News
Publish date: November 18, 2004
News
Yagrinsky Bridge in Severodvinsk connecting Zvezdochka plant engaged in nuclear submarine dismantling, with the continent. The bridge was built 50 years ago and was not originally designed to sustain 160 tonnes trains loaded with spent nuclear fuel. The new project includes construction of the new railway bridge and reconstruction of the old one, which is to become 3 meters wider for the traffic. The price tag for the whole project is about $15m. The project has to pass the final expert authority in Moscow for approval. Zvezdochka plant is hoping to get financing from the state budget and some part from the Northern Dimension fund operating in the frames of Global Partnership program. However, the media sources reported that the state budget had no money for the bridge repairs. The construction is scheduled to start next year and finish by 2007, Dvina-Inform reports.
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.