Lake Karachay The lake accumulated some 4.44 exabecquerels (EBq) of radioactivity over less than one square mile of water, including 3.6 EBq of caesium-137 and 0.74 EBq of strontium-90. For comparison, the Chernobyl disaster released 0.085 EBq of caesium-137, a much smaller amount and over thousands of square miles. (The total Chernobyl release is estimated between 5 to 12 EBq of radioactivity, however essentially only caesium-134/137 [and to a lesser extent, strontium-90] contribute to land contamination because the rest is too short-lived). The sediment of the lake bed is estimated to be composed almost entirely of high level radioactive waste deposits to
Caesium-137 junkyards, and the glowing caesium salt sold to curious, unadvised buyers. This led to four confirmed deaths and several serious injuries from radiation contamination. Caesium gamma-ray sources that have been encased in metallic housings can be mixed in with scrap metal on its way to smelters, resulting in production of steel contaminated with radioactivity. The Kramatorsk radiological accident happened in 1989 when a small capsule containing highly radioactive caesium-137 was found inside the concrete wall of an apartment building in Kramatorsk, Ukrainian SSR. It is believed that the capsule, originally a part of a measurement device, was lost in the