News
Publish date: February 8, 2008
News
The waste-laden ship, which is moored in the Kola Bay, poses a major threat against the city of Murmansk, environmental organizations including Bellona, say.
Project manager Nikolai Shunkov was quoted in the paper as saying the first phase of the project included elaborating documentation and preparting the Nerpa Shipyard in Sneznogorsk near Murmansk to handle the delicate work.
Representatives of the Aspekt-Konversia company confirmed to the paper that a grant agreement will be signed with the EBRD in late February or early March this year.
The technical support vessel Lepse presents the biggest nuclear and radiation risk of all retired nuclear service ships in Russia, Bellona has reported. In 1988, the vessel was taken out of service. The Lepse’s spent nuclear fuel hull holds 639 spent fuel assemblies in casks and caissons, and a significant portion of them is severely damaged, dramatically complicating procedures for safely removing them.
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.