News
Publish date: July 30, 1998
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
"Blockading of railways presents a threat to nuclear and radiation safety in Russia", Chelyabinsk-based news agencies quoted Aleksandr Suslov, the acting manager of the Mayak reprocessing plant. Suslov said the special train carrying TK-18 containers with maritime spent nuclear fuel is due to arrive at Mayak. The train is currently loaded with submarine spent fuel from the Pacific Fleet. All the railways leading to Mayak are blocked by protesting miners. If the blockade is not lifted shortly the train will get stuck somewhere in Chelyabinsk county.
Two weeks ago a train reportedly laden with uranium on its way to the Siberian Chemical Combine in Tomsk County was blocked by miners as well.
Year’s third nuclear train
The train, which is due to arriving at Mayak reprocessing plant, is the third shipment of spent nuclear fuel from maritime reactors this year. The first train left Murmansk on January 30, carrying spent fuel from atomic ice breakers and nuclear-powered submarines. The second spent fuel shipment was performed from Severodvinsk in Arkhangelsk County in early April.
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.