News
Publish date: April 16, 1998
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
Jevgeniy Adamov, the newly appointed minister for atomic energy, told journalists on April 6 that Moscow wants to sign a new contract with Iran on constructing a nuclear reactor for research purposes, Interfax reported. According to Adamov, the reactor would use uranium with enrichment of 20 percent or less in compliance with IAEA requirements. The new possible Russian-Iranian project is to be launched on the background of on-going construction by Russians a nuclear power plant for Iran. The latter project has already caused outrage from both the United States and Israel, which fear Russian assistance could help Iran obtain nuclear weapons.
On another tack, Yuriy Orlov, director of Centre for Policy Studies in Russia based in Moscow, accused Iran of attempts to acquire Russian ballistic missile technology. At a press-conference held on April 13, Orlov, referring to the exclusive information provided to the Centre by the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), stated that Iran committed several attempts to buy such a technology only during the year 1997.
Throughout the past year, our mission at the Bellona Environmental Transparency Center has focused on two key, but intertwined issues—nuclear and radiation safety as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine drags on, and the worldwide influence of Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, which itself is actively involved in the war and has participated in the occupation of a Ukrainian nuclear power plant.
At the beginning of the year, reports in the German and Russian press suggested an approximate 70% increase in uranium imports from Russia to Germany in 2024. But does this reflect broader European trends? It does not. Overall, imports of uranium and nuclear fuel from Russia to Western countries actually dropped sharply in 2024. Unlike the situation in Germany, this is already an established trend.
A Lingen, Germany plant could begin producing nuclear fuel in cooperation with a subsidiary of Rosatom, Russia's state nuclear corporation, which is directly involved in the war in Ukraine and occupying the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.