
Russia’s Chernobyl-style reactors to keep operating until the end of the decade
Recent announcements by Russian nuclear officials that they will extend the runtimes of several Chernobyl-style RBMK nuclear reactors shed light on t...
News
Publish date: February 3, 2000
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
A new nuclear powered icebreaker called “50 Year Victory Anniversary” (named after the victory in the Second World War) might join Russia’s civilian nuclear fleet in the Arctic in three years, Business St. Petersburg news agency reported.
The construction of the ninth Russian nuclear icebreaker was launched back in 1989 at the Baltic shipyard in St. Petersburg and was due to enter service in 1994. Due to scarce funding, and a reduction of cargo shipments in the Arctic regions of Siberia, the construction has been virtually frozen the past years. “50 Year Victory Anniversary” has two reactors of KLT-40 design.
This year, the Russian government has pledged to earmark around $3.5 million annually to complete the construction of the vessel. But the manager of the shipyard, Oleg Shulyakovsky, says it is still not enough. According Mr. Shulyakovsky, around $25 million is required annually to complete the icebreaker in three years. Otherwise, as some sceptics put it, the name of the icebreaker would have to be changed to “80 Year Victory Anniversary.”
Russia has 8 nuclear powered icebreakers and one nuclear lighter ship – all of them stationed at the Atomflot base in Murmansk and operated by Murmansk Shipping Company. The first nuclear powered icebreaker Lenin was taken out of service in 1989 and will be converted into a museum if funding is at place.
Recent announcements by Russian nuclear officials that they will extend the runtimes of several Chernobyl-style RBMK nuclear reactors shed light on t...
Europe’s only multi-source, injection-ready CO₂ storage site will more than triple its capacity by 2028. The decision follows an agreement with Stockholm Exergi to transport and store up to 800 – 900 kilotonnes of CO₂ per year. “This decision is years in the making, and the culmination of decades of hard work from many, Bellona included” says Bellona Europa Director Jonas Helseth.
Days after the Trump administration floated the idea of assuming control of Ukraine’s embattled Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant as part of the nascent pea...
During a call between President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump, the US leader reportedly floated an unusual idea—that Ky...