Monthly Highlights from the Russian Arctic, October 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.
News
The ship Mayo will arrive to Kirkenes on July 19th. Russian officials say that the ship has to pick up equipment for cutting off the bow part of the Kursk in Kirkenes. The further schedule looks fuzzy. The head of Mommoet office in Russia, Vyacheslav Zakharov, says the communication between the different participants of the lifting operation should be better.
To slice torpedo section off starting in August 8th
Earlier official reports suggested the torpedo section of the submarine would be cut off by August 7th. Today the schedule for this part of the operation seems to be moving beyond August 8th.
Although the Mayo ship arrives to Kirkenes on July 19th, the equipment is has to pick up will be delivered from Amsterdam only in a week time, according to Vyacheslav Zakharov. Whether the ship will stay in Kirkenes the whole time is unclear.
Instead, Mayo was using equipment onboard to conduct a closer survey of the Kursk and to wash out the debris and sediments around the destroyed torpedo section, preparing to cut it off.
Journalists shipped to Kursk
99 journalists were shipped to the place of the Kursk wreck to watch the Barents Sea on Klavdiya Yelanskaya boat, operated by Murmansk Shipping Company. The ship came back to Murmansk on July 18th.
On the way out of the Kola Bay, the journalists could see the dry dock at shipyard No. 82, where the Kursk is to be placed. The dock was occupied by nuclear powered cruiser Peter the Great. The cruiser according to the plans will join the lifting operation, given it is repaired on time.
Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority given no risk assessment or access
The Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, NRPA, held a press conference after meeting of the Norwegian governmental Committee on Nuclear Accidents. The meeting was solely devoted to the upcoming Kursk lifting operation.
The head of NRPA, Ole Harbitz, said at the press conference that even the worst-case scenarios would lead to no harmful damage of the environment or human health. But what upset Mr Harbitz most of all was the denial of the Russian officials to co-operate with NRPA on any matters regarding the lifting operation. The NRPA was denied access to monitor the situation during the operation. Russian officials provided no risk assessment information either.
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.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
A visit last week by Vladimir Putin and a Kremlin entourage to Astana, Kazakhstan sought in part to put Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, on good footing with local officials.
Russia is formally withdrawing from a landmark environmental agreement that channeled billions in international funding to secure the Soviet nuclear legacy, leaving undone some of the most radioactively dangerous projects and burning one more bridge of potential cooperation with the West.