News
Publish date: June 4, 2008
News
On Wednesday, the Slovenian nuclear power plant reported the beginning of a shut down of a reactor and a reduction in its power due to problems with its cooling system.
“There was a leak of cooling liquid from the primary cooling system of the Krsko Nuclear Power Plan,” the European Commission statement read.
The plant is taking safety measures. So far no contamination of the surrounding environment or of any of the plant workers has been observed, said the release.
The Krsko Nuclear Power Plant is located some 100 kilometres to the east of Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital. The plant was built in the late 1980s and is co-owned by Slovenia and neighbouring Croatia.
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.