Emets M.A.

The territory of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd Regions (Ukraine) is marked out to be a region of uranium ore primary extraction and primary processing due to its social, economical and environmental peculiarities. The Region has unique powerful industrial potential and development, but a few factors limit its social and economical effect. A lot of problems in such areas appeared for the last decade, and now they need to be solved.

The problems are mostly being caused by the enterprises of uranium ore extraction and processing within the Region for the half of the century. At the same time there were not any adequate activities of social (medical) and environmental protection during their work. All the mentioned factors caused the disbalance of socio-economical development of the Region and created negative conditions of environmental defense appropriate level support.

The population of the Region has to live and suffer in the zone of prolonged industrial radioactive contamination. Therefore, the Region is characterized as a territory with negative radioactive and ecological situation, which affects the environment and health, causes negative demographic situation, rate of employment, depopulation processes and level of living.

Especially dangerous are waste bank and tailing ponds of liquid low-active uranium ore processing wastes. They pollute ground water, low attitude atmosphere and soils. There are 90 mln ton of radiactive wastes, and total activity is 20 thousand Ci per year.

For urgent salvation of the problems following needs to be done:

• organisation of complex radiactive investigation within the territory of Dnipropetrovsk and Kirovograd uranium ore exctraction and processing regions due to energy cycle enterprises negative consequences and naure-industry contamination territories determination for further status setting and special activities determination for environmental protection;

• single united complex system creation of ecology-radioactive territory monitoring (for uranium ore exctraction and primary processing regions), moreover the region has such scientific, methodology, technical and organisation background;

• due to great amount of concentrated radioactive wastes (preserved in tailing ponds in the region) accelerate the development of effective remediation technologies, modern methods of environment influence reduction;

• accomplishment of certain activities for capacity growth of radioactive wastes treatment, their prolonged and safe preservation;

• activities accomplishment for social and economic assessment of tailing-ponds radioactive wastes use for extraction expediency;

• activisation of cooperation with international and European organizations as for the monitoring and environmental protection inclusion within the region of uranium ore extraction and primary processing.