Donetsk, Nov 3 - DAN. The statement by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister, deputy head of the Kiev delegation in the Contact Group Alexey Reznikov about the ecological disaster in Donbass because of the situation at the Yuny Kommunar mine in Yenakievo is not true to the fact, Donetsk People’s Republic representative in the Contact Group, DPR Foreign Minister Natalia Nikonorova said on Tuesday.
Reznikov made the statement at the Kiev security forum on October 23. He alleged that the stoppage of the pumping of water from the mine where a nuclear explosion was carried out in 1979 would result in an ecological disaster in Donbass within the next few months. In this connection, Kiev requested the International Atomic Energy Agency to carry out an expert examination at the mine.
“Instead of engaging in productive activity towards the real settlement of the conflict in Donbass, Ukrainian officials devote their time to inventing new pretexts for information provocations and fakes. Ukrainian Minister for “reintegration of Donbass” Alexey Reznikov alleged that radioactive water was seeping from the mine into drinking water reservoirs. However, this information is at variance with the facts,” Nikonorova said in a statement received by the Donetsk News Agency.
The decision on turning off water pumping systems and transfer of the mine to the “wet” mothballing phase was made in 2017 after complex inspection of the facility by specialised research organisations including organisations from Russia, she said. Following the inspection, experts drew a conclusion which made this decision possible.
DPR representatives at the Minsk talks repeatedly offered Ukraine to formulate and send an enquiry regarding the Yuny Kommunar mine. “However, we have not received any enquiries from Ukrainian representatives up to date,” the DPR diplomat said.
“We reiterate that the situation at the Yuny Kommunar mine is stable; specialists constantly monitor it. We hide nothing and are ready to directly send all the available materials, reports and expert conclusions to the IAEA,” Nikonorova said.
The Yuny Kommunar mine is located in Yunokommunarovsk which is part of Yenakievo. The enterprise belonged to the Ordzhonikidzeugol association. To decrease the possibility of methane emissions, a nuclear explosion was carried out in the eastern wing of the mine at a depth of 903 meters on September 16, 1979. The yield of the charge was 250 to 300 kilogrammes of TNT. The place of the explosion was sealed with 11 concrete blocks and the tunnel adjacent to the chamber where the charge had been placed was fully filled with concrete.*jk