46 



fied, to share the process, perhaps a new process of understanding 

 where problems are, and then we can, as you say, respond to them. 



With that, the gentleman from Texas, my good friend, Mr. Geren. 



Mr. Geren. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Let me just say I appre- 

 ciate very much your working on this issue and bringing it to the 

 attention of the Congress and of the American people. 



I do not have any questions at this time. I most certainly have 

 found this very disturbing, very eye-opening, and I look forward to 

 this committee's continued work in this area and I commend our 

 panel today for their work in this area. 



Thank you, Mr. Chairman. 



Mr. Weldon. Thank you, Mr. Geren. 



I have a couple of followup questions and then we will thank you 

 both for being here. I think we have allowed our members to ask 

 their questions. 



Dr. Yablokov, there have been some reports of dumping of high- 

 level waste near Lake Karachi. Is that true? I understand that, in 

 fact, this could be more severe than any other of the existing sites 

 that we know about, and certainly it would even exceed the 1993 

 white paper, your report, the Yablokov Report. Since Lake Karachi 

 drains into other rivers leading to the Arctic Ocean, could you 

 elaborate on what you know about the dumping in Lake Karachi? 



Dr. Yablokov. I am sorry, I cannot follow. Would you repeat, 

 please, what is your question? 



Mr. Weldon. The reports of dumping high-level waste near Lake 

 Karachi and what extent that dumping has been. Are you aware 

 of it, and if so, to what extent has that dumping been? 



Dr. Yablokov. If I understand you correctly, I think the more 

 dangerous situation is not with dumping but with radioactive pol- 

 lution going through the Siberian River to the Arctic is potentially 

 much more dangerous, because we can lift the dumped containers, 

 the dumped submarines. It is possible to conduct in the next sev- 

 eral years. But what we have to do with the huge, many, many 

 times, much more polluted river. 



For example, the latest situation in Myak, you know Lake Kara- 

 chi is a more polluted, radioactively polluted place which contains 

 about 1 billion curies in one lake. They covered it sifter the tragedy 

 in 1961 when it was extremely dry season and some small [?] 

 catches radioactive dust and cover the secret city, Chelyabinsk- 70. 

 After this, they tried to do something with this lake, but to cover 

 it, it is concrete. 



My government allocates 5 billion rubles for this in the last year, 

 to cover this, and now it is near to the end. of this process. But 

 what happened, enormous pollution underground. Now, the lake is 

 dead. There is a huge body, underground body of heavily polluted 

 waters going through the Tobol River each year for 65 or 87 me- 

 ters, in large this water underground leaves. If this process will be 

 continued, in 5 years, the Tobol River, one of the tributaries of the 

 Ob, will be highly polluted. 



I asked my specialists, my advisors, my experts how we can stop 

 it. Technically, it is possible. We need only $6 or $8 billion to stop 

 the dispersion, the distribution, the ground distribution of this pol- 

 lution. Nobody has such money, nobody. 



