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LOCATION: Krasnokamensk, Chita Oblast
SUBORDINATION: As of May 2002, TVEL, Minatom's nuclear fuel concern, owns a controlling interest in the company. The Ministry of Property Relations holds 38% of the shares.
STRUCTURE:
There are mines, storage facilities and a conversion plant at this site.[1,2]
Sources:
[1] William N. Szymanski, Uranium Industry Annual 1991; "The Uranium Industry Of The Commonwealth Of Independent States," Washington D.C.: Energy Information Administration, 1992, p. 11; WHO IS WHO IN NUCLEAR POWER ENGINEERING AND INDUSTRY OF RUSSIA (Obninsk: Titul, 1995); Arkadiy Kruglov, "How the Russian Nuclear Industry Was Built," Moscow, TsNIIATOMINFORM, 1994, p. 266.
[2] List of Ministry of Atomic Energy Facilities Subject to MC&A, 1992. {Entered 5/21/99 VT}
ACTIVITIES:
The combine was established in 1968. It conducts mining in the Streltsovsk uranium ore deposit in the Zabaykalye region. This facility mines and processes molybdenum-uranium ores with natural uranium oxide and ammonium paramolybdate as final products. This site operates both underground and open-pit mines.[1] Planned capacity of the facility in Zabaykalye region is reported to be 4,000 tons of yellow-cake, although actual production is less. In 1995, the Combine produced 2,585 MT U3O8 which represents a 499-MT decrease in comparison with 1991.[2] Reportedly, this is the only site in Russia where yellowcake is produced.[3] In 1993, it produced 2,640 MT.[4] This site reportedly carries out most of the uranium mining and production of high-purity oxides in Russia, with the ability "to supply needs of some 30 GWe of nuclear power plant capacity."[5] In 1993, Russia produced uranium only at this site.[6] In May 1996, the combine was seeking $80 million in funding to increase its uranium production in order to cover the fuel shortage expected for Russian power stations in the late 1990s. Most of the plant's 1996 annual production was exported.[7] As of 1998, PGKhO was operating three mines (work at several other mines was stopped due to decreased orders from the state following the Chornobyl accident).[8] As of May 2002, the combine employed 12,500 people.[9]
Sources:
[1] Oleg Bukharin, OSNOVNYYE ELEMENTY YADERNOGO TOPLIVNOGO TSIKLA V BYVSHEM SSSR I ROSSII (Moscow: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Publishing House, 9/92), p. 4.
[2] "Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)," NUKEM, 6/96, p. 66.
[3] "Fuel Cycle Status Reported At Record '94," NUCLEAR NEWS, 6/94, p. 62.
[4]"World Nuclear Industry Handbook 1995," NUCLEAR ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, p. 120.
[5]"The State Of The Russian Nuclear Industry," THE NUCLEAR REVIEW, 7/96, pp. 18-23.
[6] "Uranium: 1993 Resources, Production, and Demand," a joint report by the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency and the IAEA (Paris, 1994), p. 215.
[7] Uranium Institute News Briefing, 6/9/96.
[8] I. Nikolayev, "Uran gosudarstvu nuzhen," Atompressa, No. 30, 28 August 1998, p. 2. {Entered 5/21/99 VT}
[9] "Na godovom sobranii aktsionerov Priargunskogo proizvodstvennogo gorno-khimicheskogo obyedineniya podvedeny itogi proizvodstvenno-khozyaystvennoy deyatelnosti za 2001 god, izbrany chleny Soveta direktorov i revizionnoy komissii," Nuclear.ru Web Site, http://www.nuclear.ru/, 31 May 2002. {Updated 10/17/02 DA}
 
ARCHIVED PRIARGUNSKIY DEVELOPMENTS

(This section is no longer being updated.  For information on archived developments in the mining and milling industry, please see the Uranium Mining and Milling Developments file.)

For major recent developments, see the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Developments file.

5/97: PRIARGUNSKIY SUFFERS FROM LACK OF FINANCES
Production at the Priargunskiy Mining and Chemical Company has declined because of equipment shortages and insufficient funds to maintain older milling facilities. In addition, because the ores are deep and ore grades are low, mining is labor-intensive and therefore more costly. Russia's sole remaining uranium project, Priargunskiy may no longer be sustainable. Nukem estimates the uranium output of the company decreased from about 2,200 metric tons in 1995 to 1,925 metric tons in 1996. Experts assume that this decline in production will continue into 1997.
["Commonwealth of Independent States," Nukem, 5/22/97.] {Entered 7/21/97 LK} 
 
1996: PRIARGUNSKIY OWED $600 MILLION
Officials in Krasnokamensk claim that Concord Oil Co. owes the Priargunskiy Mining and Chemical Combine $600 million from unmet contracts. Concord Oil Co. is owned by Oren Benton, once the world's largest uranium trader, who filed for bankruptcy on 23 February 1995.
[Paul Robinson, "The Uranium Mines of Siberia," EARTH ISLAND JOURNAL, Winter 1996-97, pp. 8-9; "NUEXCO on the skids," NUCLEAR ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL, 4/95, p. 13.]{Entered 2/19/97 LBN}

Page last updated 11 December 2002

The development section in this file is no longer being updated. For major recent developments, see the Nuclear Fuel Cycle Developments file.  For archived developments, see the Uranium Mining and Milling Developments file.

Comments or questions? Contact Elena Sokova at MIIS CNS: esokovaATmiis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2002 by MIIS.

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