News
Publish date: May 26, 1997
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
Loading of the TK-18 containers started on May 22. The train is planned to leave Severodvinsk by the end of May, carrying spent fuel removed from Naval service ship PM-63 (project 2020, Malina class). The train will be able to take approx. one third of the fuel assemblies currently stored onboard the vessel.
Prior to the arrival at Severodvinsk the train underwent repairs at Mayak plant in Siberia. According to Mayak official Evgenij Ryzhkov, one of the container cells of the train was damaged, and a shortage of funds slowed down the repair operation. In the meantime, PM-63 in Severodvinsk was inspected by the Northern Fleet’s technical control authorities in the beginning of April. Out of 67 checked loading mechanisms onboard, only 4 were functioning properly. The inspection concluded that the boat requires overhaul repairment. Allthough unconfirmed, the Bellona Web reckon that these repairs have not been carried out, since Severodvinsk has still not received the state money to cover all its salary arrears.
Operations at Mayak reprocessing plant itself, where the spent fuel is to be treated, are currently suspended by the Russian State Nuclear Inspection (Gosatomnadzor). Neither Mayak nor Gosatomnadzor officials in Moscow could name a date for the reprocessing facility to be put into operation again. Apparently, the Severodvinsk spent fuel is to be stored for an unknown period of time at one of Mayak’s storage facilities.
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.