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Publish date: September 3, 2004
News
A substantial contribution to the further development of good-neighbourly relations between the two countries, the politician believes, can be made by a Russian-Japanese programme for scrapping the decommissioned submarines of the Pacific Fleet. “The government of Japan has already allocated 180 million dollars for the realisation of this major and important military and environmental project,” said Kazunori.
The Japanese delegation visited the town of Bolshoi Kamen, where at the Zvezda shipyard recycling nuclear submarines, it got acquainted with progress in the disposal of Victor 3 Class nuclear submarines. In the current year, with financial support from Japan, Zvezda is already scrapping the first Victor 3 submarine. The dismantling of the next nuclear submarine is planned for 2005. All in all, there are more than 40 decommissioned submarines of the Russian Pacific Fleet waiting for disposal. Japan has already poured 250 million dollars in the Star of Hope decommissioning programme, AFP reported.
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.