News
Publish date: October 28, 2004
News
“All the external (construction) work has been finished and the main equipment shipped,” Vitaly Nasonov, spokesman for Russias Federal Atomic Energy Agency, told The Associated Press. Nasonov said Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev is scheduled to travel to Iran next month to sign agreements on shipping nuclear fuel to Iran and returning the spent fuel back to Russia. But industry sources say the signing depends on the outcome of a Nov. 25 International Atomic Energy Agency meeting, which would decide whether to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions.
The agreements have been delayed repeatedly. The United States fears that the $800 million Bushehr deal could help Tehran build nuclear weapons. Russia says that having Iran ship spent nuclear fuel back to Russia will make any such projects impossible. Nasonov said that if all goes as planned, the reactor should be launched in 2005 and connected to the countrys energy system in 2006. The ITAR-Tass news agency said that the reactors control and security equipment still had to be mounted. Most is being provided by Russian enterprises but Iran will buy some from other countries, the news agency said.
The 1,000-megawatt Bushehr plant is due to be launched in the next year or so and reach full capacity in 2006.
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.