Because of the secrecy surrounding Mayak, the
populations of affected areas were
not initially informed of the accident. A week later (on 6 October) an operation for evacuating 10,000 people
from the affected area started, still without
giving an explanation of the reasons for evacuation. People "grew hysterical with fear with the incidence of
unknown 'mysterious' diseases breaking
out. Victims were seen with skin 'sloughing off' their faces, hands and other exposed parts of their
bodies."[7]Although vague reports of a "catastrophic accident" began
appearing in the Western press in April 1958, it was only in 1976 that Zhores Medvedev made the nature and extent of the disaster known to the world.[8][9]Even
though the Soviet government suppressed
information about the figures, it is estimated that the direct exposure to radiation caused at least 200
cases of death from cancer.[10] "In 1992, a study conducted by the Institute of Biophysics at the
former Soviet Health
Ministry in Chelyabinsk found that 8,015 people had died within the preceding 32 years as a result of the
accident."[1]To reduce the spread of radioactive contamination after the accident, contaminated soil
was excavated and stockpiled in fenced
enclosures that were called "graveyards of the earth".[11]
Aftermath