News
Publish date: September 19, 1997
Written by: Thomas Nilsen
News
It was the concervative newspaper Washington Times which on August 28 speculated that there might have been a nuclear bomb test at the Russian test site at Novaya Zemlya on August 16. Both the Russian ministry of foreign affairs and the ministry of nuclear energy denied that Russia had performed a nuclear test.
The Air Force study says that the tremor detected near the test site was most likely a small earthquake. It was a seismic event approximately 130 kilometers southeast of the test sites and was located offshore in the Kara Sea, according to the classified report. A senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the basic elements of the Air Force report, but stated that no conclusion had been reached about whether or not it was a test.
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.