Bellona nuclear digest. July 2024
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
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Publish date: July 3, 1997
Written by: Igor Kudrik
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The delivery is a result of negotiations held in the end of February this year, between representatives of the Finnish company "Ivo Power", Murmansk Shipping Company and the Northern Fleet. Reaching a principal agreement, the group signed a letter of intent on delivery of the specialised liquid radioactive waste mobile facility, dubbed "Nures", to the Northern Fleet. The processing facility will be transported to Aandreva Guba (Zapadnaya Lutsa) for a few months testing.
"Nures" successfully operated at the former Soviet Navy Paldiski training centre in Estland. During the last few months the facility processed 150 cubic meters of radioactive water at the base of nuclear-powered ice-breakers – "Atomflot" – in Murmansk. –An additional 150 cubic meters will be processed in the near future, says Murmansk Shipping Company spokesman Vladimir Blinov. The facility needs further testing in Andreeva Guba, because of the differences between radioactive wastes from Finnish nuclear power plants, nuclear ice-breakers and the nuclear-powered submarines.
Andreeva Guba hosts the only operational storage facility for used nuclear fuel in the Northern Fleet. Liquid radioactive waste is stored in five underground tanks in Andreeva Guba, each of which has a capacity of 400 cubic meters. Early in the 1960s, construction of an onshore radioactive water processing plant was launched. The plant was never put into operation. Currently the Northern Fleet is delivering some of its liquid radioactive waste to "Atomflot" for purification. "Atomflot" is operating an experimental onshore radioactive water processing facility which has an annual capacity of 1200 cubic meters. The total processing need of "Atomflot" and the Northern Fleet together is in the area of 5000 cubic meters anually.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
Transport on the Northern Sea Route is not sustainable, and Kirkenes must not become a potential hub for transport along the Siberian coast. Bellona believes this is an important message Norway should deliver in connection with the Prime Minister's visit to China. In an open letter to Jonas Gahr Støre, Bellona asks the Prime Minister to make it clear that the Chinese must stop shipping traffic through the Northeast Passage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, with the agency’s director-general warning that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station remains “precarious and very fragile.”
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.