8/14/2001 RUSSIA TO DEVELOP NEW URANIUM DEPOSIT IN BURYATIYA Minatom approved industrial development of the Khiagdinskiy uranium deposit in the
Republic of Buryatiya, ITAR-TASS reported on 14 August 2001. The production
cost of 1kg of ore is expected to be about $20, half of the current
production cost at Russia's main uranium mine in Krasnokamensk. The mine
will reach the targeted annual output of 1500kg within five years, and
proven reserves are expected to last 50 years.
["New Uranium Ore Mine Will Be Environmentally
Safe," ITAR-TASS, 14 August 2001.] {entered 10/23/01 EC}
11/29/2000: RUSSIAN URANIUM PRODUCTION TO DOUBLE BY
2010 A 29 November 2000 Interfax article cited Valentin
Shatalov, director of the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute for Chemical
Technologies,
as saying that Russia will double its uranium production to 4,000-4,500 metric
tons
annually by 2010.[1] A story in the December 2000 International Business
Relations Corporation Newsletter said that a report by the Russian
Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) on the development of the domestic nuclear industry
highlighted plans to increase reliance on nuclear power from the current 14% to 33% by 2030.[2] Russia currently consumes 8,000-8,5000
metric tons of uranium
yearly.[1] Russia's sole uranium mine produces 2,500 metric tons per year. Uranium stockpiles are used to compensate for the roughly
6,000 metric ton difference
in uranium production and consumption. Interfax reported in a 30 November 2000 article
that the current stockpile of uranium could run out in 20 years due to the
planned increased reliance on nuclear power.[3] Overall,
Minatom has called for developing all sectors of Russia's nuclear complex
and exploring new uranium deposits.[4] Atomredmetzoloto
General Director Vyacheslav Korotkov
stated that
Russia will begin construction of three new mining enterprises in 2001 in the
Buryat Autonomous Republic and Kurgan and Kemerovo Oblasts.[1]
Sources: [1] "Rossiya k 2010 godu uvelichit
proizvodstvo urana vdvoye do 4-4,5 tys. tonn," Interfax, 29 November
2000. [2] "Plans for increased nuclear energy
production," International Business Relations Corporation Newsletter, December 2000, http://www.ibrco.ru. [3] "Russian uranium stockpiles may run
dry in 20 years," Interfax, 30 November 2000. [4] Anatoly Yurkin, "Russia Planning to
Increase Nuclear Fuel Exports," ITAR-TASS, 21 September 2000; in Lexis-Nexis
Academic Universe, http://web.lexis-nexis.com/universe.
{Entered 12/1/2000 GD}
7/28/2000: RUSSIA, KAZAKHSTAN, AND KYRGYZSTAN TO FORM
URANIUM MINING JOINT VENTURE On 28 July 2000 Kyrgyzstani President Askar Akayev completed a four-day
visit to Russia during which an agreement was reached between the governments
of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan to create a three-way venture to mine the
Zarechnoye uranium deposit in Kazakhstan's Zhambyl Oblast. For more
details, please see the 7/28/2000
entry in Kyrgyzstan: Uranium Mining and
Milling.
[Interfax, 31 July 2000; in "Russia,
Kyrgyzstan, and Kazakhstan to form uranium mining joint venture," FBIS
Document CEP2000073100028.] {Entered 2/12/01 GD}
1/25/99: RUSSIA WILL FACE SHORTAGE OF MINED URANIUM BY 2005 According to Boris Nikipelov, special advisor to the Russian minister of
atomic energy, by the year 2005, Russia will face a shortage of mined uranium
for nuclear fuel production and will have to use uranium from stockpiles
of spent nuclear fuel. He said there are no more rich uranium fields in
Russia.
[Interfax, 28 January 1999; in "Interfax Mining & Metal
Report 29 Jan 99," FBIS Document FTS19990128001719.] {Entered 5/20/99 VT}
11/19/98: URANIUM PRODUCTION TARGET QUESTIONED A representative of Geologorazvedka
State Research and Production Enterprise, a geophysics research, prospecting
and instrumentation company, reported that the goal of producing 10,000MT
of uranium annually by 2010 is unattainable without new processing centers.
According to the representative, Russian reactors consumed around 3,800MT
of uranium in 1997, only 2,000MT of which was produced that year in Russia;
the shortfall was covered by reserves. The only indigenous uranium currently
being developed is the Streltsovsk
ore field in the Transbaikal region. This uranium deposit is estimated
at 100,000MT--enough to produce 3,500MT of LEU for the next 25-30 years
(approximately 30 percent of Russia's needs).
[ITAR-TASS, 19 November 1998; in "Russia:
RussRa Uranium Target at 10,000 Tonnes Questioned," FBIS-TAC-98-323.] {Entered
1/31/00 LWB}
10/20/98: PARLIAMENTARY HEARINGS ON VANADIUM
AND URANIUM MINING IN KARELIA On 1 October 1998 the government of the Republic
of Karelia announced plans to open bidding for vanadium and uranium
mining in the Lake Onega region. The competition was open only to
Russian governmental companies, and results of the competition were to
be announced by 15 October 1998. However, some local parliamentarians
and environmentalists voiced opposition to the project which they feel
would damage the Lake Onega ecosystem.[1] On 20 October, the parliament
of the Republic of Karelia held hearings on the proposed mining.
The parliament voted against continuing the competition between companies
for the right to mine, but also refused to ban mining operations altogether.[2]
Additional hearings were scheduled for January 1999.[3] The proposed
mining is a highly controversial issue. Environmentalists oppose
it because it will cause a tremendous amount of environmental damage and
create public health problems. They feel that it violates Russian
legislation because an environmental evaluation was not conducted before
establishing the project, which is required by Russian law. In addition,
the project "violates the rights of indigenous people in Karelia."
The proposed mining would take place 11km away from Lake Onega, at one
of the five largest vanadium sources on earth. Environmentalists
were not pleased with the results of the hearings, and promised to "keep
pressure on the Karelian authorities until they ban all the mining operations."[2]
Sources: [1] "New Uranium Mining in Karelia?"
Ecodefense!Inform,
No.
121-122, September-October 1998. {Entered 11/9/98 CEM} [2] "No Decision-No Mining," Ecodefense!Inform,
21
October 1998. [3] "Resheniye o sudbe Sredney Padmy otlozheno," Severnyy
kurer online edition, http://www.karelia.ru/Karelia/NewsPapers/ Kurier/23258/23258_4_a.html#2,
No. 211, 4 November 1998. {Entered 11/19/98 CEM}
6/98: MINING AT THE DOLMATOVO URANIUM DEPOSIT DELAYED As a result of Minatom's failure to transfer the $2.9 million required
to begin mining operations at the Dolmatovo uranium deposit in the Urals,
the mining originally scheduled to begin in mid-March was delayed. Minatom
serves as the prime contractor for the mining venture. Under the federal
program "Russia's Uranium," Minatom plans to invest $6.8 million to mine
the deposit. According to Bellona, if funding becomes available,
the site is expected to yield 700kg of uranium in 1998, 10 percent of Russia's
total uranium needs.
["Mining at Large Uranium Deposit Delayed,"
Bellona:
Nuclear Chronicle from Russia, May/June 1998, p. 5.] {Entered 11/19/98
CEM}
10/7/97: NUCLEAR ENERGY DEMANDS INCREASE REQUIRED URANIUM PRODUCTION According to Vyacheslav Krotkov, vice president of the Russian Academy
of Mining Sciences and director general of Atomredmetzoloto Company, Inc.,
the production of uranium in Russia must increase by a factor of at least
2.5 to 3 and total over 10,000 MT per year before 2010, since Russia plans
to double the amount of energy generated by its nuclear power stations
by 2010-2015. The nuclear power stations provide 12.5 percent of
the country's energy with 29 reactors. In the southern part of Russia
uranium reserves are estimated at 1.7 million MT. However, insufficient
financing will likely impede prospecting and exploring activities.
[Interfax, 7 October 1997; in "Nuclear Energy Requires
Increased Uranium Production," FBIS-SOV-97-280.] {Entered 11/23/98 CEM}
Fissile Material Production and Disposition
This file is no longer
being updated. For major recent developments, see the
