June 5 – World Environment Day: UMP JSC summarizes environmental activities

AIR FORMULA

The main environmental measures are aimed at protecting the air basin from pollution by harmful substances. For this, the company uses special equipment. Cyclones and scrubbers, bag and aerosol filters, vortex and cyclone-foam devices, fibrous stuffed filters protect the air of the regional center from emissions of beryllium, nitrogen dioxide, nitric and sulfuric acid, ammonia and hydrochloride. Payment for emissions into the environment in 2019 amounted to about 117 million tenge.

The factory laboratory makes about 13 thousand air samples annually. According to the results of last year, excesses of the established limits of harmful substances were not recorded. Moreover, the company's emissions are below the established annual limits. The total share of substances emitted by the plant is less than 0.1% of the total emissions of the city enterprises.

Today, the company is making the main efforts to reduce ammonia emissions, which make up almost half of the substances released into the air. Scientific and technical developments and searches in this direction are ongoing. A pilot gas treatment plant has already been tested at beryllium production. The new technology will allow for the comprehensive purification of beryllium production gases with a degree of neutralization of ammonia vapor of 95-97%. Its implementation will reduce the already small emission figures.

SHOW DOWN

Since 2008, a planned reconstruction of the hydraulic structures of the tailings has been carried out. At the same time, there is no increase in existing storage areas, and the available areas are reused. At the moment, the construction of the second stage of the evaporation pond (card) No. 5 is underway.

The evaporation pond is the receiver of industrial waste water of the enterprise, the liquid part of production waste. During modernization, modern building materials are used. The evaporation pond is equipped with an anti-filter screen at the bottom and a slope of modern geosynthetic materials with guaranteed trouble-free operation for 100 years. The water component of the waste placed here will gradually evaporate, eliminating the ingress of pollutants into groundwater. At the end of the operation of the evaporation ponds, reclamation will be carried out in accordance with environmental requirements.

The construction of the facility is included in the Comprehensive Plan of Measures to Improve the Environment of East Kazakhstan region for 2019-2022. The first phase of construction was completed last year, the second phase will be completed by the fall of 2020.

MEMORANDUM

On May 21, 2020, JSC UMP, the Department of Ecology in the East Kazakhstan Region and the Kazhydromet branch for East Kazakhstan region signed a tripartite Memorandum on cooperation in the event of adverse weather conditions (NMU).

Upon receipt of a forecast from Kazhydromet on the occurrence of NMU, UMP JSC shall implement measures to reduce emissions during this period. The Department of Ecology for East Kazakhstan, if necessary, after monitoring, recommends measures to improve the state of atmospheric air. Depending on the degree of NMU, UMP JSC shall be obliged to reduce productivity from 20 to 60% and cease operation of a number of emission sources.

GREENING

UMP employees planted birches, oaks, spruce, and also more than 10,000 shrubs on 55 hectares of their territory and in the sanitary protection zone in 2019. Landscaping will be continued this year.

CLEAN IS WHERE YOU CLEAN

In September 2019, as part of an environmental campaign, UMP employees cleared the Ulba coastline of half a kilometer from debris. The event involved 40 volunteers and factory equipment. As a result, the factory workers took out 120 tons of garbage!

• Ulba Metallurgical Plant JSC is one of the world's recognized producers of uranium, beryllium, tantalum and niobium products for the needs of nuclear energy, electronic, metallurgical industry and other fields of activity. The enterprise is a part of the National Atomic Company Kazatomprom.

• NAC Kazatomprom JSC is a world leader in natural uranium mining and a national operator in the Republic of Kazakhstan for the import and export of uranium, rare metals and nuclear fuel for nuclear power plants. The Kazatomprom group of companies includes 46 enterprises with over 20,000 employees. Assets include all the complexes of enterprises involved in the production chain of final products – from exploration, uranium mining and nuclear fuel production, to science, social security and training.