News
Publish date: September 6, 1998
Written by: Thomas Nilsen
News
The signing of an insurance policy marks the first time in the history of Russia’s civilian nuclear fleet that the operations of the nuclear-powered ships are insured against liability claims. According to the August issue of Nuclear Engineering International, the insurance policy includes the ice-breakers Arctica, Sovetsky Souz, Taimyr, Vaigach, Yamal and Russia. It does not include, however, the Siberia, one of the oldest nuclear-powered ice-breakers, which has not been in operation for several years. Murmansk Shipping Company has long delayed the repair of Siberia for financial and technical reasons. The exclusion of Siberia from the insurance deal is an indicator that the vessels life could come to an end.
It is still a unanswered question why the civilian container ship Sevmorput is not included into the insurance policy of Murmansk Shipping Company. The Industrial Insurance Company has insured the nuclear-powered ice-breakers for all possible damage incurred by their operation. Russian companies, members of the nuclear pool, will reinsure the risk. Earlier this summer, the local branch of the state nuclear inspection agency Gosatomnadzor said they would not give the nuclear-powered ice-breakers permission to operate any longer after this autumn if the Murmansk Shipping Company did not obtain insurance coverage.
Recent attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "mark the beginning of a new and gravely dangerous front of the war," the UN atomic agency's director general said last week.
After years of inaction, Germany is working on its Carbon Management Strategy to resolve how CCS can play a role in climate action in industry. At the end of February, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action published first key points and a proposal to amend the law Kohlenstoffdioxid Speicherungsgesetz (KSpG). Bellona Deutschland, who was actively involved in the previous stakeholder dialogue submitted a statement in the association hearing.
In the midst of a global discussion on whether natural gas should be used as a transitional fuel and whether emissions from its extraction, production, transport and use are significantly less than those from other fossil fuels, Russia has developed ambitious plans to increase its own production of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the Arctic – a region with 75% of proven gas reserves in Russia – to raise its share in the international gas trade.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our main focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution risks and climate change.