Bellona nuclear digest. July 2024
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
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Minister promised nuclear icebreaker by the end of 2006
Publish date: September 29, 2005
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Minister promised nuclear icebreaker by the end of 2006
Nuclear icebreaker 50 Let Pobedy, or 50th anniversary of Victory, the only icebreaker under construction in Russia, can be finished by the end of 2006, the Russian transport minister Igor Levitin said to the journalists in Vladivostok on September 18.
He added that all nuclear icebreakers would be taken out of operation by 2015 and at the moment a new nuclear icebreaker design is being developed. Besides, his ministry has an idea to attract funds from the Russian Investment fund to sponsor nuclear icebreaker construction, Interfax reported.
The Russian state budget is allocating $5.7m in 2006 for the icebreaker construction when $26.6$ is needed. Icebreaker 50 years of Victory’s completion was originally scheduled for 1995, but financial difficulties led to the numerous delays and this year Russia already celebrated 60th anniversary of Victory, but the icebreaker is still not finished.
The keel of the icebreaker was laid in 1989 and it was put into the water at the end of 1993. But due to the lack of financing, construction was suspended. Partial financing was renewed in the late 1990s. A contract for completing the ship was signed by Baltiysky shipyard and the government in February 2003. It will join the other nuclear icebreakers run by the Murmansk Shipping Company in Murmansk.
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Bellona urges Norway’s Prime Minister to not support Northern Sea Route development
Transport on the Northern Sea Route is not sustainable, and Kirkenes must not become a potential hub for transport along the Siberian coast. Bellona believes this is an important message Norway should deliver in connection with the Prime Minister's visit to China. In an open letter to Jonas Gahr Støre, Bellona asks the Prime Minister to make it clear that the Chinese must stop shipping traffic through the Northeast Passage.
IAEA issues report on war-ravaged Ukrainian nuclear plant
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, with the agency’s director-general warning that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station remains “precarious and very fragile.”
Monthly Highlights from the Russian Arctic, July 2024
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.