News
Publish date: December 8, 1997
Written by: Thomas Nilsen
News
Last week a collector containing radioactive water started to leak at Novovoronezh nuclear power plant in Russia. According to unofficial reports, a danger for radioactive gases hushing up from the ventilation system of the plant remains high. No official statements related to the event on NPP have been made public so far.
The nuclear power plant in Novovoronezh operates on two reactors of VVER-440 type and one reactor of VVER-1000 type. The reactor units were put in operation in 1971, 1972 and 1980 respectively.
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.