News
Publish date: May 27, 2005
News
Canada is ready to work closely to solve the problem of Yagra bridge over Severnaya Dvina River connecting Yagry Island, where nuclear submarines are being dismantled, with mainland in Severodvinsk. In particular, Canada will ask the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development to give a grant for the bridge reconstruction from the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership. Canada also stated that its ready to manage this project, Interfax reported with the reference to the Canadian ambassadors speech in Severodvinsk.
The source in Severodvinsk administration said the bridge is called nuclear as the trains shipping out the spent nuclear fuel from Zvezdochka shipyard to Mayak plant in the South Ural, use it. The bridge was not originally designed for heavy trains loaded with spent nuclear fuel and the grant from the EBRD could help to solve this problem within one year. It is also planned to build a new bridge 12 meters away from the existing one and use it exclusively for the trains in the future. The old bridge will be repaired and the road for cars will become from 7 to 9 meters wider. This project costs about $15m and can take 30 months. The specialists guarantee nuclear and environmental safety of the bridge, Interfax reported.
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.