East Ural Nature Reserve ( ) is a Russian ' zapovednik ' ( strict nature reserve ) , that is near the site of the 1957 Kyshtym disaster , which involved radiation release . As a state " radiation reserve " , the site functions for the protection of a contaminated area , and for long-term scientific study of the effects of radiation on the forest-steppe ecology on the east slope of the southern Ural Mountains . The reserve is situated in the Ozyorsk , Chelyabinsk Oblast . It was formally established in 1968 , and covers . The reserve , as of 2007 , is under the control of Rosatom , a state-run corporation , which conducts regular radiation and radio ecological monitoring
Kyshtym disaster
Kyshtym disaster
East Ural Nature Reserve