Bellona nuclear digest. July 2024
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
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Publish date: May 24, 2000
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The State Environmental Committee of Arkhangelsk County had earlier set a limit of 32 reactor cores allowed in the city’s harbour. At present, 44 reactors with spent fuel inside are located in the water area of Severodvinsk. Each Russian nuclear submarine is normally equipped with two reactors. The city of Severodvinsk hosts two shipyards, Sevmash and Zvezdochka, involved in decommissioning and repair of nuclear powered submarines.
Anatoly Shushkanov, deputy chairman of the envirocommittee, said that the shipyards were not capable of scrapping such numbers of retired nuclear submarines at a time. “We should not continue transforming the city into a nuclear damp, posing a threat to people’s health,” Mr. Shushkanov said.
The ban does not spread over active submarines, entering Severodvinsk to undergo repairs and upgrade.
In 1999, spent nuclear fuel from four submarine reactors was shipped from Severodvinsk to the Mayak reprocessing plant in the southern Ural. According to the envirocommittee that is the limit difficult to overcome. Thus, it might take up to three years to reduce the number of reactor cores from 44 down to 32.
The envirocommittee used to file the same demands earlier, but the military would never follow them. After abolishment of the State Committee on Environmental Protection in Moscow a couple of weeks ago, the military is quite unlikely to follow the demand this time either.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
Transport on the Northern Sea Route is not sustainable, and Kirkenes must not become a potential hub for transport along the Siberian coast. Bellona believes this is an important message Norway should deliver in connection with the Prime Minister's visit to China. In an open letter to Jonas Gahr Støre, Bellona asks the Prime Minister to make it clear that the Chinese must stop shipping traffic through the Northeast Passage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, with the agency’s director-general warning that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station remains “precarious and very fragile.”
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.