Russia already has territories that have been exposed to plutonium contamination, including the area around the industrial complex Mayak in Chelyabinsk Region, the birthplace of the Soviet weapons-grade plutonium production program and the location of Russia’s only spent fuel reprocessing plant. The area also suffered massive contamination as a result of the severe radiation accident known as the 1957 Kyshtym disaster. Above: a radiation warning sign on the river Techa near Mayak. (Photo: Alla Slapovskaya, Alisa Nikulina/ Ecodefense/ Heinrich Boell Stiftung Russia)