Bellona nuclear digest. August 2024
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
News
Publish date: May 14, 1997
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
The machinery, manufactured in the United States by Huges Aircraft Systems International, was delivered to Nerpa a few years ago, but has been idling ever since. The original plans considered the machinery part of a complex including a land-based dock with special submarines dismantling equipment. Lack of funding postponed commissioning of the complex, which should have been ready by 1996. On June 28 1996 the construction works were suspended.
The final works on the plasma torch was paid by the US, as a part of the Start-II weapons reduction agreement. According to management at Nerpa, 13.5 million USD allocated in the state budget for construction of the decommissioning complex were frozen. By the middle of May the yard had received only 200,000 USD. The lack of a decommissioning complex means that only a quarter of the American machinery’s operational capacity can be exploited.
Similar machinery, also delivered by US companies, was commissioned by the end of November 1996 at Severodvinsk yard and Zvezdochka. The Americans covered all the expenses including training of personnel to operate the equipment.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
Kazakhstan voted in a referendum last weekend on whether to build its first nuclear power plant, and an exit poll showed voters backed the idea promoted by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's cabinet in an effort to phase out coal plants.
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.
Introduction Competitiveness has been the dominating topic in EU political discussions in recent months and is set to be a key focus of the upcomi...