In one of the municipal rubbish dumps in Minsk (Belarus), the employees of the city cleaning company found strange jars with signs for radioactive materials. They immediately called the radiation and chemical rescue. The experts have measured and it turned out that the substances are really radioactive.
Mysterious jars were in a white, plastic bucket next to containers on Sierdzicza The area was fenced, and then the experts in special suits examined the area around the garbage dump. Measurements have shown that the level of radioactivity is four times the natural background. Exceeding standards was noticed within one meter of the containers. At a distance of two meters, radiation was normal.
There were five jars with powdered substances in the bucket. After examination, it was found that they were, inter alia, uranium compounds (uranyl nitrate, uranyl sulfate, uranyl chloride and uranium trioxide). Radioactive materials were transported to the nuclear research center of Sosna near Minsk. After examination, it was found that these were uranium compounds and other dangerous substances (uranyl nitrate, uranyl sulfate, uranyl chloride and uranium trioxide). Access to such substances is very limited, so the police could not understand why they were in the trash. It was decided to interview the local residents.
5kgs of Uranium trioxide, uranium oxychloride and uranyl nitrate was found at garbage containers in central Minsk https://t.co/c69HLx8Hay via @CurrentTimeTv #Belarus pic.twitter.com/lTmBLkqp0A
— Liveuamap (@Liveuamap) March 15, 2019
After a few hours, they found a woman who admitted that she had thrown out the jars when she cleaned the flat after her deceased grandmother. The old lady was almost 80 years old when she died, and her flat was inherited by her granddaughter. The woman began to clean up, and when she found the strange jars, she took them to the dustbin together with other trash. She did not know that these were radioactive substances. It is not known why the old lady decided to keep them at home…
The ministry of emergency services announced that the re-measurement of the area surrounding the local rubbish dump no longer showed contamination.
