News
Publish date: May 18, 1998
Written by: Thomas Nilsen
News
– Each of the 150-kilogram containers holds a single capsule with about one cubic centimetre of Cesium-137. If taken out of its containers, the capsule can radiate up to 400 roentgens per hour, says Pyotr Lazarev at the police headquarters in Volgograd in an interview with The Moscow Times. This can cause serious harm or even death to anyone coming into close contact with it.
The Cesium was used in electronic equipment that monitors chemical processes inside the oil refinery. The police have identified a circle of suspects, possibly employees at the LUKoil refinery. A police source in Volgograd says the thieves could well try to sell the isotopes abroad. Many countries do not produce Cesium-137, so there is a certain demand on the black market for this isotope, which could be used by terrorists in "dirty-bombs" or other terrorist acts. Cesium-137 is a waste product from nuclear reactors and has a half-life of 37 years.
Numerous containers of radioactive material have disappeared from metallurgy plants and other facilities in the former Soviet Union in recent years. Lack of an inventory makes it extremely difficult to draw up reliable statistics on the amount of nuclear material that disappears. In Russia there is no nation-wide inventory for Cesium-137 and most facilities using this isotope have no means to detect thefts. The theft from Volgograd was the second so far in May this year. Two containers of Cesium-137 were stolen from a cobalt smelter in the southern Siberian republic of Tuva. The containers were recovered on May 6 on the factory grounds. According to the General Prosecutor’s Office in Moscow, at least 10 serious thefts of radioactive material occurred between 1991 and 1994. According to a compilation by the Bellona Magazine, more than 170 attempts to smuggle radioactive material out of the former Soviet Union have been made since 1993. However, this figure is only based on unsuccessful attempts uncovered by the authorities.
Western countries have repeatedly expressed concern about poor security and lack of proper inventories at Russian nuclear storage facilities. Both Finland and Norway have increased their border controls in order to stop possible attempts to smuggle radioactive material. The Finnish border to Russia in the north is equipped with a vehicle monitoring post, while the Norwegian customs officers at the Storskog border post with Russia are equipped with hand-held radiation monitors.
Recent attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "mark the beginning of a new and gravely dangerous front of the war," the UN atomic agency's director general said last week.
After years of inaction, Germany is working on its Carbon Management Strategy to resolve how CCS can play a role in climate action in industry. At the end of February, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action published first key points and a proposal to amend the law Kohlenstoffdioxid Speicherungsgesetz (KSpG). Bellona Deutschland, who was actively involved in the previous stakeholder dialogue submitted a statement in the association hearing.
In the midst of a global discussion on whether natural gas should be used as a transitional fuel and whether emissions from its extraction, production, transport and use are significantly less than those from other fossil fuels, Russia has developed ambitious plans to increase its own production of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the Arctic – a region with 75% of proven gas reserves in Russia – to raise its share in the international gas trade.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our main focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution risks and climate change.