News
Publish date: August 3, 1998
News
IVO Power Engineering Ltd. and Murmansk Shipping Company signed an agreement in the end of December 1996, on delivery of "Nures" to "Atomflot", the nuclear-powered ice-breakers’ base in Murmansk. In February the partners joined with the Northern Fleet, signing a letter of intent on installation of the facility at the navy base at Andreeva guba.
"Nures" has a capacity of 200 litres per hour, and has successfully processed 150 cubic meters of low salted radioactive water from the storage facilities of Murmansk Shipping Company. The next 150 cubic meters of radioactive water to be processed at "Atomflot", will contain higher grades of salts and chemicals. The facility operates on a sorbation principle, prompting replacement of the filters after each 100 cubic meters of liquid waste processed. On March 12 this year, "Atomflot" received four filters after a month-long fight with the Russian customs.
At Andreeva guba, the Northern Fleet has set two conditions: That the actual processing is performed by Russian specialists from "Atomflot"; and that additional pipelines are constructed. Apparently the Finnish side will agree to this and finance the additional construction works. Given stable funding, the preparatory works should be carried out within four months. The amount of waste to be processed at the Northern Fleet storage site is somewhere between 1,500 and 2,000 cubic meters.
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.