News
Publish date: October 14, 2003
News
The combine did not expect any shipments of spent nuclear fuel from Bulgaria this year, but because of an unpaid debt by Ukraine, the combine could suffer financial problems, and a decision was made for Zheleznogorsk to receive a part of the Bulgarian fuel originally destined for the Mayak reprocessing plant located in the Urals. This off-schedule delivery should save the Krasnoyarsk region’s budget $3.5m. Ukraine also is expected to pay its debt to the combine by the end of the year, adding $2.3m to the local budget. Bulgaria may send spent nuclear fuel one more time this year, Regnum.ru 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.