0

keV

[A.G.Zholnin ,A .M .Borisov,etai;FIZIKA1

KHIMIYA

OBRABOTKI

MATERIALOV,

No6 ,

Dec

90 ]

1 5

Structural

Transformations

an d

th e

Behavior

of

a

Phosphorus

Impurity

in

on-Implanted

Silicon

During

RapidThermalAnnealing

[P.I.Gavduk ,A.V.Demchuk ,

et

ai;FIZIKA

I

KHIMIYA

OBRABOTKI

MATERIALOV,

No6 ,

Dec 90 ] 16

Physicochemical

ransformations

nhemicallyeactive

ystemsUnderhe

ffect

f

Pulsed

aser

Radiation

[S .G .

Bvchkov,A.A.

Biketov,

tai;

FIZIKA

I

KHIMIYA

OBRABOTKI

MATERIALOV,

No

6 ,

Dec 90 ]

16

Effect

fPulsed

aser

henium

oping

n

he

Mechanical

roperties

fhe

MolybdenumIlov

TsM-10

[Ye.S.

lasova,

N.T.

Travina,

t

ai;

FIZIKA

KHIMIYAOBRABOTKI

MATERIALOV,

No

6 ,

Dec90 ] 16

Effectfulsedaser

uenching

nhe

echanical

roperties

f

onstruction

teels

tig h

Deformation

Rates

[P .

Yu.

Kikin,A.A.M edvedev ,etai;FIZIKA

I

KHIMIYA

OBRABOTKI

MATERIALOV,

No6 ,

Dec

90 ]

17

Experimentalnvestigationof

th eLiquationofComponentsinSurmium-,Gallium-,andndium-Doped

CrystalsfGermanium-Silicon

olid

olutions

roduced

Underero-GravityConditions

n

he

Kosmos-

1

64 5

an d

Kosmos-1 744AutomaticArtificialEarth

Satellites

[I.N.

Belokurova ,S.

Zemskov,

tai;

FIZIKA

I

KHIMIYAOBRABOTKI

MATERIALOV,

No

6 ,

Dec90 ] 1 7

Liquation

of

Boron

inGermanium

MonocrystalsDuring

Horizontal

Directed

Crystallization

[I.N.

Belokurova ,S.

Zemskov,

et

ai;

FIZIKA

I

KHIMIYA

OBRABOTKI

MATERIALOV,

No

6 ,

Dec

90 ]

18

Analysis

of

th e

Results

of

Researchnhe

Liquation

of

Components

noped

Germanium

Crystals

Producedby

th eMethod

of

Directed

CrystallizationUnderZeroGravity

an dGround

Conditions

[I.N.Belokurova ,

S.

Zemskov, tai;

FIZIKA

KHIMIYA

OBRABOTKI

MATERIALOV,

No6 ,

Dec

90 ]

1 8

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3/38

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27

March

1991 SSR:Chemistry

Modifying

Carbon

Fibers

in

a

PulsedHigh-EnthalpyFlow

[A.O.Ostapovich,

.V .

Blinkov,

tal.;F1Z1KA

1

KHIMIYA

OBRABOTK1 M ATER1ALOV,No

6 ,

Dec90 ] 1 9

T he

Structure,

Properties,

an d

Use

of

Al

2

0

3

-Based

Powders

Produced

by

Cryochemical

Technology

[A.A.

M ikhav l enko ,

G.A.

Fomina ;

FIZI1C4

1

KHIMIYA

OBRABOTKI

M ATER1ALOV,

No

6 ,

Dec

90 ]

1 9

Spectral an d Temperature

Features

of th e

Energy

Distribution of

Oxygen

Desorbed

From

a

YBa

2

Cu

3

0

7

x

Crystal

byLaser

Radiation

n

th eRegion

of

Superconductive

Transition

f l .F.

M oisevenko,

A.A.

Lisachenko,et

al.;POVERKHNOST:

FIZIKA.

KHIMIYA,

M EKHAN1KA .

No

2,

Dec90 ]

19

Critical

PhenomenainSurface

Layers;

Correlation

Function

an d

Correlation

Radius

[L .G.

Grechko ,

A.V.

Cha lvv ,

et

al.;

POVERKHNOST:

FIZIKA,

KHIMIYA,

M EKHANIKA,

No

2,

Dec 90 ]

2 0

Effectof

Si

on

a

Ba-WFilm

System

[Yu.V.Zubenko;POVERKHNOST:FIZIKA,

KHIMIYA,

M EKHANIKA,No2 ,Dec90 ] 2 0

Physicochemical

State

of

th eSurface

of

th e

Alloy

V T 1 8 U

After

th eAction

of

a

High-Power

Io nBeam

[A.D.

Pogrebnvak ,

G.Ye.

Remnev, t

al.;POVERKHNOST:

FIZIKA,

KHIMIYA,

M EKHANIKA,

No2,

Dec90 ]

2 0

Features

f

Defectormationuringecrystall ization

f

Monocrystall ineiliconyulsedaser

Radiationof

Millisecond

Duration

[A.V.

Demchuk ,

N .M .

Kazvuchlts , t

al.;

POVERKHNOST:

FIZIKA,

KHIMIYA,

M EKHANIKA,

No2 ,

Dec90 ]

21

Formationf

n

ltered

ayern

ilicon

urface

n

he

xygen

Plasmaf

adio-Frequency

Discharge

[A.rigonis,.ranvaz ichvus ,t

l.;

POVERKHNOST:

FIZIKA,

HIMIYA,

EKHANIKA,o

2,

Dec90 ]

21

Increasing

th e

Effectiveness

of

Photoetching

Polymers

y

SlidingGas

Discharge

Along

th e

Dielectric

Surface

[L.V.

elikov,

S.I.Dolgavev,

etal.;

POVERKHNOST:

FIZIKA,

KHIMIYA,

M EKHANIKA,No

2,

De c90 ]

2 2

PETROLEUM,COALPROCESSING

Synthetic

LiquidFuelFrom

Brown

Coals

ofth eKansko-Achinsk

Basin

[M .K .

ulin;

KHIMIYA

TVERDOGO

TOPL1VA,

No

6 ,

Dec

90 ]

2 3

Using

Zeolite-Containing

Ni-MoCatalysts

in

th eHydrocracking

of

CoalRarefaction

Products

[A.S.

M aloletnev ,

L.P.

Alekseyenko,

t

al.;

KHIMIYA

TVERDOGO

TOPLIVA,

No

6 ,

Dec

90 ]

2 3

Two-Stage

UndergroundGasification

of

Coals

[Ye.V.Kreynin;

KHIMIYA

TVERDOGO

TOPLIVA,

No

6 ,

Dec

90 ]

2 3

Effect

of

DifferentFactors

on

Cohesion

Bondingof

Thermal ly

Destroyed

Grains

of

Sintered

Coals

]Yu.V .Biryukov,

P.D.

Golovin, t

al.;

KHIMIYA

TVERDOGO

TOPLIVA,

No6 ,Dec90 ] 2 4

Fractal

Structures

During

Carbonization

of

Petroleum

Ra w

Material

fl.R.

Kuzeyev,

I.Z.

Mukhametzyanov,et

al.;

KHIMIYA

TVERDOGO

TOPLIVA,No

6 ,

Dec

90 ] 2 4

T he

Effectof

th e

SurfaceLayerof

Artificial

GraphiteonIts

Reactivity

[G.D.

Apalkova ,.P .

Balykin ,

tal.;

KHIMIYA

TVERDOGOTOPLIVA,No6 ,Dec 90 ]

2 5

Effect

of

th e

Structure

of CalcinedCarbon

Fil ler

on

th eOxidat ionof ElectrodeGraphite

[V.P.

Balykin ,

N .M .Umri lova;

KHIMIYA

TVERDOGO

TOPLIVA,

No6 ,Dec90 ]

2 5

T he

Effect

ofth eConditions

of

th eThermochemicalTreatment

of

NaturalGraphiten

ts

Crystall ine

Structure

an d

ElectrophysicalProperties

[I.D.

Buraya ,

L.L.

ovchenko,

et

al.;

KHIMIYA

TVERDOGO

TOPLIVA,

No

6 ,

De c

90 ]

2 6

Useof

Associations

of

Microorganisms

fo rPurification

ofWaste

Water

FromPostfermentationMash

[O .

A.Zentsova ,

L..

Sokolova ,

t

al.;

G1DROL1ZNA

YA

LESOKH1M1CHESKA

YA

PROMYSHLENNOST

No

8 ,

Nov-Dec,

990]

2 6

Reduction

of

Gas

Discharge

During

Unloadingof

Ligninfrom

HydrolysisApparatus

//./.Korolkov;

GIDROLIZNAYAI

LESOKH1M1CHESKAYA

PROMYSHLENNOST

No

8,

Nov-Dec,

990]

2 7

Fire

xplosionHazard

Index,

Thermal

an d

Electrophysical

Properties

f

Certain

Wood

Chemical

Products

]Ye..elizova,

N.

I.Lapshina ,

t

al.;

GIDROLIZNAYA

I

LESOKHIMICHESKAYA

PROMYSHLENNOST

No8,

Nov-Dec,

990]

2 7

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

4/38

JPRS-UCH-91-004

ICCn

~, .

27

March

1991

SSR:

Chemistry

Disintegrat ionMethodfo r

Increasing

Feed

Value

of

Microbial

Biomass

[V

A.

Popova,A.M .

Shaposhnikov ,

t

al.;

GIDROLIZNA

YA

LESOKHIMICHESKA

YA

PROMYSHLENNOST

No

8,

Nov-Dec, 990]

27

Adhesive

Melts

fo r

Sanitary

Hygienic

Articles

from

Fluffed

Cellulose

[G.

Bronnikova .

N.

N

Sa lomat ina .

t

al.;

G1DROL1ZNAYA

LESOKHIMICHESKAYA

PROMYSHLENNOST

No

8 ,

Nov-Dec.

990]

27

WOOD

CHEMISTRY

TransformationofMechanismof

Electron

ConductivityWithIncrease

ofHeteropolarity

of Melts

[V .F.

Zinchenko

and

V ..Lvsin;UKRA1NSK1Y KHIM1CHESK1Y ZHURNALVo l56,No0 ,

Oc t

990]

28

ElectrochemicalReductionofRutheniumnSolutions

ContainingSulfamates

[L..

ha rkova ,

. Ye.

echayeva ,.

Sosnovskaya

t

l.;

Kiev

KRA1NSK1Y

KHIM1CHESKIY

ZHURNAL

Vo l

56,No0 ,Oc t 99 0

28

Effect

of

Fluidized

Be dof

Glass

Particles

n

Cathodic

Processes

During

Electroreduction

ofCadmium

Ions

[N

A.

Shvab .N.

F.

Ste fanvak,e..

Kondruk

etal.;

UKRAINSK1Y KH1M1CHESKIY

ZHURNAL

Vo l

56,

No

0 ,

Oc t

990]

28

Electrocatalytic

Activity

of

Ternary

Dispersed

Nickel-Ti tanium-Copper

Alloys

[A.N.SofronkoY,E.N.PervivandA.D.Andrcyanov;UKRA1NSKIY

KHIMICHESK1Y

ZHURNAL

Vo l

56.

No0 ,Oc t 990]

28

MISCELLANEOUS

Chernobylite:

TechnogenicMineral [Valeriy

Soyfer;

KH1M1YAI

ZH1ZN ,

Nov

90 ] 2 9

Topic

ofth e

Day:D idKomsomoletsGo

Down

byAccident?

[V ..Korenkov,etai;KH1M1YA

ZH1ZN ,

Nov90 ]

29

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5/38

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27March

1991

EN V IRON MEN T A L

CH EMIST RY

AGood

Thing

ItHasn tBroken.

So

Far...

9 0 7M0 3 2 0 a Mos cow RABOCHAY

A

TRIBUN

A

inRussianNo216 ,

1

Sep90

pp

2 -3

[Article

by

U.Bogdalov,Kazan]

[Text]T heworld

is

becoming

increasingly

insecure

and

dangerous,

we

have

no

one

to

blame

bu t

ourselves.We

havetreatednatureik e ityurrenderedorpillage.

T heardent

epic

poem

honoringedificesof

communism

greatandmall ,

ik e

heon gof

th eapercaillie,

as

switched

ff

lementaryiscretion.nrapturedith

illusions

aboutth ene w

m anupposedly

givenbirthy

our

nation,we

have

been

closing

oureyes

to

th e

actual

workertandingt

heontrolanelsof

enormously

complicated

hemical

lants,

urning

ut

efective

machinecomponentsand

ayingunreliable

pipelines...

H asth e

Risk

Been

Planned?

T he

readerwatches

television

and

isnot

to

beshocked.It

wouldmakeyo u

cr y

tosee

an dhear

al lthis....

But

wehould

ee

tand

heart.ecausell

of

this

neglectfulpast

ha s

densely

mined

th epresentandfuture.

My

ow n

enlightenmentha snotbeen

epiphanic:

afterall,

Iiv eandworknmightyndustrialegion.av e

known

that

in

th e

nearfuture

we

should

expect,

an d

so

should

eteadyor

onsiderable

ncrease

n

evere

technogenic

accidents

in

th e

petrochemical

industry,

an d

disasters

n

ipelines

nd

ailroads

nd

n

unicipal

services.

Dangerously

unpredictable

situationsawai t

us

aswellue

o

he

ctually

on-punishableriminally

negligent

storage

of

toxic

industrial

waste.

According

to

conservative calculations,

more

than

77 ,000metric

tons

ofsuch

waste

s

produced

in

Kazanalone,

andtherear e

absolutelyno

industrialsitesfo rstoragean d

recycling.

However,

etme

take

a

closer

oo k

atth e

chemistryan d

petrochemistrythat

was

formerlya

source

of

suchgreat

pride

inmy

egion

ofTataria,

nd

asbeen

eedlessly

developed:Orgsintez,"producinghalfofth epolyeth-

yleneof th enation,"Neftekhim,"producing

onethirdof

th e

rtificial

ubber,

andTasma,"producing oo d

fraction

ofSovietphotographic

an d

moviefilm.

Theyre

ow

he

ocusof

human

nxiety.

There

re

many

easons

or

this.

A

ea r

ago, as

ractionating

installation

exploded

at

th e

Minnibayevo

G as

Refinery.

People

er e

illed.

he

ommission

id

ot

xpose

violationsn

ervice.

eportedt

hat

ime

hat

he

equipmentha dbeenoperating

fo r

2 5years,

even

though

muchmallerunitsrecrapped

n

heUnitedStates

after

8-10

years.

Immediately

afterpublication,

receivedseveral

replies

fromworkers

at

petrochemical

enterprisesof

th eregion.

They

confirmedthat

thisis

no exception

to th e

rule.A

lo t

of

equipment

atthis

same

"Orgsintez"

s

no w

working

on

its secondife.

Thiswasa

shock

to specialistsinvited

from

West

Germany

w o

ears

go

oak eartn

reconstruction

of

om e

acilities.

And

o

his

ay

machines

dating

from

World

W ar

IIca nbe

seenhere

n

Kazan

at

th e

Kirov

Synthetic

Rubber

Plant.

Last

year,

ha d

occasion

to

write

reports

about

a

big

fire

ataflagship

of

th e

industry,

"Nizhnekamskneftekhim,"

wherean

enormousexplosioncompletely

destroyed

th e

isobutane

umpingepartment.

t

heos tfwo

firemen's

ives,th efire

was

stopped

while

approaching

th esphericalstoragetanks,whose

explosion

would

have

been

totallyunpredictable

fo r

nearby

city

apartments.

T he

conclusion

of

th ecommission

wasunanimous:

th e

shaftofaheavy-dutypumpadbroken.Firstofall,t

ha d

beenmade

of

brittlemetal

nbygonedays,

being

a

so-called

technologically

admissiblesubstitutionfo rth e

necessary

grade.

And

secondly,

itha d

been

on

its

last

eg

fo ra

on gt ime.

Thereremultitudes

of

such

se d

p

omponentsn

crucial

nd

ot

o

rucial

quipment

hroughout

he

nation.heir

ontinuedervice

il l

otak ehe m

stronger.T he technicalbackwardnessofmany

chemical

plants

due to using equipment

until

it

iswornou t

is

both

economically

disadvantageous

an d

ethally

dangerous.

But

mightTataria

be

henl yegion

where

heres

danger

of

chemicalexplosion?Farfrom

t.

Over

th epast

1 8

years

inchemicalenterprisesof

th e

nation

there

have

been

about50accidents

with

evere

traumasan dre -

quently

os s

oflife,obliterationof

buildings

an dequip-

ment.n

addition,there

have

beenmorethan

4500

ess

severe

productionproblems

every

year.

In

ublishing

hese

igures,

he

hairman

f

Gospro-

matomnadzor

USSR,

V.

Malyshev

states

that

th e

risk

of

large-scaleaccidents

with

disastrousconsequencesisdue

to

th e

high

paceofdevelopmentof

th echemical

industry

in

ur

ation.

eg

o

iffer.

Chemistry"ithts

intricate

echnologicalinesorroducingnd

ro -

cessingxplosive

nd

oxic

roducts

s

eveloping

throughout

th e

entire

world.Butamure

thatwe

are

then ly

nes

or

hichntiquated

quipment

s

becomingth ecause

of

mostaccidents.WhileI

amno t

n

possession

ofdata

or

hentire

ndustry,

hi s

she

conclusion

suggested

bystatistics.

WithElectria

at

th e

Ready

T he

dangerincreasesyearby

hear.We

must

continually

remember,talkan dshoutaboutit As wemustaboutth e

concentrationof

fuels

an d

explosive

materials

on

indus-

trialsitesbeing about3,000metric

tons

pe rhectare.And

thisis

th e

equivalentof

30,000

metric

tons

of

T N T ,

or

10,000

metrictons

more

thanth e

destructive

force

of

th e

bomb

dropped

on

Hiroshima.

Life

tself

confirms

hese

rguments.Aowerful

last

recentlyhookYaroslavl.

A

acility

or

producing

aro-

maticydrocarbonst

ovo-Yaroslavsk

il

efinery

flewintoth eair,takingsix humanlives.T he conclusions

ofth e

commissionar e

as

ye tunknown.T he

only

thing

that

s

certain

s

that

th efacilityha dno t

long

tohold

out

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

6/38

EN V IRON MEN T A LCH EMIST RY

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27

March1991

before

amajor

overhaul

cheduledor

eptember

of

thisyear.We

shouldno t

be

surprised ...

Someone

hould

e

eeping

er y

lose

ye

n

he

equipmentowbeingse dn

Soviet

chemistry,"

et

carelessness

reigns

supremein

that

area

Im

eading

commendationelating

o

heazan

ProductionAssociation"Orgsintez"dated8 Octoberof

lastear:Compressor

unit

operator.

Kochneva

as

been

awarded

abonus

fo r

decisive

action

n

preventing

an

ccident."

n

he

ea d

fight,

om e

nknown

persons

entered

th e

engine

room

ofone ofth eshopsan d

shut

down

a

"Domag"

compressor.

Not

long

thereafter,

polymerizationn

he

eactors

topped,inkedn

complex

echnologicalhain

hat

tilizes

ombustibles

and

explosive

products...

At

night,

then,

onhe

enormous

territory

of

th e

associ-

ation,

someone

s

loitering

about,

frightening

th e

assayer

coming

to

takehe r

samples.

No wad d

to

thisth e

quality

ofth especialistswho

si t

at

th e

controlpanels

of

th e

facilities

that

produce

"explo-

sive

nd

oxic

materials."

Manyf

hesehould

e

closelywatched

as

well.

In

Kazan,

which

hostsone of

th e

largestndost

amousnstitutes

fhemical

ech-

nology,

go t

some

information

fo r

sober

consideration.

High

choolraduatesav ebeenomingnwaves

o

KazanInstituteof

ChemicalTechnology

from

regions

of

Transcaucasiaan d

SovietMiddle

Asia,where

th edevel-

opment

fchemistry"

s

urgeonings

veryone

knows,because

t

s

clearthat

"a

few

more"specialists

ar eneededthere.

Therefore,

astrict

an d

elevated

quota

fo r

enrol lment

was

tipulated,

nd

ests

or

dmission

were

iveny

atchesndrganized

t

he

lace

of

residence.

Naturally,

ome

fine

students

av e

entered

heuniver-

sity.

DepartmentchairmanV.vanovamesatudent

Orazovfrom Chimkentas

one

of

his

best.

Buttakea

look

atatranscriptof atest

with

another

futureengineer,

w ho

fo rth e

momentsa

freshman

from

Transcaucasia.

"In

what

unitsis

pressure

measured?"

"In

electrias..."

"Explain

th e

nature

of

such

phenomena

as

thunder

an d

l ightening."

"Weather

does

that."

"What

is

a

compass

card?"

"Idon't

play

cards..."

This

onversation

ook

lace

n

heefrigerationnd

compressor

department

lastyear;

comments ,

as

they

say,

aresuperfluous...

T he

igher

ducational

ystem

owapparently

wishes

thereweresomeone

to

trainan dsomething

to

train

them

for.

ExtensiondmissionentersnMoscow

av e

even

been

reducedto

half.

Theysay

that

right

no w

th eexams

ar ebeinggiven

without

indulgences.Butwhatareweto

do

withth e

semiliterate

specialists

turned

out

in

such

a

hurry

n

ormer

years?

They

ar e

already

t

th e

ontrol

panels

n

he

motherlandro mwhich,

las,

here

s

growing

stream

of

departingRussian-speakingengineer,

machine

operators,dispatchers...

Road

to

Nowhere

Things

ar e

nobetteron

th e

tracks

over

which

explosive

an d

toxic

ra w

materials

an dproducts

areshipped

to

al l

quarters,

an dat

times

acrossth e

entire

nation.

Last

December at

Alatyr

Station

in

Chuvashia,atank ca r

containingstrong

poisonbegan

to

eak.

T he

most

expe-

riencedworkersinccidentsofthiskind

ro m

another

chemical

iantthe

Khimprom"

ssociationwere

unable

o

to phe

eak.

twas

ecided

o

ak ety

special

train

concealed

by

12

flatcars

to

th e

consignment

stationnKazan.

A

good

2 00

kilometers

an dsix hours

of

track.T othoseaccompanyingthissourceofpoisonous

andxplosive

loud,

ourseemed

ik e

ternity.

They

werefaint

with

fearuponseeinga

man

withait

cigaret

in

th e

woods

alongth etrack.. .

At

that

t ime,

a

well

known

railroad

man

w ho

tookpart

in

th eethallydangerous

i tinerary

said:

"Imagine

y

tate.

fterll ,ne what

eer e

shipping

adangeroustankcar over

adangerousrailroad.

Major

overhaulof th etrack

s

morethandoublyoverdue

here."

T herailwayauthorities

later

gavemedozens

of

reasons

fo r

he

disorder

n

he

ailroad.

ac h

ne

was

more

objective

than

th e

last.

But

ca n

there

evenbe

an yreasons

in

uc h

a

i tuation?O ne

must

ound

he

alarm ave

only

onething

toadd:

thousands

of

kilometers

of

track

lying

ll

aroundheountryren

uch

tateight

now...

T heaforementionedproblemsreurtherxacerbated

by

nlimited

isorder.

ertain

.

husainov,

or

example,

eft

brake-block

heads

on

th e

tracks

atYudino

station.

rainn

helassification

ar d

stumbled"

overthem,

osingth ehead

tank

ca rcontaining butylene,

which

went

umbling

ow n

lope.

t

was

nl yy

miracle

thatnothingworse

happened...

An dhereis

another

story.

T hecitizens

ofa

village

near

Kazan

eard

he

oar

of

a

et

ngine

ro m

earby

meadow,fol lowedbyth esmell

ofgas.

It

turnedoutthat

th e

as

ad

ee n

eleased

ntohetmospherey

repairmenworking

on

a

ga smain

passing

throughere.

They

adound ole,

nd

opatchhe

hick-walled

pipethey

ha d

to

release

ga sfrom

a

section

00

kilome-

ters

on g

under

pressure

of

dozens

of

atmospheres.

It

w as

agood

thingthat

t

didn't

break,

as

ha d

happened

nearth e

village

of Aldermyshin9 8 5nth esamekindof

situation.At

hat

ime,

here

ad

ee n

lying

lass

n

houses...

This

soto

mention

he

undredsof

cubic

meters

of

costly

ga s

thatdisappeared

ntothin

air.

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

7/38

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27

March

1991

EN V IRON MEN T A LCH EMIST RY

Legsf

he

os t

amous

ranscontinentalasines

extend

through

ourregion.

Theyca n

be

considered

ne w

fo rthemoment.

But

omorrow?. . .

Film

nsulationas

been

used

on

a

sizeable

fraction

of

th e

pipes.

Its

guaran-

teed

ervice

ife

s

0ears,l though

he

as

in es

designedfo r30

years.Gofigure.

At

he

am e

ime,

ilmsse d

world-wideo

nsulate

only

about0

percentofpipelines,ndhosenl yor

safeproducts

hat

lo w

hrough

ai n

inesunderhe

most

stringent

conditions.Pipes

ar eusually

protected

by

dust-spraying

with

ightpolymer

ayer

under

factory

conditions.Wheres

our

guaranteethat

we

willnothave

abreak

tomorrow,

th e

da y

after

tomorrow,or

even

right

no win

some

places?...

Withll

ur

usiness

rganization,

abitsnd

sy-

chology

of

todaywe

ar e

condemned

oth e

disasters

of

tomorrow.

T he

mindless

"Give ",

squeezing

everything

an dittle

ore

utfheachine,

crimping

n

repairsthiss

ur

ay .

ndf

omething

hould

happen,

we

will

notbefrightened,oneof

us

willbecome

a

hero.

Isn't

that

why

adjusters,

epairmannd

itters

ar e

gen-

erallyth efirstcandidatesfo ra

trip

to th ecollective farm

underatronage?Auxiliaryervices

ust

hat

auxiliary.Thisswhere

staff

reductiongenerallybegins.

The

pa y

is

owerthan

fo r

main

production.

Spare

parts

andreserveoperationsservicescome

ast.

Carelessnessasecomelmostraitfcharacter

among

s.

Just

emember

ow

efenseless

Chernobyl

founds:

o

pecial

machines,

o

mechanisms

nothing

A

notepad

records

a

significantfact:

a

chemical

research

nstitutein

Kazan

ha s

been

workingfo ra

on g

timeneavyprotectiveuitswithelf-containedife

support

systems.

But

it

was

not

until

a

month

after

th e

reactorexploded

hat

the

order

wasfinally

eceivedo

producethem.

Mightth e

market

force

us

tobe

more

circumspect?

It

istime

to

developaneffective

economic

mechanisms

that

timulateshe

earch

orewechnologies.

fwe

were

o

ak e

he

uble

atherhan

dministrative-

commandethodsheai n

egulator

fconomic

relations,

t

should

ctively

stimulate

ntroduction

of

a

comprehensiveprecautionary

system.

Incidentally,

an

entrepreneur

inheUnitedStates

who

ignoressafetyrequirementspaysasmuchas$10,000or

servesup

to6months

in

prison.

A

repeat

offense

entails

a

fine

ofupto$20,000dollarsorayearinprison.That

mightgiveyo u

pause

fo r

thought.

And

ow

else

ar e

we

going

tosave

ourselves

from

mpendingmisfortunes?

T he

only

thing

I

don't

understand

s:

what

s

stopping

us

fromemulating

this

experience?...

WhatAnalysis

Has

Shown

9 0 7M0 3 2 0 bMos cowRABOCHA

YA

TRIBUN

A

inRussian

No

216 ,

1

Sep

90

p

4

[ArticlebyYu.Kirinitsiyanov,

Kazakh

SSR]

[Text]

As

we

reported,there

was

anexplosion

last

week

atth enuclearfuelplantinUst-Kamenogorsk.

Ho w

ashe

ityared

n

hese

ew

ay s

ince

he

accident?

T he

irstmpressions

hat

heentireitysaking

shower.Sprinkling

machines

ar erolling

overth e

streets

an d

sidewalks

an d

knocking

down

yellowed

vegetation.

Specialists

ro mhe

municipal

nd

egional

anitation

an d

pidemiology

tations

av e

een

isiting

working

collectivesto

calm

the

people

down

and

teachthemo

withstandheterrible

danger,

albeit

with

imple

weap-

onsa

pail

of

water

and

a

rag.

K.

Isembayev,

chiefof th e

sanitation

division

ofth e

municipal

sanitation

an d

epi-

demiologystation,

ha s

tomakea

self-critical

admission:

"Everything

that

we

ar edoingisnecessary,bu t

t

should

havebeen

done

before."

T heac tshathe

municipal

nd

egional

anitation

doctors

havenot

concerned

themselves

withhazardous

beryllium

ndndeedav e

o

pecial

equipment.

t

s

only

ow

hathe yav e

earnedhe

ecessary

ech-

niques.

An d

ha tav e

he

irst

nalyses

hown?

bout

00

people

av e

been

xamined,

primarily

hose

who

took

part

in

cleaning

up

th e

accident.

Berylliosis

s

n

nsidious

isease.tsifficult

o

distinguish

ro m

llergy

rongestion

fhe

pper

respiratoryract.

hat

s

hyaontrolroupof0

people(halfofthemchildren)

ha dbeen

organized

whose

healthwillbewatchedbydoctorsfo rayear.Inaddition,

al l

medicalenters

of

th eity

re

being

monitored.f

people

comein

more

frequently

fo r

th e

"flu,"

th e

alarm

should

be

sounded.

"A s

a

doctor

and

as

a

citizen

ofthis

long-suffering

city,

wouldik e

o

av e

hi s

angerous

nterprise

oved

away,"ay sR.

oboleva,

chief

ofth eegionalealth

department.But

m

fraid

that

we

won'tbe

able

to

break

th e

resistance

of

th e

nuclear

agency

authorities."

Alas,heasveryeason

o

e

essimistic.

st -

Kamenogorsk

s

literally

saturated

with

dangerous

enter-

prises.

Lastear,

orkers

n

he

hemonaikhinskiy

opper

Mine

wereictims,

nd

hi s

ea r

doctorsav ead

o

give

idoight

ailroad

workersro mZashchitaSta-

t ion,which

s

downwind

from

th eUlbinskiySteel

Plant,

Ust-Kamenogorsk

ead-Zinc

ombine,ndheocal

heatan delectricpowercenter.

T he

diagnosis:omplex

poisoning.

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

8/38

E N V I R O N M E N T A LCH EMIST RY

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27

March

1991

Incidentally,wouldaveiven

differentiagnosis:

puttingup

with

tw o

much.

Iasked

S.

Targautov,

chief

of

th e

inspection

administra-

tion

of

the

State

Committee

on

Conservationof

Nature

ofKazakh

SSR,

ocomment

n

heituation

n

st -

Kamenogorsk,asth epaperha d

published

aninteresting

detail

n

our

as t

article:

untiler y

recently,

committee

specialists

ha d

notbeen

allowedto crossthethreshold

of

theplantentranceate.Hasanythinghangedoday?

Apparentlynotmuch.

Asofnow,wehave

no

word

on

th enatureconservation

committee:

ts

till

workingnhe

questions"

nd

"gettingsettled"ntherepublic'sCouncilofMinisters.

And

only

later

will

tbe

sanctionedatasessionofthe

SupremeSovietoftheKazakhSSR.

T he

only

document

that

now regulatesrelationswiththenuclearagencysa

protocol

n

delimitation

offunctions

et

ourthyn

extraordinary

commission

of

the

Council

of

Ministers

of

theUSSR.

Inbrief,it

says

thatspecialists

on

conservationofnature

only

monitor

th e

ecologywithoutinterveningintotech-

nology.

Itha sbeenef tinth ehandsofagencycontrolof

Gospromatomnadzor.

The

rigorwith

which

this

agency

monitors

tselfan

eudged

ro mhe

xample

f

Chernobyl.

"Ieel,"tressed.argautov,that

ur

committee

simply

needs

a

department

on

adiologicalcontrol.

But

al l

pecialists

nd

llontrol

quipmentav e

een

usurped

bythe

Ministry

of

the

Nuclear

PowerIndustry.

Theres

not

a

wordintheprotocolabout

ho w

we

ar e

to

ge t

it."

AsWeGo

toPress

When

his

aterial

as

ll

eady

or

ublication,

learned

that

a

high

berylliumcontentha d

been

recorded

in

morehan

0

peopleollowingheaccidentthe

Ulbinskiy

teel

lant.

T he

residium

of

the

Regional

CouncilofPeople;sDeputiespassedaresolutionto shut

down

beryllium

production

atthe

Ulbinskiy

Steel

Plant

Association.

Beforean dAfter

the

Accident

9 1 7M0 0 0 2AMos cowRABOCHAYATRIBUNA

in

RussianNo

227 ,

5

Oc t

90

p

2

[Article

by

Y u.

Kirinitsiyanov,

Kazakh

SSR]

[Text]B.

Barchenko ,People's Deputy

of

th e

azakhSSR

and

worker

a t

th e Ust-Kamenogorsk

Lead-ZincCombine,

ponders

h eessons

of

th e

ragedy

h a t

occurredn is

native

city:a n

xplosion

a t

th enuclear

fuelplant

(Rab-

ochaya

tribuna,6Sep and

21

Sep

90). .

I

earned

boutheaccidentro my

aughter.

he

cal led

ro m

Ust-Kamenogorsk ,

elling

me

hathe

city

was

n panic.

eople

were

ushing

about

hetreets

wearing

ga smasksan drespirators.

calmedhe r

as

best

could.

dvised

er

to

closehe r

blindsand

tay

n

th e

house.

ou

now,idn'tor k

or

0ears

t

n

unhealthy

trade

fo rnothing.

I

tried

later

to

call

back

to

Ust-Kamenogorsk

again,

bu t

got

no

answer.

couldn't

even

ge t

th ereceptionist

to

th e

firstsecretaryofth eregionalcommitteeof

theParty.It

was

only

after

alled

the

ong-distance

office

by

gov-

ernmentelephone

hat

wasconnected

o

heecep-

tionist.heecretary

old

e

hat

eetingofhe

Presidium

of

theRegionalCouncilw as

being

held.

That

was

al l

th einformationtherewas

to

behad.

As

fo r

other

telephones,theofficialversionwas

that

fuses

had blown

in

he

elephone

ffices.When

he yinallytarted

working

again,

was

called

by

on e

of

the

volunteers

w ho

are

upporting

en

helection

ampaign.e

informedmethat

th e

officials,

and

especially

the

direc-

tors

of

th e

plantwheretheaccident

ha d

occurred,

were

not

ellinghe

ublic

heea ltory.

hat'she n

decided

to

fly

to

Ust-Kamenogorsk.

The

datagiven

to

me

by

the

electorate

ecologists differed

considerablyfromthe

official

version.

Iushed

o

he

pecial

essionofth eityouncil.N.

Nosikov,chairman

of

th e

ity

ouncil ,l lowed

meo

speak

with

considerablereluctance.

But

at thatmoment,

Iw asgiven

a

letterfrom

workers

of

Vostokmashzavod.

Andncidentally,

y

lectorate.heeopleer e

demanding

completeand

honest

information.

O ne

of

th e

directorate

ofUlbinskiySteel

Works

ad

stirredhingsp.eadppeared

n

hevening

television:therewasnoneed

fo r

examining

the

children

inthe

city,

as

eventhe

firefighters

inthemiddle

of

the

disaster

ha d

come

to

no

harm...

As

things

turned,

out

this

was

not

exactly

true.

Ameetingof

city

emergencyheadquarters

was

heldth e

next

day.

A

sournoteha d

to

be played amidstth e

chorus

ofgenerally

alming

oices.t

w as

xplainedhat

he

plant,

no

matter

ho w

dumb

tsounds,had

no

emergency

plan.

That'sright,

we

learned

nothingfrom

Chernobyl.

Andthe"boss"ofbothaccidents

was

thesameMinistry

of th e

Nuclear

PowerIndustry.

Butth eawful

thing

is

not

justthatthe

agency

isruiningman's

physicalhealth.

Itis

morallycripplinghim.

isited

UlbinskiySteelWorks,

andmet

with

th e

directorgeneral,V.Mette.

It

seems

that

hi soptimisticstatementsha dnotreassuredpeople,

bu t

ha d

only

damped

their

enthusiasm.

We

ee d

o

ake

eparate

oo k

t

ivil

efense.

ts

representativesnce

ore

howed

otal

elplessness.

There

was reatelayefore

he

adio

eport

was

transmitted,

ndhen

nl y

n

netationather

than

three.Afterasimilar

failure

duringth e

earthquake,Isent

them

deputy

nquiry,

bu t

go t

o

answer

atthat

time

either.

Another

point.

t

urns

uthat

ost

fhe

protectiveclothingsocated

in

a

villageten

kilometers

awayfromthecity.

Ultimately,hough

reakingly,

he

machine

tarted

o

turn.Communalservices

ar e

scrubbingth ecity,

doctors

ar e

examiningpatients.

T he

Presidium

of

th eRegional

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

9/38

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27

March1991

EN V IRON MEN T A LCH EMIST RY

Councilasinallyassedesolutiono

lose

he

beryllium

plant.

A

kind

of

victory,bu t

alas,

with

a

very

bitter

taste.

foreseea

major

onslaught

on

th epartofth e

mighty

agency.

An d

t

isn't

that

alone

that

bothers

me.

I'm

afraidthat

th e

attitudetowardthenuclearplantwill

beturnedagainstth ecompletelyblamelessworkers.

T he people

of

th e

city

havefound

themselves

in

adanger

zoneot

nl y

becauseofthisccident,utn

onse-

quence

ofth eprolongedoperationof giants

of

nonfer-

rousetallurgy,nterprisesf

he

efense

ndustry,

within

heity

imits.

uggest

hat

weeexamine

reduction

n

heir

ncome

ax ,

mprovement

foo d

supply

(meat,

dairyproducts,

fruit),which

will

necessi-

tateat

least

atemporary

reductionn

th esupplytoth e

Union-Wideun d

ro m

ostochno-Kazakhstanskaya

Oblast.Considerationhouldeiven

o

vacuating

children

to

vacation

homes

an dforestschools.

But

even

that

is

no t

enough.

believe

that

th e

accident

in

Ust-Kamenogorsk

houlderves ard

esson

o

ll

agencies,ncludingmy

"alma

mater,"

heUSSR

Min-

istry

of

Nonferrous

Metallurgy.

Finally,

we

haveto

make

a

decision

o

hu townllunhealthyplants,

o

repair

an dadjust

al l

ecologicalfacilities.Wherear ewegoing

to

ge t

th e

money?With

consideration

of ne w

approaches to

taxing

ndustrialnterprises,provisionsmust

be

made

fo r

reducing

fo ra

certaintimeth edeductions

to

theState

budget

fo r

higher

agencies.

Thiswill

enable

us

todirect

themoneyaved

o

targetcologicalprograms,nd

o

reduceth eprobabilityof

ne wdisasters.

T w o

Minutes

Before

Explosion

9 1 7M0 0 2 4A

Mos cow

RAROCHAY

A

TR1BUNA

in

Russian

No

258 ,

3Nov90

p

4

[Interviewwith

Colonel

Vladimir

Borisovich

Varakinby

A.i tkovskiy,CenterofJoint

Communiques,GB ,

USSR;placeanddatenotgiven]

[Text]From

codeto

Watch

Service,KGB,USSR:

...On8July990 t bou t:0 0AMherea s n

explosiona t

a

t ransformersubstationof

th e

Kommunar

Gold

M ine .No

one

wa s

killed.A

group senttoth e

site

of

th eccident ,ncluding yrotechnics

xpert,fficial

investigatorsand

operatives

of

th e

UKGBandUVDof

Khakas

Autonomous

Oblast

found

clues

uggesting

h e

presence

of

a

home -madeexplosive

device.

"In

th e

vicinity

of

thepumpingstation,anotherdevice

w as

found

with

the

timer

se t

at

5:00

AM .However,

with

tw o

minutes

oo,

t

:58,oreasonssetnex-

plained,th eclock

ha d

stopped.

Criminal

action

ha s

been

broughtinth e

case,

andstepsar ebeingtakento findth e

perpetrators."

Vitkovskiy:Vladimir

Borisovich,

first

a

fewwordsabout

whatoundourcolleaguesal lheperativeitua-

t ion.

Varakin:

very

ear,

everal

undredsof

major

cci-

dentsnd

ires

re

eportedn

he

nation'sndustrial

enterprises

alone.

Asmany

as

4,000

peopledi enthese

incidents.

Consider

these

figures:

every

da y

35-40

people

do

notcomehomefromwork,andneverwill.

Vitkovskiy:ndeed,errible

tatistic.nd

oe s

he

KGB takepartininvestigations

of

everyaccident?

Varakin:

e

nvestigateheosteriousnes,nd

especial ly

hosewherewe

av e

eason

o

uspect

pre-

meditation.And

alas,

theresplentyof

such

work

these

days.In9 8 9andth efirsthalfof1 9 9 0alone,theKGB

ha s

takenpart

in

nvestigations

of

17 0explosions,

fires

and

ave-ins.

T heirectmaterial

os s

ro mhesenci-

dentswasmorethan00millionrubles,6 0peopledied,

an d50

were

severelymutilatedan dtraumatized.Pre-

meditation

wasestablished

n

2

ases,

ncluding

with

criminal

intent.

For

xample,

herew ashe

ffair

of

a

oremant

missileplant

n

Anisin.

ewasystematicallyputting

metalbjects

nto

rucial

ngine

omponents .

And

t

wasn'tenough

hat

many

millions

ofrubles

werebeing

lost.

Later

on at

his

trial,thispieceof

trash

tried

to

make

the

case

that

this

washi swayof

fighting

fo rpeace.

T he

court

gave

th e

saboteur

th e

maximum

sentence.

From

Code

toWa t c hService,KGB,USSR:

"...In

theprocessoflookingfo rpersons

w ho

mighthave

beeninvolved

in

th eexplosions

at

the

'Kommunar'

Gold

Mine,nformationas

been

obtained

to

th e

effect

that

tw ounknownmenwereseen

onnearbyhillsideson

th e

ev e

of

th e

ncident.

They

se t

up

atent

ona

site

incon-

venient

fo r

resting,

camouflaging

t

so

that

it

would

not

benoticedfrom

th e

industrialarea.

Examinat ionof

th e

aforementioned

it e

urned

phree

ottles

of

lam-

mableliquid,

tw o

light

bulbs,an dsomewire.

T he

nearby

territoryslearly

isible

ro m

he

ent,

ncluding

the

vicinity

of

th e

explosion."

Vitkovskiy:

nvestigation

f

ccidents

f

hi sin d

s

probablyamongth e

most

importantareasof

activity

of

workersn

he

xtraordinary

ommission.What

re

otherproblemsdealtwithby

your

service?

Varakin:

Whatyo u

might

call

our

mainin e

s

preven-

tionfpremeditated

ct s

imedtndermining

he

economic

basis

ofth estate,ny

accidents

that

nvolve

th e

destruction

nd

ruin

of

equipment,

or

th e

death

of

people.

Each

yearwereport

to

ministriesandagencies,

and

to

theadministrationsof

enterprises

about

precon-

ditions

or

erious

ccidents

hat

equire

mmediate

response.

We

end

utbout

50 0

uch

messagespe r

year.

An dsadly,there

s

plentyof

causefo ralarm.Precondi-

tions

fo r

tragicaccidents

ar euncovered

nearly

everyday.

T heisasters

hat

erevent,

heives,

illionsf

rublesandenormous

resourcesthat

we

save

do

not show

up

intatistics.Ultimately,

only

th eaccident

that

hap-

pens

akes

ts

readful

laim.ndet ,

o

ak en

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

10/38

EN V IRON MEN T A L

CH EMIST RY

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27

March

1991

example,justa

yearprior

to

th e

Bashkir

disaster,

KGB

workers

n

Kurgan

Oblast

nd

Bashkiria

were

warning

about

he

possible

explosionof

th eas

mixture

n

he

vicinity

of

the

all-product

pipeline

in

the

case

of

simul-

taneous

passageof

tw o

trains.

However,

th e

responseto

this

nformation,

s

ou

ow

now,

am e

oo

ate.

Incidentally,

pot

heckn

he

West

iberia-

Ural-Povolzhye

all-product

pipeline

ha s

revealed

about

50 0significantdefects

that

also

might

resultn

unjusti-

fiedaccidents.

A

total

of

roughly2 00mainpipelines

an d

facilitiesof

thepetroleum

nd

as

ndustry

av e

been

additionallytudied.

T he

USSRCouncilofMinisters

no wha sa

complete

pictureofth eactualstateofaffairs.

Vitkovskiy:

What

branch

of

industry

in

our

nation

s

no w

your

greatest

concern?

Varakin:

It

wouldbe hard

to

sayrightnow.

Le tmepu tit

this

way:

we

are

giving

our

greatest

attention

to

the

most

dangerous

acilities

nd

plants,

places

where

ccidents

and

actionsofthe

i l l-intentionedmightesultn

eally

seriousconsequences.

Primarily,

hiselatestouclear

power,

chemical

plants,th e

defense

industry.

Vitkovskiy:Butafterall,they

ar e

beingwatchedby

their

ow n

controlservices.

Varakin:And

oou

hink

hat

perative

ontrol

s

going

to

ge tin

their

way?

T he

more

so

as

everyoneknows

thattheres

no

such

thing

as

an

absolutely

safe

produc-

tion

facility.

Le tmeback

that

up

withan example:nth e

past

tw o

years,KGB

agencies

have

receivedmore

than

2 00

eports

about

dangerouspreconditions

or

disrup-

tionoftechnologicalprocessesinnuclearelectricpower

plants.

nd

o

ut

t

luntly,

bout

he

ompletely

carelessattitudethat

reignsat

t imeseven

n

uc han -

gerous

acilities.aturally,e

ar n

he

irectorate

abouthis.

ut

s ule,heesponsewill

elibis,

allusions,

no

money,

no

resources.

Vitkovskiy:As ifcleaning

up

th e

consequences

ofnuclear

accidentswere

cheaper.

Varakin:

Exactly.T otheaforementionedweshouldad d

main

petroleum,

ga s

and

all-product

pipelines.Nearly

al l

ofthemrepotentiallyhazardous.Hundreds

of

defec-

tivewater

crossings,thousands

of

kilometersof

broken

waterproofing,

substandardwelds,

ac k

of

cathodicpro-

tectionan dmanyotherthings

maketh e

dangerassoci-

ated

with

possible

disasters

here

ethal

in

the

true

sense

of

th e

word.

Serious

ituationsrise

with

iquid

hlorine

ndother

toxic

materials.

For

example,fourpeopledied

and

more

than

ortyer eoisoned

as t

pringthe

onava

"AzofAssociationbecauseofaea kina

tank

of

liquid

ammonia.

loud

fpoison

as

preadverearby

areas.

Recentlytheproblem

of

recycling

radioactive

materials

and

their

wastes

s

makingitself

morean dmoreacutely

felt.Waybackwhen

ntensive

esearchwastarting

n

thisfield,obody

was

thinkingaboutmeansofprotec-

t ion.

As

esult,

here

reowabout00reaswith

sourcesfntenseadioactive

mission

n

oscow

alone.

And

imilar

sources

ar e

to

be

found

n

Moscow

suburbs,

nd

nhe

blasts

of

Tula ,Kaluga,

nd

lse-

where.

Vitkovskiy:

Vladimir

orisovich,

ha t

re

heum -

mandsofthistragicarithmetic?After

all,

itsnotsome

blustering

primordialforce,but

rather

a

menace

created

by

their

ow n

hands

thatistaking

people's

ives.

Varakin:

Thedirectcausesof

accidentsalwaysturnout

tobegrossviolationsof safetyrules,operationofmal-

functioningor

worn

outequipment,technological

viola-

t ions.These

ar ewhat

we

mightcallfirst-levelcauses.

T he

next

art

f

he

roblem

nvolves

mperfect

esigns,

sloppyconstruction,skimpingonequipment.

But

fo r

al l

that,

he

ain

spect

fheroblem

s

ersonal.

According

to

computations

by

specialists,

most

apital

investment

oday

till

oe s

or

ardware .

etinety

percentofaccidentsar edue totally

to

thehumanfactor.

What

precisely?

T a k e

th e

example

of

rush

work

fo r

th e

sakeof

turningin

triumphant

reportson

"putting

facil-

ities

into

operation

ahead

of schedule."

And

then

there

is

th e

ersonalgotismf

om e

irectors

ho

reust

aching

to

ge t

awards

an d

move

up

through

th eranks.

Not

tomentionarelessnessndegligence

tohepointof

idiocy.Here

we

havecases

that

are justone

of

akind.For

example:

several

eg s

of a

ga s

line

laid

in

directproximity

to

n

ir

orce

roving

round

se d

or

rainingn

bombingandmissile

firing.

Vitkovskiy:

Still,

hiss unique

ase.

But

monghe

disasters

there

must

be ,

fo r

want

of

a

better

term,

some

thatar eordinary,

run-of-the-mill...

Varakin:T he

oa lminingndustryasecently

ad

rashof

explosions,

fires

and

cave-ins.

An

example

ofthe

latter:theDimitrovMineof"Kuznetskugol"Com-

pany,failure

to

observesafetyrules

in

mining

resulted

n

a

breachof

water

into

a

coal

stall,killing

1

miners.

And

it

s

underthesecircumstances

that

theresacutbackn

supervisoryand

monitoringservicesat

th enitiative

of

severalabor

ollectives.hencreasingly

revalent

attempts

to

save

a

rubleattheexpenseof

safety

s

being

turned

around

to

th e

os s

ofhuman

ives.

Vitkovskiy:But

then,

can'tthey

be

brought

to

court

fo r

this?

Varakin:

o

ho's

fraid

fthat?t'soecret

hat

criminaltrials

relating

toaccidentsusuallyturninto"for

lackofelementsofacrimeinth eactionsofth epersons

charged."

n

he

as t

hree

ears,

rials

n6major

accidentsn

which

8

peoplewere

illed

nd5

were

severely

mutilated,

nded

ssential ly

withoutesult.

Noneofthoseresponsiblefo rth eaccidentsreceivedan y

criminal

punishment.

Vitkovskiy:

Then

what

ca n

be said

aboutyour

disclosure

of

preconditionsfo raccidents?

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

11/38

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27March

1991

EN V IRON MEN T A L

CHEMISTRY

Varakin:

nfortunately,

recautionarynformation

s

simplyignored

n

many

cases.

O relseth etimefo rtaking

emergencysteps

is

inadmissibly

draggedout.Thisis

just

th e

state

of

affairs

that

ha s

come

to

pass

at

a

facility

of

th eMinistry

of

th eChemistryand

Petroleum

Industryin

NizhegorodskiyOblast.T he

force

of

an

thylene

oxide

explosion

here

n

as eof

a

major

ccident

might

e

three

orfourtimesth edestructive

powerofth e

atomic

bomb

droppedn

iroshima.

m

ntentionally

ot

naming

this

facility,as

th e

ministryha s

finallymade

a

starton

reducingth e

hazard

there.However ,

specialists

feelthat

theseeffortsar einadequate.

Still,

implementa-

tion

fmore

ffectiveeasures

ouldecessitate

change

n

he

riginal

plans

and

major

capital

nvest-

ments.

Vitkovskiy:Would

yo u

tell

usjust

what

yoursourcesof

informationare,andtowhat

extent

theyar eobjective?

Varakin:

We

have

highly

skil led

workers

w ho

ar e

college

graduatesinmany

fields

ofengineering,ndwhohave

been

rained

tGB

ducationalnstitutions.long

with

his,

e

an

skorssistancero mpecialists

working

directly

at

certain

nterprises.n

addition,

we

have

ccesso

nformer

ata.ndo

ne

hould

e

embarrassed

by

that.

Wear e

talking

about

human

lives

an d

state

security

in

th e

fullestsense

of

that

word.

Vitkovskiy:Butw hy shouldth eKGB

deal

withproblems

of

industrial

safety

atall?

Varakin:Buteally,shematterny

worse

orhat?

After

all,werequentlyom eunder

agencycontrol,

n

th ees tas eorhenformationof

our

w n

gency.

Even

external

agency

control

ha s

not

proved

its

indepen-

dence,

unlessyo u

countth e

actively

operating

Gospro-

matomenergonadzor.won't

even

discuss

th e

so-called

people'sontrol.

And

o

t

allso

soea l

with

he

heritage

ofyearsof

irresponsibility.

However ,

conditions

ar e

changing,

nd

th etime

ha s

no wcomefo r

th emost

radicalmeasures,chieflyeconomic.

believe

that

akind

of

ivision

f

unctional

uties

ill

eeeded

n

marketeconomy.

T he

collectives

ofleased

or

joint-stock

enterprisesil l

av e

o

endependently

oncerned

aboutpreventing accidents

intheir ow ncompanies,and

totake

th e

fullmeasure

of

that

responsibility.Thenwe

will

av e

reater

opportunitiesorconcentratingour

attention

on

rooting

out

extremists

andpreventing

acts

of

sabotage.

Then

our

operations

will

bean

integral

part

ofth eprogramdeveloped

byth e

StateCommittee

of

th e

USSR

Council

of

Ministers

on

Emergency

Situations

fo r

prevention

and

leanupof

accidents.t

oe s

without

saying

that

th e

activityof

bodiesof

state

securityshould

be

coordinated

with

he

operation

ofother

bodies

an d

agencies

fo r

protecting

aw

and

order.

In

my

opinion,

al lof

th e

foregoing

shouldfindreflection

in

heLa wn

he

Committee

of

StateSecurity

ofth e

USSR.

Andwhilewe'reon

he

ubject, closerwatch

shouldbekept

on

defenseand

crucial

national

economic

facilities

where

major

accidentscould

have

th e

mostdire

consequences.

Fromcodeto

WatchService,KGB,USSR:

As

a

resultof

operative inquiries

and

investigatorywork

concerning th eexplosiona tth e

Kommunar

Gold

M ine ,

th e

perpetrators

have

beenidentified.

They

a re

K.-,

year

of

birth

96 4

and

Ye.-,year of

birth 96 2

with

prior

convic-

tions for

general

crimes.

They

were

observed

in

the guise

of'relaxing'in

en t

short ly

before

th e

incidentn

h e

vicinity

of th eindustrial

site.

In

th e

course

of

procedura l

actions,

h esuspects

gave

testimonies

of

involvement

in

th e

xplosion.

heir

onfessions

er e

orroborated

by

reconstructions

of

th e

crime.

Evidence

shows

t h a t

one

of

their

motives

for

setting off th e

explosionwa s

a

competi-

tive

fight

for

job

ssignment

etween

h e

ssiduous

Sayany

rew

ho

a d

beengranted goldwashing

contract ,

and

th eSibir 'crewwhereh edetaineeswere

working.

Chemistry

Against

'Chemistry'

9 0 7M0 2 1 0A

Mos cowPRA

VDA

n

Russian

No

96 ,

6

Ap r

90p4

[Articleby

R.

Fedorov]

[Text]"Manintroducedintoth eplanet'sstructurea

ne w

form

of

actionof

living

matter

uponhexchange

of

atoms

between

living

matter

and

inert

material .Before,

organismsnfluencedheistory

nly

ofthosetoms

whichwereneededfo r

their

growth,reproduction,nutri-

tion

nd

espiration.

Manidened

his

ircle,nflu-

encingelements

neededfo r

technology

an dfo rth ecre-

ation

of

civilized

ormsof ife....

From

eochemical

pointf

iew,

llfhese

roductsmassesfre e

metals

such

as

metallic

aluminum

that

ha d

never

existed

on

arth,ron,

in

rinc,

assesof

carbon

ioxide

producedbyth eroastingof

l ime

orth eburningofcoal,

thenormousuantities

f

ulfuric

nhydride

r

hydrogen

ulfideformednhemicalndmetallurgical

processes,

nd

hever-increasinguantityf

other

technical

productsdo

ot

ifferfrom

minerals.

They

alter

th e

unceasing

course

ofgeochemical

ycles.With

further

rowth

fivilization,henfluence

fhese

processes

should

continuallyincrease... ."

An

alarming

situation.

If

weoo kcarefully

at

whatV.I.

Vernadskiy

meant

yhesewords,

we

would

in d

hat

th escientistwas

essentially

warningus

of

this

situation

long

before

t

am e

opass.But

we

ailed

o

ee d

is

words,

ndoday

we

reoingon

s

f

th e

angerous

l imit

ha d

come

upon

us

suddenly.

O ur

first

reaction

ha s

been niqueortof

"ecological

uddism":

hutting

downhemical,etallurgicalndowerngineering

enterprises.

owever ,

heeasoneuilthemwe

readV.

I.Vernadskiyonceagainwas

"for

th e

creation

of

civilized

forms

of

life."Without

them,

we'll

av e

to

return,

f

notoheStoneAg ehenoheott

ll

fortunate

Middle

Ages,

withheirepidemics

of

plague

an d

cholera,

an d

with

armed

invasions of th elands

of

th e

nearest

eighbors

roverseas

ountriesnhe

ope

of

getting

rich.

Anyway,

th e

choice

was

already

madeon g

ag o

inth ehalf-serious"folk"

saying

that

t

s

better

to

be

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

12/38

EN V IRON MEN T A LCH EMIST RY

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27March1991

healthy

an d

rich

thanpoor

and

sick.T he

pathto

wealth

an dealth

s

recisely

nevelopment

of

production,

an dno tits

shut-down.Butca n

it

be

ecologicallyclean?

A

general

ssembly

of

th e

USSR

Academy

of

Sciences

was

olding

eetings

nMoscow

tate

University's

auditorium

on

th e

Lenin

Hills.

There

was

anexhibitn

th e

oyer

th ecademy's

hemicalnstitutes

er e

explaining

heir

rojects

hich

er epening

p

he

pathsto

ecologically

clean

chemistry.

B utar ethese

projects

not

"half-baked,"

ar ethey

notan

expression

fcurrentads,

nd

oncession

o

he

onslaught

of th epublic,

which

ssocriticalof

chemistry?

Thesewere

th e

questions asked

of

Academician

O.

M.

Nefedov,

ic e

presidentofth e

USSRAcademyof

Sci-

ences.

"Theyreflectth elogicofth edevelopmentan d

improve-

ment

of

science,

an d

ts

present

concerns.

T he

modern

levelof

fundamental

research

inescapably

eads

to effec-

tive

technologicalconcepts,an ditisth e

civic

duty

of

th e

scientists

to

promotetheir

practical

introduction.

"The

evelopments

re

aried

nd

ultifaceted.

ut

even

a

nonspecialist

ca nclearly

discerntw o

fundamental

directionsunitingmanyofthem:

ne w

effectivecatalysts

forchemicalreactions,

an d

ne w

sorbents

that

trapeven

extremely

tiny

quantities

of substances

from

suspensions

and

solutions.

"Thesignificanceof

catalysts

is

very

great,"th escientist

went

n.

In

articular,he yllows

oeepenhe

degree

ofra w

material

processing.

And

nhi s

waywe

ca n

ramatically

educe

elative

consumptionfaw

materials

an d

energy

pe r

unit

of

product;

this

s

a

direct

service

to

ecology,o

preservation

of

th e

environment.

New

productionprocedures

based

n

heir

application

makeprocessesmore

selective,

theymakethemoriented

selectively

n

acquisition

ofa

leannd

product,nd

theyermituc h

rocesseso

o

n

neactorsf

significantlymallerolume.Neutralizationndven

recyclingofexhausts

an d

wastesbecome

possible

with

them.

Asan

examplesulfuricanhydridefrom

fluegases

may

be

transformedinto

pureelemental

sulfur.Combi-

nation

of

catalysis

with

membrane

technology

opensup

evengreaterpossibilities."

T heInstitute

of

Organic

Chemistry

meni

N.

D .

Zelin-

skiy,

he

nstituteof

PetrochemicalSynthesis

meni

A.

V.

opchiyev

nd

ther

f

he

cademy's

cientific

institutionsdisplayed

new

catalytic

processes

that

effec-

tivelysolve

natureprotectionproblems.

"A s

ar

s

he

ew

orbents

re

oncerned,".

.

Nefedovnotes,"unfortunately,atth e

moment

only

on e

partfheroblem

solved

ost

ffectively

ith

themtreatment

of

gaseous

an dliquidwastes,removal

ofsubstances

from

them

whichmay

harmhe

environ-

ment .Wear eseeing a

need

fo r

urgent

solution

ofanother

part

f

his

roblemrecovering

nd

tilizing

hese

"trapped"

ubstances.

Study

of

chemical

precipitation

processes

mploying

locculants

nd

evelopment

f

microbiologicalmethodsofextractingubstances

ro m

wastes

which

ould

he n

eeturned

o

productionr

which

could

serve

as

raw

material

maybe

interesting

n

this

aspect."

New,

effective

sorbents

ar edisplayed

at

th eexhibit,

fo r

example,

y

th eElementoorganicCompoundsInstitute

imeni

.

.

esmeyanov

nd

he

eochemistrynd

AnalyticalChemistrynstitutemeni

V..Vernadskiy.

T he proposalsofth elatterar eoriented

to

a

great

degree

on

reating

ig h

recisionethodsfnalyzing

he

concentrationsof small

quantitiesofsubstances

inat -

ural

mediasoil,

waterandair.

But

as

was

explained

to

me

by

Doctor

of Chemical

Sciences

B.F.Myasoyedov,

th e

nstitute's

assistantdirector,orbents

developed

by

th enstituterebeing

urrently

se d

n

Norilsk

n

n

attempt

toextractplatinuman dothervaluable

compo-

nents

ontainednxtremelymalluantitiesnhe

tailings

of

or e

enriching

processes.

Adetaileddescription

of

th e

procedures

displayed

in

th e

exhibit

wouldbe

ofinterest

onlytospecialists,an dthose

desiringoo

o

may

acquaint

hemselves

with

he m

either

at

th e

institutes

themselvesor

in

th eExhibition

of

th echievements

f

he

SSR

Nationalconomy,

whichiswhereth e

displays

ar eto

go

next.

T heworksisplayedthexhibitersuasivelyho w

that

chemistry

isfullycapableoffightingagainst

"chem-

istry"that

is,

th e

harmful

sides

of

chemicalproduction

operations

nd

he

undesirable

onsequences

of

using

theirproducts.T hething

to

do

ow

is

towidelyntro-

ducescientificdevelopmentsandachievehighculturein

production

anduseofproducts,

without

which

it

would

be

impossible

to

achieve

"creation

of

civilized

forms

of

life."

' W r apu pAmerica '

907M02WBMos cowRABOCHAYA

TR1BUNA

in

RussianNo

67 ,

2

M a r

90 p3

[ArticlebyAleksandrVinyukov,electrician,

Mine

imeni

Lenin,Mezhdurechensk,KemerovoOblast]

[Text]

As

ur

elegation

aseavinghisabulous

country,

w e

were

asked

what

w e

would

wish

to

take

back

with

u s.

I

replied:

'Wrap

upAmerica '"

That

iswhat

miner

Aleksandr

Vinyukovsaidinaninterview.After

amonth-

longtriptoAmerica(a tth einvitationofAmericantrade

unions)

Aleksandr

returned

to

th e

remote

Siberian

city

of

Mezhdurechensk.

"Well ,

what

didouindhere?

An d

ho wmuchdidtcost?"hewomen

of

Mezhdurechensk

showered

im

ith

uestions.

u t

leksandr

educed

everythingoprose"tohectivitiesf

herade

unions,totheirroleinth e

life

of

Americanlaborers,an d

tomatters

close

to

th eheartsof

miners.

Prior

toourtake-off

fo r

Americawemetwith epre-

sentative

ro mhe

nternational

epartment

f

he

AUCCTU,

homade ong-winded

attempt

o

on -

vince

us

ho w

"bad"

th e

tradeunions

ar e

incomparison

toours.

Then

1

ours40

minutes

of

air

time

brought

us

8/10/2019 ADA360559.pdf

13/38

JPRS-UCH-91-004

27March

1991

EN V IRON MEN T A LCH EMIST RY

to Washington,

where

wewere

met

byrepresentativesof

th eAFL-CIOAmericanFederationof

Labor-Congress

ofIndustrial

Organizations.There

was

a

warm

welcome

from

Mr.

irkland,

he

rade

nion

president,

nd

frank

iscussion

n

he

orkers '

movement

n

ur

country,

nheKuznetsk

Basin

ndnheUSA.After

that

we

held

manymeetings

with

th e

eaders

of

various

tradeunions,an dth equestionwe

invariably

askedthem

washis:W horeouyccupation?None

of

them

answered

that

they

ha d

graduated

from

a

higherspecial

schoolrossessedwonstituteiplomas.ac hf

today's

trade

union

leaders

ha d

worked

fo r5-18years

as

amason,

an

electrician,a

steel

smelter

ora

miner,an d

only

afterthis

didth e

workers

of

their

sectorsnominate

them

fo rth e

presidency.

At

least

threequalitiesar econsidered

inth eselection

of

apresident:ublicpeakingability,

elfless

work,

nd

perfect

nowledge

f

he

ector

he

andidate

s

o

represent.heresident,he

ic e

residentndhe

treasurerar eelected

officials.

T he

ize

ofth eentraladministrations

00

persons.

T w ohundred-fiftyof

themar e

inWashington,an d

th e

rest

are

scatteredthroughoutth ecountry.

Exceptfo rth e

threeelectedofficials,al l

are

hired

workers,

clerks.

O r,as

theyeferohemselves,

ureaucrats.

he

FL-CIO

bringstogether

9 0

associations,

which

n

turn

represent

55.000

rade

union

ells.

Elections

t

ll

evels

re

y

secretballot,

and

everyone

votes.

T heminers'

trade

union

unitesapproximately

60,000

persons.T he

three

elected

officialsdo

notsi tstill.They

travelhrough

llof

th e

mining

regions,he y

acquaint

themselves

ith

he

ituation

nd

ith

he

orking

conditions,

nd

they

shed

ight

on

he

problems

of

th e

miners.

Each

memberof

th etradeunion

knows

al l

three

by

sighthe

ha d

elected

them.

T heAmericanminers'trade

union

s00

years

old.T he

systemor

conducting

trikes

ad

been

perfected

ver

thist ime.

f

miners

strike,ts

only

at

th e

time

ofth e

signing

of

aew

abor

greement

with

he

ompany.

Theyrefer

to

theirdemands

as

a

wish

ist.Usuallythis

list

is

l imited

to

six points.

T he

points

ar e

composed

with

regardfo rth ecompany'spossibilities.Forexample,four

of

th epointsmightbe withinth ecompany'smeans,an d

it

would

gree

o

hem.

T he

emaining

w o

oulde

sacrificed,

dropped.

But

3

or

4

years

later,

whena

ne w

agreement

s

to

be

signed,

these

tw o

points

are

included

once

again.

IwasaskedowmanypointsMezhdurechensk

miners

included

n

theirdemandsduringlastyear'sstrike.

Over

40.1answered.

Myhostswere

astounded:

Ho wcould

so

manybe

satisfied

al l

at

once?

T hetrike

y

itston

iners

asted

onths.

he

problem

as

his:

heompany

efusedo

rovide

medical

erviceso

he

miners,

nd

tid

ot

ign

contract

ith

he mor4

months.

hent

egan

insistingon

a

7-day

workweek.

T hetrade

union(I'm

referringnottoth eentireminers '

tradeunion

bu t

o

heegionalradeunion, ort

of

"territorial

committee")

spent

almost

al l

of

itsassets

on

this

strike.

t

was

eft

with

nl y

th e

building

t

owned.

During

astrike

a

miner

receivespurely

symbolic

assis-

tance$250

er

month.

ut

he

upport

ro m

ther

sectorssconsiderable.

Workersof

food

industry

supply

them

with

ood,thers

upply

lothes,nd

till

thers

provide

money.

When

textile

workersgo

on

strike,

they

ar e

supported

in

precisely

th esame

way.

Hereinie s

th e

mightofth eAmericantradeunionsthey

ar e

alwaysn

th e

know,they

ar e

thoroughly

awareof

th esituationin

othersectors.

T heduespaid

by

minerstoth etrade

union

ar e

$4 0

pe r

month,rrespectivefarnings.

n