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Publish date: May 9, 2005
News
He said the safety of the Russian nuclear power plants is one of the three best in the world and they operated in the proper way. The only thing, which raises concerns, is the accumulation of the spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste at some nuclear power plants. This can lead to the situation when the reactor storage pools are filled up and cannot accommodate all spent nuclear fuel from the reactor during reloading. Zheleznogorsk Chemical Combine received licence for the new dry storage facility, but the construction works have not begun in full scale. If such tempo is kept, some reactors can face serious problems in 2007, Malyshev added.
Malyshev also mentioned about the increase of the technological incidents in the operation of the research reactors (26 in 2003, 31 in 2004), marine reactors (21 in 2003, 26 in 2004), nuclear sites (30 in 2003, 39 in 2004). The nuclear power plants, however, experienced fewer incidents last year (51 in 2003, 46 in 2004), MK-Novosti reported.
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.