East Ural Nature Reserve (Шаблон:Lang-ru) is a Russian 'zapovednik' (strict nature reserve) that is near the site of the 1957 Kyshtym disaster, the world's second highest radioactivity release after Chernobyl. As a state "radiation reserve", the site functions for the protection of a contaminated area, and for long-term scientific study of the effects of radiation on the forest-steppe ecology on the east slope of the southern Ural Mountains. The reserve is situated in the Ozyorsk, Chelyabinsk Oblast. It was formally established in 1968, and covers Шаблон:Convert. The reserve, as of 2007, is under the control of Rosatom, a state-run corporation, which conducts regular radiation and radio ecological monitoring.[1][2][3]
Файл:Map of the East Urals Radioactive Trace.pngTrack of the radiation plume from the Kyshtym event; the East Ural Reserve covers approximately a quarter of the trace in the southwest near the release site.
The East Ural Reserve is oblong in shape, pointing towards the northeast, with a width of approximately 10 km and a length of 50 km.
Ecoregion and climate
East Ural Nature Reserve is located in the West Siberian taiga ecoregion, a region that covers the West Siberian Plain, from the Urals to the Central Siberian Plateau. It is a region of extensive conifer boreal forests, and also extensive wetlands, including bogs and mires.[4]
