News
Publish date: August 11, 2005
News
An 18-year-old worker was killed at the Zvezdochka plant in Severodvinsk as fuel and lubricant fumes exploded inside a submarine that was undergoing recycling. Another worker, aged 22, died in intensive care afterwards.
“We intend to shake up all the units that have anything to do with hazardous operations,” Rostistav Rimdenok, chief engineer of the Nerpa 1 ship repair plant, told Interfax. Nerpa 1 is recycling two multipurpose Project 671 (Victor-III) nuclear submarines with funds provided by Britain and Norway.
“The tragedy that took place at Zvyozdochka is something for everyone in the industry to think about,” Rimdenok said. “It proves yet again that all risks should be taken into account during the recycling processes,” he said. Rimdenok said Britain and Norway might “set stricter standards for safety rules” after the incident.
Recycling at Zvezdochka is financed by Canada as part of the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, a program approved at a 2002 summit of the Group of Eight industrialized countries (G8).
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.