News
Publish date: December 8, 2006
News
Rosatom’s position is that foreign spent nuclear fuel should not be imported as there is still no available reprocessing technology. “We mainly import Russian spent nuclear fuel,” – said Kiriyenko.
Rosatom is “extremely careful” concerning income to the state budget from spent nuclear fuel import, added Kiriyenko. He mentioned that such contracts are “not unprofitable”.
According to Kiriyenko, Russia receives a limited number of the spent nuclear fuel assemblies, mostly from Ukraine, Bulgaria and other countries what is mentioned in the appropriate contracts.
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.
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