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.
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.