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For information on waste issues at Paldiski, click
here
Near Saku, 59°17'37" N latitude, 24°42'2" E longitude.
During the Soviet era, Saku received solid and liquid radioactive waste
from Paldiski. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, lax security has made
Saku a prime target for metals theft. From 1991 to 1994, security was
reduced to one overnight guard for the 72 hectare facility, lighting on the
perimeter was poor, parts of the single fence had fallen, and the alarm
system for the storage vaults was broken. Out of concern over security
problems at Saku and Paldiski, Sweden and Finland have allocated $3.1
million and $14.1 million, respectively, to clean up both facilities. In
addition to these efforts, Estonia has tightened security around Saku and
has considered moving the nuclear waste from the site and closing the
facility in the near future.
Built at the beginning of the 1960s, the Saku dump
consists of 16 in-ground concrete-lined vaults for the disposal of solid
nuclear waste and one cylindrical tank for radioactive liquids. Nine of the
graves are full and have been covered with concrete. It is estimated that
the storage facilities will be full by the year 2010.
9/97: ESTONIAN FIRM WILL CLOSE SAKU WASTE SITE
The state company Alara intends to close the Saku
radioactive waste site by the end of 1997. The final decision to close
the site must be made by the Estonian Ministry of the Environment and local
authorities. Alara Deputy Director Henno Putnik stated that liquid
waste will be removed from the dump, while some of the solid waste, which
may either present a risk if reburied or require a further
"profitability study," will remain at the site. The storage
containers holding medical and industrial waste will be sealed with concrete
covers and buried. Saku has been under constant armed supervision
since thieves broke into the dump in 1994.
1/25/95: PLAN TO MOVE THE RADIOACTIVE WASTE
FACILITY ARE ANNOUNCED
Juri Tikk announced an Estonian government plan to move
the radioactive waste facility near Saku, which has been criticized for
having inadequate security, to the Paldiski nuclear facility where nuclear
waste is already being stored. Under the plan, a separate body established
by the Estonian Economics Ministry would run the Paldiski and Saku
facilities. The Estonian Economics Ministry has until 15 February 1995 to
submit a plan for establishing this body. Arvo Niitenberg, the Estonian
Minister of Energy, said that a special company should be established to run
the Paldiski facility. Niitenberg said that the company could handle
economic and technical matters while the Estonian Environmental Ministry
could carry out environmental inspections.
1/95: SECOND BOX CONTAINING CESIUM-137 IS FOUND
A second metal box containing cesium-137, similar to the
one that killed a man in November 1994, was found near a highway between
Tallinn and Narva. It was reported that the box is probably a piece of the
internal wall of a sterilization chamber from a Soviet-era plant.
11/29/94: STOLEN CESIUM-137 FOUND NEAR SAKU
In the village of Kiisa near the Saku storage site, a
local man died and several others fell ill due to exposure to a small amount
of cesium-137 in a metal box which he had stolen from the dump. The storage
facilities, although poorly funded, will be used through 2010. The metal box
was originally found in a scrap metal yard in Tallinn in the spring of 1994.
It was then transferred to the Tammiku repository for radioactive waste,
about 20 kilometers outside of Tallinn.
20km outside of Tallinn
Tammiku is one of two Estonian facilities for storing low- and
intermediate-level waste (the other is Paldiski).
It has served as a central treatment and storage facility for radioactive
waste in Estonia and was designed in accordance with criteria developed in
Moscow in the late 1950s. Approximately 55 percent of Tammiku's storage
capacity is occupied. The government intends to close the Tammiku facility
and to store all radioactive waste at the Paldiski facility.
1999: ENVIRONMENTAL MINISTRY: NO HIGH-LEVEL RADWASTE IN COUNTRY
A document published on the Estonian Ministry of the Environment's web
site states that there is no highly radioactive waste in Estonia.
2/97: ESTONIA DOES NOT HAVE FUNDS TO CLEAN UP
FACILITIES
The Estonian government does not have the necessary funds,
an estimated $125 million, to cover the costs of cleaning up several
facilities for the storage and disposal of radioactive waste and spent fuel.
Of that amount, $100 million is necessary to decommission nuclear submarines
and construct a spent fuel repository at the Paldiski naval base, which was
transferred from Russian to Estonian control in September 95 (see also the
entry on the
Paldiski training reactor. The remainder is needed for cleaning up
uranium processing residues and uranium mill tailings from the Sillamae
Metal and Chemical Production plant. The Estonian government is currently
developing a comprehensive nuclear waste and spent fuel management program
which will shut down a low-level waste facility near Tallinn.
Waste from that facility will then be shipped to the Paldiski site. Estonia
has requested that the Swedish Nuclear Fuel and Waste Company (SKB) evaluate
three potential sites for low- and medium-level waste disposal.
1995: NORWAY IS DUE TO
PROVIDE $20 MILLION ASSISTANCE TO RUSSIA, ESTONIA, LITHUANIA, AND UKRAINE
Norway is expected to provide $20 million in assistance to
Russia, Estonia, Lithuania, and Ukraine during 1995. The assistance will be
focused primarily on radiation protection and radioactive waste management,
and will also address the issue of environmental health.
1995: SWEDEN FOCUSES
ASSISTANCE ON THE THREE BALTIC COUNTRIES, BELARUS, AND RUSSIA
Swedish assistance in radiation protection and waste
management has focused on the three Baltic countries, Belarus, and Russia.
Sweden has already spent $10 million on various projects.
Last updated 25 April 2001
Comments or questions? Contact Cristina Chuen at MIIS
CNS: Cristina.Chuen@miis.edu
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