News
Publish date: July 10, 1998
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
DoD has apparently decided to study ways of accelerating the nuclear-powered submarines dismantlement in the Russian Pacific Fleet located in the Far East by shipping spent fuel from the subs to Mayak for intermediate storage. The unresolved question of what to do with spent nuclear fuel from the submarines taken out of service is one of the major factors stalling the implementation of START I commitments. Thus, by solving this issue, DoD can proceed at a faster pace towards the objective of the SLBM launcher elimination project within CTR.
CTR, referred to as well as Nunn-Lugar program, was launched in November 1991. The U.S. Congress authorised $1.6 billion for the program. This congressional effort provided DoD with the authority to fund assistance to the former Soviet states to dismantle and destroy weapons of mass destruction and to strengthen the security of nuclear weapons and fissile materials in connection with dismantlement. The SLBM launcher elimination project aims at assisting in the distruction of 480 SLBM launchers and the dismantlement of 31 ballistic missile submarines to meet START I requirements. The funding for the project obligated to date is some $39,5 million.
A similar project on shipping spent nuclear fuel from the Russian Northern Fleet submarines is under way under a co-operative project between Russia and four western companies. The project objective is to build a new storage facility at Mayak for spent nuclear fuel. This project is also listed in the Norwegian-Russian agreement aimed at environmental cleanup in the Arctic. The agreement was signed in May this year.
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.