fresh leaks from the Chernobyl nuclear plant have revived fears about whether the plant should stay open. Recently, officials suddenly closed the plant's only working reactor. Authorities admitted

Russia continues to produce toxic chemicals even as its production and use has been banned in other countries

the old, frail and battered Mir

the rusting fleet of decommissioned nuclear submarines in Russia may pose serious threats to the environment, say environmentalists and military experts. "The danger of nuclear waste remains

Popigai

social and economic upheaval in Russia, along with the influx of heroin and other illegal drugs, have led to a rapid increase in the number of drug addicts. This rise is shadowed by a steep

nearly 63 miners died in a methane gas explosion which took place in the Skochinsky coalmine, Donetsk, Ukraine. This was one of the Ukraine's worst mining disasters. Some 600 persons were

The problems with the Mir space station do not seem to get over. On January 2, its main computer broke down again taking the orientation system off-line in the process. Mir's main computer broke down

norwegian environmental engineers say that at least half a million people on the Kola peninsula in northern Russia are drinking water contaminated with raw sewage and heavy metals. They warn that