News
Publish date: June 18, 1999
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
The Co-operative Threat Reduction (CTR) umbrella agreement governing legal issues between the United States and Russia was renewed on 16 June. The old agreement expired at midnight the same day.
CTR was launched in 1991, when the U.S. Congress directed the Department of Defence to help secure former Soviet weapons of mass destruction. Since 1991, Congress has provided $2.3 billion to support CTR efforts. The program is also known as the Nunn-Lugar program. Since 1992, CTR developed a specific program for dismantling ballistic missile submarines (SSBN) required under START-1 arms reduction treaty.
With the Kosovo conflict, which put on hold all the official military contacts between Russia and the U.S., the Pentagon was anxious for a program shutdown. But despite heavy rhetoric between the two countries, CTR received seven-year extension.
CTR’s budget request for fiscal year 2000, starting October 1, 1999, is $460 million, up $20 million from fiscal year 1999.
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.