Often, once the oil extraction activity stops, waste remains and constitutes a hazard. In Kazakhstan there are 19 oilfields with 1485 oil wells in the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea, including 148 in the flooded zone. Drilling technology in the 1960s to 1980s did not account for the corrosive nature of seawater and its effects on metal casing and lay head. Over time, wells have become considerable sources of marine pollution. Some 600 000...

Often, once the oil extraction activity stops, waste remains and constitutes a hazard. In Kazakhstan there are 19 oilfields with 1485 oil wells in the coastal zone of the Caspian Sea, including 148 in the flooded zone. Drilling technology in the 1960s to 1980s did not account for the corrosive nature of seawater and its effects on metal casing and lay head. Over time, wells have become considerable sources of marine pollution. Some 600 000...

The environmental legacy associated with extraction industries is all too familiar. Badly operated or abandoned mining sites have already caused severe pollution, some with impacts spilling across national boundaries: heavy metal spills from Baia Borsa tailings in Romania; the cyanide spill from Baia Mare in Romania; heavy metal spills from Sasa tailings in Macedonia; and various releases at Majdanpek and Veliki Majdan in Serbia, and Mojkovac in ...

Economic conditions have led to the almost complete closure of old Soviet era industrial complexes. Neither the Rustavi and Zestafoni chemical and metallurgy plants or the Chiatura and Tkibuli mines still function. However, the piles of unused chemicals and heavy metal stocks that still litter these sites pose a very real threat to the local people and environment. In addition, about 300 military sites fulfi lling various purposes – including ro...

More than three-quarters of nuclear reactors currently in service are more than 20 years old. After an average service life of 30 years it takes 20 more years to dismantle them. The spent fuel figures for 2002 are national projections. Quantities fluctuated strongly in the United Kingdom, partly due to variations in electricity output from nuclear power. Decommissioning of several older power stations explains the peaks.