Emergency Declared Near Nuclear Centre As Russia Faces Worst Heatwave In 1,000 Years
Emergency Declared Near Nuclear Centre As Russia Faces Worst Heatwave In 1,000 Years
09 August 2010
published by www.allheadlinenews.com
Russia — Russia has declared a state of emergency in Ozersk where a nuclear reprocessing plant is located. “The state of emergency has been imposed on the territory of Ozersk district and nearby forests in connection with [a] fire zone,” a statement published by local government said.
Authorities, which have already restricted public access to nearby forests, believe peat bog fires have caused this perticular situation.
Meanwhile, the death toll has doubled amid wildfires that continue to spread in the Russian capital. Talking to reporters, Moscow City Health Departments Chief Andrei Seltsovsky said that the number of bodies in citys morgues just doubled from 360-380 on normal day to around 700 people.
Just minutes later, Russian Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said that the unofficial figures quoted at the briefing had puzzled his ministry and urged Seltsovsky to give a formal clarification on this data.
The Emergency Ministry said some 25 peat fires were also among 557 wildfires that burnt Russia on Monday. The firefighters managed to extinguish 239 of them but discovered 247 new ones.
State Weather Service Chief Alexander Frolov claimed that this heatwave was worst in 1,000 years. “It’s an absolutely unique phenomenon – nothing like it can be seen in the archives,” he said.
A day after imposing a ban on grain exports, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned that there would be more shortfalls in the grain harvest compared to what predicted previously. Putin said that the harvest could be as low as 60 million tons due to this years fire and drought.
The premier also hinted that the export ban could be extended amid shortages in domestic markets. Egypt, Turkey and Syria are likely to be affected with this plan since they are the biggest importers of the third largest wheat exporter of the world.
