Russia: Fissile Material: Plutonium Production: GKhK General DevelopmentsRussia: Archived Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK) and Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk-26)
General Developments
This file is no longer
being updated. For major recent developments, see the
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Developments file.
For archived developments concerning spent fuel and radioactive waste
please see the Spent Fuel Developments file.
To return to the main GKhK entry, see the Zheleznogorsk
file.
2/16/2004: PROTOCOL SIGNED ON CONSTRUCTION OF FOSSIL
FUEL PLANT
On 16 February 2004, the
Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom)
announced that its construction department, Rosatomstroy,
and the utility company Krasnoyarskenergo, had signed a
protocol to begin construction of a fossil fuel power plant in Zheleznogorsk.[1] According to
Minatom, the power plant, which will replace a plutonium production reactor as the source
of heat and power for
Zheleznogorsk, will become
operational in 2007.[2] (For more information, see the 7/19/2002 and
5/17/2002 entries, below.) Sources:
[1] "Vmesto atomnogo reaktora - teplo zhitelyam Zheleznogorska," Minatom.ru Web
Site,
http://www.minatom.ru/News/Main/view?id=892&idChannel=64. [2] German
Solomatin, "V Krasnoyarskom kraye nachalis' raboty po sozdaniyu zameshchaushchey
TETs vmesto atomnogo reaktora," ITAR-TASS, 16 February 2003; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com.]
{Entered 3/17/2004 DS}
8/26/2003: US CONGRESSIONAL
DELEGATION VISITS ZHELEZNOGORSK On 26 August 2004, a US congressional delegation
of five congressmen and three technical experts, headed by Curt Weldon, co-chairman of the Duma-Congress interparliamentary
working group, visited nuclear facilities at Zheleznogorsk as part of
congressional Armed Services Committee initiative to improve transparency at
nuclear, chemical, and biological facilities in Russia.[1,2,3] The group of US lawmakers were shown
implementation of the Material Protection, Control & Accounting (MPC&A)
program at GKhK, which is paid for with US funds.[1]Members of the delegation visited
a plutonium production
reactor and were
the first Americans
to visit the secret underground
Plutonium Oxide Storage Facility.According to Weldon,
especially worrisome was the fact that the facility's armed military security
had been replaced with unarmed civilian guards due to budget
shortages.[2] According to Weldon, $20 million annually for several years
will be needed to improve security at the nuclear facilities in Zheleznogorsk, and this funding will most likely
be allocated by
Congress and arrive in the city in the coming months.[4] Sources:
[1] Andrey Surzhanskiy "Delegatsiya kongressa SShA oznakomilas s sistemoy zashchity yadernykh
materialov na odnom iz atomnykh obyektov Sibiri," ITAR-TASS, 22 August 2003;
in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.
[2] Alex Kwiatkowski, "U.S. Congress members given unprecedented access to
Russian top-secret nuclear facility," The Associated Press, 26 August 2003; in
Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe,
http://web.lexisnexis.com.
[3] "Delegatsiya amerikanskikh spetsialistov oznakomilas' s sistemoy zashchity
na Gorno-khimicheskom kombinate (Krasnoyarskiy kray)," IA Regnum, 27 August
2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.
[4] German Solomatin, "SShA vydelyat sredstva dlya usileniya zashchity
rossiyskogo yadernogo kompleksa v Zheleznogorske, schitayet amerikanskiy
kongressmen," ITAR-TASS, 27 August 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com. {Entered 9/23/03 DS}
3/12/2003: US AND RUSSIA SIGN ADDENDUM TO REACTOR SHUTDOWN AGREEMENT
On 12 March 2003, Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev and US
Energy Secretary Spenser Abraham signed an addendum agreement to the
1997
US-Russian Intergovernmental Agreement Concerning Cooperation
Regarding Plutonium Production Reactors. The signing ceremony took place in Vienna
during the International Conference on Security of Radioactive Sources cosponsored by the
IAEA, the United States, and Russia.[1] Under the new agreement,
the ADE-4 and ADE-5 reactors in Seversk and the
ADE-2 reactor in Zheleznogorsk
will stop producing plutonium by 31
December 2005 and 31 December 2006, respectively.[2] The reactors will continue
to operate as heat and power sources until the existing fossil
fuel plant in Seversk is refurbished and a new plant is constructed in
Zheleznogorsk.[3] The United States pledged to provide about $500 million for
the replacement plants. According to DOE estimates, the two reactors in Seversk
will shut down in 2008 and the reactor in Zheleznogorsk in 2011.[4] Aleksandr Rumyantsev announced that
an estimated 10t of
plutonium resulting from the remaining operation of the reactors will be counted
towards the 34t Russia pledged to eliminate under the
US-Russia Plutonium Disposition
Agreement.[1]
Sources: [1]
“Finansovoye uchastiye SShA v ostanovke rossiyskikh reaktorov-narabotchikov
plutoniya sostavit sotni millionov dollarov,” Nuclear.ru Web Site,
http://www.nuclear.ru/, 14 March 2003.
[2]
“Podpisano soglasheniye ob ostanovke trekh rossiyskikh reaktorov,
proizvodyashchikh plutoniy,” RosBiznesKonsalting, 12 March 2003; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/. [3]
"U.S. and Russia Agree to Plan to Shutdown Three Remaining Russian Plutonium
Production Reactors," DOE Press Release,
http://www.energy.gov/, 12
March 2003.
[4] Platts Nuclear News Flashes,
http://www.platts.com/, 12
March 2003. {Entered 4/25/2003 DA}
2/7/2003: GKhK SECURITY DECLARED GOOD On 7 February 2003, Russian Minister
of the Interior Boris Gryzlov inspected the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical
Combine, which is guarded by his Ministry's troops,
and announced that the combine's security system is able to protect it from potential
terrorist attacks.[1] Gryzlov promised assistance to the combine administration,
which plans to further enhance GKhK security due to the forthcoming expansion of
its facilities.[2] Sources: [1] "Russian interior
minister checks anti-terrorist safeguards at nuclear facility," Associated
Press, 10 February 2003; in NuclearNo.com Web Site,
http://www.nuclearno.com/. [2] "Ministr
vnutrennikh del Boris Gryzlov posetil Gorno-khimicheskiy kombinat v g.
Zheleznogorske," Nuclear.ru Web Site,
http://www.nuclear.ru/, 7 February 2003. {Entered 2/21/2003 DA}
1/28/2003: NEW PLAN FOR SILICON
PRODUCTION AT GKhK APPROVED On 28
January 2003, during his visit to the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine,
Minister of Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev announced that
a revised program for the construction of a silicon production
facility at GKhK had been approved. Plans call for production to commence the
first quarter of 2005. According to Nuclear.ru, nearly 1 billion rubles (over
$31 million as of 28 January 2003) has been already invested in the project. (For
additional information, please
see the 7/28/99 entry below.) ["A.
Rumyantsev: 'Programma stroitelstva kremniyevogo zavoda na GKhK peresmotrena i
utverzhdena,"
Nuclear.ru Web Site, http://www.nuclear.ru/,
29 January 2003. {Entered 2/21/2003 DA}
12/25/2002: FSB TESTS GKhK
SECURITY On 25 December 2002,
Novyye Izvestiya
reported that Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) agents secretly planted a mock bomb
near the Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) Storage Facility
at the Zheleznogorsk Mining
and Chemical Combine in December 2002, allegedly in order to test the combine's security system. According
to the newspaper, FSB agents dressed in camouflage suits entered the territory
of the combine and planted an "explosive device" undetected by GKhK
security guards. This incident reportedly prompted an unexpected visit by
Siberian Federal Okrug Presidential Envoy Leonid Drachevskiy to
Zheleznogorsk. Earlier in December, another mock bomb was found
on the rail line used to transport SNF and other nuclear materials to
and from GKhK. Novyye Izvestiya speculates that the railway "bomb" was also
planted by the FSB. The newspaper claims that following these incidents the GKhK administration
may expand
the guarded zone around the combine. Citing the local TV station Afontovo, the
newspaper also reports that the registration regime has been tightened in
Zheleznogorsk, resulting in the eviction of migrants from Central Asia and the
Caucasus. [Yevgeniy
Latyshev, "Proverki na dorogakh," Novyye Izvestiya, No. 231, 25
December 2002; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/.]
{Entered 1/28/2003 DA}
11/19/2002: NEW PLUTONIUM STORAGE
FACILITY TO BE BUILT AT GKhK On 19 November 2002,
Izvestiya
reported that the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK) had launched the
construction of a new facility to store plutonium dioxide resulting from the
continuing operation of the
plutonium production reactor. According to GKhK spokesperson Pavel Morozov,
the facility "will be equipped with the most up-to-date MPC&A equipment." The
United States will supply some of this equipment. The storage facility will
become operational in 2003, allowing secure storage of plutonium
dioxide for seven years. The total cost of the facility was not made public. [Aleksandr
Klimovich, "Teplo v obmen na plutoniy," Izvestiya
online edition,
http://www.izvestia.ru/, 19 November 2002.] {Entered 11/27/2002 DA}
9/10/2002: GREENPEACE ACTIVISTS CHALLENGE GKhK SECURITY SYSTEM A group of
antinuclear activists spent a day in the restricted area around the spent
nuclear fuel storage facility of the RT-2 plant at GKhK without being detected by the combine's security service. This
was the second time the environmentalists, led by Maksim Shingarkin of Greenpeace Russia,
staged an event to demonstrate the shortcomings of the GKhK security system.[1] (For
details about their first intrusion, see the
2/15/2002
entry below.) On
10 September 2002, a video report about their trip was aired on the Krasnoyarsk TV station Afontovo. The environmentalists
said they
used drain shafts to get to the storage facility and also got access to an underground
liquid radioactive waste pipeline.[2] GKhK launched its own investigation
of the videotaped intrusion. The investigators reported that the video had been
filmed from an unguarded forest located 70m away from the storage facility. GKhK officials
said that the shaft leading to the
pipeline that pumps low and medium radioactive waste had indeed been opened. The
shaft, however, is not connected to the SNF storage facility. The pipeline
itself is buried 5m underground and protected by reinforced concrete slabs.[3] Sources: [1]
"Krasnoyarskiy kray. Novyy skandal, svyazannyy s Zheleznogorskim
Gorno-khimicheskim kombinatom," Regions.ru Web Site,
http://www.regions.ru/, 10
September 2002; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/. [2]
Yuriy Khots, "Videokadry o 'proniknovenii' aktivistov 'zelenykh' na territoriyu
Krasnoyarskogo gorno-khimicheskogo kombinata - falshivka," ITAR-TASS, 10
September 2002; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/. [3]
"Krasnoyarskiy kray. Na Gorno-khimicheskom kombinate zavershilos rassledovaniye
intsidenta po vozmozhnomu proniknoveniyu aktivistov 'Grinpis' v okhranyayemuyu
zonu obyektov kombinata," VolgaInform information agency,
http://www.volgainform.ru/,
25 September 2002; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/. {Entered 10/7/2002 DA}
8/5/2002: US AND RUSSIAN EXPERTS
TO DISCUSS NEW MPC&A ENHANCEMENTS AT GKhK On 5 August 2002, a five-member team of US
Department of Energy
experts, headed by Adrian Pidlusky,
began their visit to the Zheleznogorsk
Mining and Chemical Combine. The US and Russian specialists were to discuss MPC&A improvements at GKhK, including the establishment of a
single command and control
center to replace separate monitoring posts and installation of a
special radio system to improve communication with the Combine underground facilities.
This was the fourth visit of US experts to GKhK in 2002 under the
1999 US-Russia MPC&A
agreement.[1,2] Sources:
[1] "Spetsialisty Gorno-khimicheskogo kombinata sovmestno s amerikanskimi
kollegami obsudyat khod rabot, provodimykh na GKhK po sovershenstvovaniyu
sistemy ucheta, kontrolya i fizicheskoy zashchity yadernykh materialov,"
Nuclear.ru Web Site, http://www.nuclear.ru/, 5 August 2002.
[2] Boris Ivanov, "Ocherednaya gruppa spetsialistov ministerstva energetiki SShA
pristupila k proverkam na yadernom kombinate bliz Krasnoyarska," RIA Novosti,
http://www.rian.ru/, 6 August 2002; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/.
{Entered 8/19/2002 DA}
7/22/2002: ATOMIC ENERGY DEPUTY MINISTER SAYS GKhK MAY PRODUCE MOX FUEL On 22 July 2002, the Press-Line news agency reported the announcement by
First Deputy Minister of Atomic Energy Mikhail Solonin that
in the future the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine could be involved in the production
of MOX fuel.
According to Solonin, MOX fuel-related activities might start
after a radiochemical fuel reprocessing line at the RT-2
spent fuel reprocessing plant is completed. However, plans call for most of
the MOX fuel to be manufactured at PO Mayak. ["Na Zheleznogorskom
GKhK budet proizvoditsya MOKS-toplivo," Press-Line agency,
http://www.press-line.kts.ru, 22 July
2002.] {Entered 8/19/2002 DA}
7/19/2002:
PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION REACTOR AT GKhK TO BE SHUT DOWN BY 2006 On
19 July 2002, First Deputy Ministers of Atomic Energy Mikhail Solonin and
Vladimir Vinogradov announced at a news conference in Krasnoyarsk that the
plutonium production reactor at the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine
would continue in
operation until 2006, when a fossil fuel power plant in Sosnovoborsk, located 15km from Zheleznogorsk,
is expected to be completed. The construction of the power plant in Sosnovoborsk,
intended to replace the plutonium reactor as a heat and power source,
will be funded by the US Department of Energy and will cost 4 billion rubles ($126.78
million as of 19 July 2002). The contract with a new general subcontractor, Glavspetsstroy, is expected to be signed in October 2002.[1,2]
Sources: [1] "Atomnyy
reaktor Zheleznogorskogo GKhK v tekushchem godu ostanovlen ne budet. Eto
proizoydet ne raneye 2006 goda," Press-Line information agency,
http://www.press-line.kts.ru/, 19 July 2002. [2] Charles Digges, "Fossil fuel plant to replace Zheleznogorsk plutonium reactor may
already be literal fossil," Bellona Web Site,
http://www.bellona.no/, 30 July 2002. {Entered 9/9/2002 DA}
6/30-7/6/2002: RUSSIAN GREENS
PROTEST AGAINST SNF IMPORTS From 30 June to 6 July 2002,
the Ecodefense
environmental group and the
Socio-Ecological Union, International organized a
protest against spent nuclear fuel (SNF)
imports to Russia. Almost 200 representatives of over forty Russian
environmental, human rights and feminist groups, as well as environmental
activists from other countries, formed a tent camp 36km away from the
Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK).[1,2] GKhK Director Vladimir Zhidkov visited the camp on 3 July and took part in the debates
on SNF
imports.[3] This action is the first large-scale protest campaign after the
unsuccessful attempt by environmental groups to hold an anti-nuclear referendum
in Krasnoyarsk Kray
in February 2002. For more information on spent fuel import developments, see
the Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste
Developments file. [1] "Aktsiya
protesta 'zelenykh'," Press-Line information agency,
http://www.press-line.kts.ru/, 1 July
2002.
[2] Viktoriya Kolesnikova, Charles Digges, "Mezhdunarodnyy lager protesta v
Krasnoyarske uzhe vyzval povyshennoye vnimaniye vlastey," NuclearNo.com Web
Site, http://nuclearno.com/, 1 July 2002.
[3] "3 iyulya v ramkakh 'Dnya politika', provodimogo aktivistami ekologicheskikh
dvizheniy, Mezhdunarodnyy antiyadernyy lager protesta posetil generalnyy
direktor Gorno-khimicheskogo kombinata Vasiliy Zhidkov," Nuclear.ru Web Site,
http://www.nuclear.ru/, 3 July 2002. {Entered 8/21/2002 DA}
6/25-28/2002: EMERGENCY RESPONSE
EXERCISE HELD AT GKhK
From 25 to 28 June 2002, a special training exercise was held at the
Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine to improve emergency response to
possible accidents involving the transportation of nuclear and radioactive
materials. Rescue teams from Zheleznogorsk, Seversk and Zelenogorsk, as well as
emergency response, civil defense and medical services from the Siberian Federal Okrug
practiced dealing with the consequences of a mock railway accident
involving nuclear and radioactive materials. Nearly 350 people took part in the
exercise supervised by GKhK chief engineer Yuriy Revenko. Sources:
[1] "S 25 po 28 iyunya Minatom Rossii provedet taktiko-spetsialnoe ucheniye na
Gorno-khimicheskom kombinate (GKhK) v g. Zheleznogorske po sovershenstvovaniyu
sistemy avariynogo reagirovaniya na intsidenty pri transportirovke yadernykh
materialov," Nuclear.ru Web Site,
http://www.nuclear.ru/, 25 June 2002.
[2] "28 iyunya na GKhK zakanchivayutsya taktiko-spetsialnyye ucheniya po
otrabotke navykov organov upravleniya, sil i sredstv GO i ChS pri likvidatsii
uslovnoy avarii na zheleznodorozhnom transporte, perevozyashchem yadernyye
materialy," Nuclear.ru Web Site,
http://www.nuclear.ru/, 28 June 2002. {Entered
8/16/2002 DA}
5/17/2002: POWER PLANT TO BE
DESIGNED FOR ZHELEZNOGORSK On 17 May 2002, the GKhK press service told ITAR-TASS
that the Tomskteploenergoproyekt
Institute had begun working on the design of a new fossil-fueled power plant.
As of May 2002, power and heat for the city of Zheleznogorsk was being supplied by the SKhK's
plutonium-production reactor, which is scheduled to be shut down. The construction will be
jointly funded by Minatom and the US Department
of Energy and will cost an estimated $300 million. ["Spetsialisty
instituta 'Tomskteploenergoproyekt' nachali proyektirovaniye novoy TETs dlya
goroda Zheleznogorska, finansirovaniye stroitelstva kotoroy budet vestis
sovmestno Minatomom Rossii i ministerstvom energetiki SShA," Nuclear.ru Web
Site, http://www.nuclear.ru/, 17 May 2002.] {Entered 8/14/2002 DA}
4/7/2002: US EXPERTS INSPECT
PRODUCTION AND HANDLING OF PLUTONIUM AT GKHK On 7 April 2002, a US DOE nine-member team
of experts completed
a 10-day
inspection of the production, handling, and storage of weapons-grade plutonium at the Zheleznogorsk
Mining and Chemical Combine. According to the combine's press service, the US
experts are satisfied with the MPC&A system of the combine. They verified the
weapons-grade plutonium stocks and did not discover any inventory discrepancies. Such inspections are held annually in accordance with the
1997 US-Russian intergovernmental agreement.
[ITAR-TASS, 8 April 2002; in "US
officials satisfied with safety measures at Russian chemical plant," FBIS
Document CEP20020408000024.] {Entered 4/18/2002 DA}
4/3/2002: GKhK RECEIVED SEVEN SNF
SHIPMENTS IN 2001 On 3
April 2002, at a news conference on the establishment of a Minatom
regional information center in Krasnoyarsk, GKhK Deputy Chief Engineer Konstantin Kudinov announced that the Combine received seven SNF shipments in 2001:
four from Ukrainian nuclear power plants (NPP) at the price of $330/t, two from
Russian NNPs at $100/t, and one from the Kozloduy NPP in Bulgaria at $620/t.
Proceeds from the SNF shipments allowed the Combine to maintain regular wage payments to
GKHK personnel and pay 231 million rubles ($7.41 million as
of 3 April 2002) to the Krasnoyarsk oblast budget. According to Kudinov, the federal
budget provides 50% of the Combine's revenue while the rest
comes from SNF storage, production of rods for the aluminum industry, and sales of heat and power.
["Minatom otkryvayet v Krasnoyarske
informatsionnyy tsentr," Press-Line information agency,
http://www.press-line.kts.ru/,
3 April 2002; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/. {Entered 10/1/2002 DA}
2/21/2002: ZHIDKOV: MPC&A IS IMPROVED AT
ZHELEZNOGORSK MINING AND CHEMICAL COMBINE On 21 February 2002, Vasiliy Zhidkov,
director of the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine, announced
that a new enhanced security system financed by the US Department of Energy
had begun operating at the
plutonium production/nuclear power reactor complex of
the Combine. The security system, which is equipped with special electronic devices,
will prevent any unauthorized removal of nuclear materials or unwanted
penetration.[1] A similar security system already operates at GKhK's
radiochemical reprocessing plant.[2]
GKhK's spent fuel storage facility is now protected by a three-layer
guard system. Zhidkov is confident that break-ins like the recent one by
Greenpeace activists (see the 2/15/2002 entry below) do not pose any danger
to the Combine's operation.[1]
Sources: [1] Yuriy Khots, "Unikalnaya sistema
bezopasnosti yadernykh obyektov sozdana na Krasnoyarskom gorno-khimicheskom
kombinate," ITAR-TASS, 21 February 2002; in Yadernaya Rossiya
segodnya bulletin, 26
February 2002. [2] Yuriy Khots, "Na reaktornom
proizvodstve Krasnoyarskogo GKhK nachalas ustanovka novoy sistemy
bezopasnosti," ITAR-TASS, 9 January 2002; in Yadernaya Rossiya
segodnya bulletin,
10 January 2002. {Entered 3/19/2002 DA}
2/15/2002: LEGISLATOR: SPENT
NUCLEAR FUEL IN ZHELEZNOGORSK IMPROPERLY GUARDED At a press conference on 15 February 2002, Sergey Mitrokhin, a State
Duma deputy from the liberal Yabloko party and member of the
presidential commission on importing spent nuclear fuel, warned that Russia's spent fuel storage facilities
lack proper security against possible terrorist attacks. He said that on
9 February 2002, while accompanied by two Greenpeace Russia activists and
three NTV cameramen, he managed to enter through a "huge hole in a
barbed wire fence" to a high-security zone of the Zheleznogorsk Mining
and Chemical Combine, "walked on well-trampled paths, probably made by
local citizens," and approached the storage facility for spent nuclear
fuel without being stopped by security guards.[1,2] According to Mitrokhin, his unauthorized break-in demonstrated that Russia was not
ready to import spent nuclear fuel. He described the country's nuclear
security standards as "simply non-existent," which makes Russia an easy
target for nuclear terrorism.[3] According to Vladimir Chuprov, a
Greenpeace nuclear expert, the storage facility in Zheleznogorsk
contains spent nuclear fuel with radioactivity exceeding 1 billion
curies.[1,4] He claimed that it would only take a few dozen kilograms of
conventional explosives to blow up the facility.[1] Ivan Blokov, another
Greenpeace activist, called for greater transparency in Minatom, which he described as "operating outside state control and doing
what it likes."[3] Vasiliy Zhidkov, Director of the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine, strongly refuted the
allegations. He insists that the facility is properly guarded both by
Interior Ministry troops and the combine's own security service, and
that the intruders filmed their video report, aired on the Moscow TV station NTV on 14 February 2002, from
an adjacent construction site
beyond the guarded security area.[4]
Sources: [1] Nabi Abdullaev, "Break-in
highlights nuclear security problems," The Moscow Times online
edition, http://www.themoscowtimes.com, 18 February 2002. [2] Interfax, 15 February
2002; in "Duma deputy says Russian nuclear storage insecure," FBIS
Document CEP20020215000303. [3] Francesca Mereu, "Russia: nuclear security
system comes under question," Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty,
http://www.rferl.org/nca/features/2002/02/18022002085047.asp,
18 February 2002. [4] "Vasiliy Zhidkov: Bezopasnost
khranilishcha OYaT obespechivayut voyennyye i nasha okhrana," Strana.Ru,
http://strana.ru/print/113919.html,
19 February 2002. {Entered 3/5/2002 DA}
2/14/2002: INTERNATIONAL TRAINING CENTER FOR
HANDLING RADIOACTIVE WASTE TO BE SET UP IN ZHELEZNOGORSK On 14 February 2002, Vasiliy Zhidkov,
Director of the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine, told RIA
Novosti that the combine will open a special "demonstration center" to train
specialists from all over the world to handle liquid radioactive waste.
Training sessions will cover the entire radioactive waste disposal cycle: from
extracting liquid waste from underground tanks to converting it into a solid
by incorporating the waste into glass and concrete for ultimate burial. The
center will charge a fee for the training.
["Krasnoyarskiy kray. V Zheleznogorske
sozdayetsya spetsialnyy tsentr po obucheniyu spetsialistov iz raznykh stran
tekhnologiyam raboty s zhidkimi yadernymi otkhodami," Regions.Ru,
http://www.regions.ru/newsarticle/news/id/709191.html,
14 February 2002.] {Entered 3/5/2002 DA}
2/9/2002: PROTESTS AGAINST SNF STORAGE On 9 February 2002, about 500 residents of Sosnovoborsk, located 16km from
Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Kray, blocked railway tracks leading to the
incomplete RT-2 spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage facility at the Zheleznogorsk
Mining and Chemical Combine for three hours. The protesters wrote an appeal to
President Vladimir Putin and Krasnoyarsk Kray Governor Aleksandr Lebed against
SNF storage in the kray and in support of a regional referendum on this
issue.[1,2] On 7 February 2002, Greenpeace activists submitted more than 40,000
signatures to the regional election commission; only 35,000 are required to
organize a referendum.[2] According to Vladimir Slivyak, co-chairman of
Ecodefense, environmental activists are ready to take "radical actions" if
the election commission does not authorize the referendum, as was the case in
1998.[1]
Sources: [1] Ivan Sukhov, "'Atomnaya' voyna stala relsovoy,"
Vremya novostey, 11 February 2002; in Yadernyye Materialy, No. 5, 15
February 2002. [2] "Zhiteli Sosnovoborska
blokirovali zheleznuyu dorogu k yadernomu mogilniku," Interfax,
http://www.interfax.ru/, 9 February 2002. {Entered 6/27/2002 DA}
2/1/2002: SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT CENTER TO BE SET
UP IN ZHELEZNOGORSK WITH NCI FUNDS On 1 February 2002, Vedomosti reported on an agreement to set up a programming center in
Zheleznogorsk under the framework of the
Nuclear
Cities Initiative. The Novosibirsk-based software
producer Novosoft, which won the tender organized by the International
Development Center-Zheleznogorsk, will be the programming center's majority shareholder, with
a 51% share in the newly created Novosoft-Zheleznogorsk company. The DOE NCI
will be the second co-founder and provide the start-up capital for the
project. According to DOE representative Ronald Ness, the initial investment
could amount to $200,000. Novosoft-Zheleznogorsk plans to start work in the
middle of 2002. According to Novosoft Development Director Yuriy Ovcharenko, the
company has held preliminary negotiations with such potential Russian clients
as Norilsk Nickel and the Krasnoyarsk Nonferrous Metals Plant. Novosoft hopes
that the US DOE will help in finding US clients.
[Mikhail Stolyarov, Pavel Nefedov, "Iz yashchika v ofshor," Vedomosti
online edition, http://www.vedomosti.ru/, 1
February 2002.]
{Entered 2/11/2002 DA}
1/30/2002: FUNDS ALLOCATED TO KRASNOYARSK KRAY
FROM SPENT FUEL PROCEEDS MIGHT HAVE BEEN EMBEZZLED Segodnyashnyaya gazeta reports that
the Krasnoyarsk Kray Accounting Chamber presented to the kray's Legislative
Assembly the financial audit of the expenditure of funds earmarked by the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical
Combine for environmental purposes. In 1998, the combine allocated 88
million rubles ($2.869 million as of 30 January 2002) for the kray's environmental remidiation programs. Nadezhda Yegorova, the head of the Accounting Chamber, reported that as
of 1
October 2001, only 14.5 million rubles ($472.800 as of 30 January 2002) were
appropriately spent, specifically on the
purchase of computers. According to Yegorova, the loss of the money for
environmental programs was the result of multiple transfers and discounts. The
Accounting Chamber claims that Minatom is responsible for the misappropriation
of funds. The
audit report was sent to the Krasnoyarsk Kray Prosecutor's Office.
["Delo o vekselyakh GKhK," Segodnyashnyaya gazeta, 30 January 2002; in
NuclearNo.Ru Web Site,
http://nuclearno.ru/text.asp?1903.]
{Entered 3/21/2002 DA}
1/2002: FOUR SOLDIERS GUARDING GKhK
DIED IN JANUARY 2002 According to Segodnyashnyaya
gazeta, four soldiers from military unit 3377, which guards the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine,
died in January 2002. On 1 January, a drunk driver lost control of his truck
with 22 people aboard. Two soldiers were killed instantly, and a third died
later in the hospital. Commanding officers tried to conceal the cause of the
accident, but the Krasnoyarsk military prosecutor's office
initiated an investigation. On 20 January, 19-year old private Yevgeniy Nikitin
died while on duty from a gun shot wound in the head. The circumstances of his
death are under investigation. ["Smert
soldat," Segodnyashnyaya gazeta, 12 February 2002; in NuclearNo.Ru
Web Site,
http://nuclearno.ru/text.asp?2045.] {Entered 11/28/2002 DA}
12/17/2001: US TO PROVIDE AID TO IMPROVE MPC&A AT
GKHK US experts arrived at Krasnoyarsk to discuss the
funding for security upgrades at the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical
Combine, according to Yuriy Revenko, the combine's chief engineer. The visit
is a part of an ongoing US-Russian mutual effort to enhance the MPC&A system
at the plutonium production reactor complex of the combine. The United States
has supplied special security equipment to the combine in the past. As a
result of the negotiations, the United States will likely finance additional
upgrades to GKhK's safety and security system.
[Yuriy Khots, ITAR-TASS, 17 December 2001; in "US experts arrive at Russian nuclear
facility," FBIS Document CEP20011217000052.] {Entered 2/12/2002 DA}
11/28/2001: KRASENERGO CUTS POWER SUPPLY TO
ZHELEZNOGORSK On 28 November 2001, Krasnoyarsk Kray power supplier Krasenergo JSC cut the
backup power line supplying electricity to Zheleznogorsk, and only the main
power line remained in operation.[1] Had the major line short-circuited, power outages could have
occurred, endangering crucial city infrastructure, including the water-pumping
plant. Krasenergo cut the supply in an attempt to make the Zheleznogorsk
Mining and Chemical Combine pay its outstanding debt of 15 million rubles ($501,000 as of 28 November
2001). However, the combine does not acknowledge the debt. GKhK sells energy
to Krasenergo when its nuclear power reactor is in operation, but when the
reactor is being refueled, it has to buy back its own energy from Krasenergo
at a rate ten times the original selling price. Normal power supply to Zheleznogorsk resumed the
same day, after Minister of Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev contacted Anatoliy Chubays, the head of
the Unified Energy System of Russia (YeES Rossii).
Later on, the city and combine administrations reached a new agreement with Krasenergo that there
will be no power cuts in the future.[2]
Sources: [1] Yuriy
Khots, "Za dolgi otkluchena rezervnaya liniya, podayushchaya
elektroenergiyu v Zheleznogorsk, gde raspolozhen gorkhimkombinat,"
ITAR-TASS, 28 November 2001; in Minatom's
press digest, http://www.minatom.ru/,
28 November 2001. [2]"V razrez s dogovorennostyami mezhdu GKhK
i 'Krasenergo,' energetiki na proshloy nedele otkluchili ot elektrosnabzheniya
chast zhilykh mikrorayonov Zheleznogorska," Eks-Press Krasnoyarsk
information and analytic agency,
http://www.newslab.ru/,
10 December 2002. {Entered 4/15/2002 DA}
7/13/2001: MINATOM'S RUMYANTSEV VISITS
ZHELEZNOGORSK On
13 July 2001, Minister of Atomic Energy
Aleksandr Rumyantsev
visited the Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK) at Zheleznogorsk on what Krasnoyarsk Kray Governor
Aleksandr Lebed called a
"scouting expedition."[1] The visit took place right after President Vladimir Putin
signed
legislation legalizing the import of foreign spent nuclear fuel (SNF) into Russia for storage and eventual
reprocessing.
Rumyantsev examined the existing wet storage facility for
SNF and the proposed site for a dry storage
facility.[1] Construction of the dry storage facility would cost
between $300 and $450 million, which is expected to come from revenues derived
from importing the SNF. The existing wet storage facility at GKhK can currently accommodate 6,000t
of
spent fuel, but there is a proposal to expand its capacity to 8,600t.[2]
Rumyantsev also met with Lebed
and the Krasnoyarsk legislative assembly as many
residents of Krasnoyarsk have expressed concern about becoming a
"dumping ground" for the world's nuclear waste. Rumyantsev told the legislators that in order to store foreign SNF, the capacity of a special storage facility at GKhK
has to be increased to 30,000t.[2]
He stated that there are currently no plans to complete the RT-2 reprocessing
plant, construction on which was halted more than 10 years
ago, as finishing the facility would be far too costly. The initial revenues
from storing foreign SNF would be used for rehabilitating polluted
areas in Russia instead. He said that there is sufficient reprocessing
capacity for the present at the
Mayak
facility in Chelyabinsk.[2] Governor Lebed told reporters that there had been no concrete decision made
on transporting the foreign SNF to Zheleznogorsk: so far it is simply a plan proposed by Minatom. Lebed said that before Krasnoyarsk would
consent to the import of SNF, Minatom needed to provide at least three
documents to the kray.
These documents include a declaration
on the importation of SNF, a draft federal program on conversion of
nuclear energy enterprises in the kray, and a draft
government decree on determining costs for SNF imports, including revenue
guarantees for the kray. He also said that SNF from Russian and
Ukrainian power plants has been coming into the Krasnoyarsk area for several
years. He added that Ukraine owes the region between 350-400 million
rubles in storage fees.[3] In his decree on importing SNF, President
Putin created a special commission to look into all aspects of the issue. The commission will include five
representatives each for the president, the
Federation
Council, the State Duma,
and the government. Governor Lebed, as governor of the region most
concerned, is lobbying for a position on the commission.[4]
Sources: [1] "Poyezdka Ministra v Sibir,"
Novosti atomnoy otrasli, Atompressa online edition, www.minatom.ru,
No. 28, 26 July
2001. [2] "Pervaya partiya OYaT postupit v
Krasnoyarsk s zarubezhnykh AEhS cherez tri goda," Interfax, www.interfax.ru,
13 July 2001. [3] "Lebed vyskazyvayetsya o probleme
vvoza v RF OYaT," Interfax,
www.interfax.ru, 13 July 2001. [4] "Lebed schitayet, chto dolzhen
prinyat uchastiye v rabote kommissii po voprosu vvoza v Rossii OYaT,"
Interfax, www.interfax.ru,
13 July 2001.
{Entered 10/22/2001 lgm}
6/1/2001: DISPOSAL OF LIQUID RADIOACTIVE WASTE
FROM PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION AT GKhK On 1 June 2001, Yuriy Revenko,
chief engineer of the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical
Combine, told ITAR-TASS that the combine had begun disposing of liquid waste resulting from weapons-grade plutonium production. The first of
seven storage tanks, which contain 3,000 m3
of waste, has already been cleaned out with cleansing equipment
developed by combine specialists. Revenko also said that the
environmental remediation of areas
around the Yenisey river contaminated by past combine activities
will start only when the government provides the necessary funding. [Yuriy Khots, "Na
GKhK likvidiruyut khranilishcha zhidkikh RAO, nakopivshikhsya pri proizvodstve
plutoniya," ITAR-TASS, 1 June 2001; in Atomic Energy Bulletin, No. 7,
2001.] {Entered 7/1/2002 DA}
5/11/2001: TECHNOLOGY PARK TO OPEN IN
ZHELEZNOGORSK Advanced Technology Industries Inc. (ATI), a member
of the US Industry Coalition (USIC) has agreed
to join the Research Institute of Physics and Engineering at Krasnoyarsk State
University (NIFTI) in order to form
an Incubator/Technology Park in Zheleznogorsk. This venture, to be known as the International
Center
of Advanced Technologies, will focus on commercialization of technologies
developed within the Russian nuclear complex and development of technologies
for nuclear
waste remediation. The joint venture is part
of a larger plan to develop Zheleznogorsk as an international center for
nuclear waste management. The facility is to occupy 13 hectares of
GKhK's underground nuclear complex. NIFTI focuses on fundamental research and
engineering in nuclear wastes management, industrial waste recovery,
explosion physics, composites, ultra-dispersed and ceramic materials, and
technologies related to aluminum production. ATI is "a technology
enabling holding company" which opens markets to global networks and it especially promotes the transfer of new technology from
Soviet/NIS military industries and research institutes to the
private sector. ATI cooperates with various agencies of several
national governments, including the United States, the Russian Federation,
Germany, and Israel, as well as with international organizations.
["Joins Russian Institute to Form
Technology Park in Russia," Business Wire, in RANSAC Nuclear
News, 11 May 2001, http://www.ransac.org.] {Entered
6/4/01 GG}
2/19/2001: FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANT SET TO BE
ALTERNATIVE TO PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION REACTOR A 19 February 2001 article in Nuclear Weapons &
Materials Monitor reported that US and Russian officials had agreed to
replace the plutonium production reactor at the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical
Combine with a
new fossil-fuel plant. The plutonium production reactor currently
produces heat and electricity for Zheleznogorsk. According to a US Department of Defense official,
the United States hopes to act on the decision by April 2001, but said that
Russia's ability to adhere to the timetable was unclear. For more information
on the reactor conversion issue, see Russia:
Plutonium
Production and Reactor Core Conversion Developments.
["U.S., Russia Agree on Fossil Fuel
Plant at Zheleznogorsk," Nuclear Weapons & Materials Monitor,
Vol. 5, No. 4, 19 February 2001.] {Entered 2/19/01 GD}
10/2000: ZHELEZNOGORSK REACTOR CONVERSION ISSUE
REMAINS UNDECIDED No progress on the future of an alternative
electricity and heat source for the plutonium production reactor at the Zheleznogorsk
Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK) was reached during an October 2000
meeting between representatives of the US
Department of Defense Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) program and the
Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom). Colonel Jim Reid, Program
Policy Director of the
CTR office, explained that no decision had yet been made concerning a replacement power source
for the GKhK plutonium
production reactor and that Russia is expected to
finish analysis of the options by the end of 2000. For more information on
conversion of the plutonium production reactors at Seversk, see the
10/2000
entry in Russia: Siberian Chemical
Combine Developments. ["U.S., Russia Agree To Coal-Fired
Plant Option For Seversk Pu Reactor," Post-Soviet Nuclear &
Defense Monitor, 13 November 2000, p. 14-15.] {Entered 12/12/2000 GD}
8/29/2000: GERMAN MOX PRODUCTION
FACILITY WILL MOST LIKELY BE LOCATED AT GKHK IN KRASNOYARSK-26 On 29 August 2000 Izvestiya reported that the
most probable location for the Siemens MOX plant from Hanau, Germany is likely to be
the Mining and Chemical Combine in Zheleznogorsk. (For more information
about the possible export of the German MOX plant, see the 7/2000 entry
in the Russia: MOX Fuel Developments
section.)
["Milliard 'zelenykh' marok,"
Roman Khrapachevskiy, Izvestiya
online edition, http://www.izvestia.ru,
29 August 2000] {Entered 3/16/2001 OC}
6/5/2000: KRASNOYARSK MINING AND CHEMICAL COMBINE
READY TO PARTICIPATE IN MOX FUEL PRODUCTION FROM WEAPONS-GRADE PLUTONIUM According to GKhK General Director Vasiliy Zhidkov, the Combine is ready to
participate in MOX fuel production under the
US-Russia Plutonium Disposition Agreement. GKhK has skilled personnel
and vacant facilities located
deep underground that can guarantee production safety. When MOX fabrication
facilities become fully operational, they will be able to reprocess up to three
metric tons of plutonium annually.
["Krasnoyarsk Complex Ready to Implement
Plutonium Programme," ITAR-TASS, 5 June 2000; in Russian Environmental Digest (REDfiles), Vol. 2, No. 23, 5-11 June 2000.]
{Entered 2/23/2000 OC}
2/13/2000: RUSSIA PROPOSES ABANDONING PRODUCTION REACTOR
CONVERSION Officials of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy
informed a visiting US delegation in early February 2000 that the Russian government
wants to abandon the US-Russian project to convert the plutonium production reactors
at the Mining and Chemical Combine in Zheleznogorsk and the Siberian Chemical
Combine in Seversk. Russia proposes instead to shut down the reactors and
build conventional power plants to provide the electric power now generated by
the production reactors, including hydroelectric facilities near Zheleznogorsk,
at an estimated cost of $230 million, most of which would be paid by the United
States. US nuclear experts, including Princeton physicist Frank von Hippel, have
criticized the original reactor conversion plan on nonproliferation grounds, fearing
that converting the reactors to run on HEU rather than natural uranium would stimulate
commerce within Russia in HEU fuel elements which would be vulnerable to theft
or diversion during production and transport. Russian nuclear officials have also
criticized conversion of the production reactors on safety grounds. Gosatomnadzor
Deputy Director Aleksandr Dmitriyev has warned that the conversion process could
further destabilize the production reactors. The production reactors are technical
precursors to the power reactors at Chornobyl
and share many of their design defects. Additionally, radiation has caused cracking
in the reactor cores, which must now be held together with straps. US officials
were skeptical of the new Russian cost estimates for the replacement power plants,
which were significantly lower than previous estimates. A senior Defense
Department official noted that Congress has authorized only $115 million for the
conversion project, of which $22 million has been spent. Officials also related
that the projected date for a halt to plutonium production in Russia has been
postponed to 2004 at the earliest, whether or not the new Russian proposal is
adopted.
[Michael Dobbs, "Russian Reactor Project
Troubled," Washington Post, 13 February 2000, p. A1.] {Entered 2/14/00 FW}
7/28/99: GKHK PLANS SILICON PRODUCTION FACILITY On 28 July 1999, GKhK Director Valeriy Aleksandrovich Lebedev announced that
he had met with Minister of Finance Mikhail Kasyanov, Minister of the Economy
Andrey Shapovalyants, Minister of Science and Technology Mikhail Kirpichnikov,
Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeniy Adamov, and Krasnoyarsk Kray Governor
Aleksandr Lebed at the Ministry of Finance in mid-July 1999. They
discussed plans to build a facility to produce semiconductor-grade silicon at
GKhK. An agreement was signed between the kray administration and the
Ministry of Finance to support the production facility project and other
restructuring at GKhK. They also discussed the issue of Ukrainian
nonpayment for spent fuel storage. If Ukraine does not pay its arrears,
Russia will stop providing nuclear fuel for Ukrainian nuclear power plants.
["Iz vystupleniya V. A. Lebedeva na vstreche s
trudyashchimisya 20 iyulya 1999 g," Vestnik GKhK, 18 August 1999, p. 1.]
{Entered 11/17/99 MLB}
2/24/99: US TO APPROPRIATE $60 MILLION FOR CONVERSION AT RUSSIAN NUCLEAR
CITIES Speaking at a press conference in Moscow on 24 February 1999, Rose
Gottemoeller, US Assistant Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Nonproliferation and
National Security, stated that the US government plans to appropriate $60
million for nonproliferation and conversion programs at 10 of Russia's closed
nuclear cities over the next two years.[1,2] According to Gottemoeller, $30
million dollars will be appropriated in 1999, with roughly $15 million reserved
for conversion projects at the closed cities and $15 million used to resolve
problems related to nonproliferation of nuclear materials.[1,2] Gottemoeller
added that the US DOE would appeal to Congress to renew funding for these
programs in the FY 2000 Budget.[2] Initially, the US funding will focus on
conversion work at the three largest nuclear cities, Sarov (Arzamas-16
), Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk-70),
and Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk-26).[2] According toInterfax, funds will
be used to establisha
high-speed computing center at Sarov and a pharmaceutical center at
Snezhinsk.[1] A telecommunications center will also be established.[2]
Sources: [1] "SSHA vydelyat Rossii $60 mln na resheniye problem 'yadernykh'
gorodov," Interfax, No. 3, 24 February 1999. [2] "SSHA vzyazlis za rossiyskiye yadernyye problemy,"
Segodnya, No. 42, 25 February 1999. {Entered 12/3/99 SS}
12/1998: POLICE AND FSB UNCOVER WEAPONS
STOCKPILE IN ZHELEZNOGORSK
In December 1998, the Krasnoyarsk Kray
Federal Security Service (FSB), the Zheleznogorsk police and the FSB department of military unit 3592 carried out a
joint operation to detain a warrant officer of one of the military units
deployed in Zheleznogorsk, and seize an arsenal of weapons he kept in his
acquaintance’s garage. According to ITAR-TASS, the arsenal contained 600g of
TNT, six sticks of plastic explosives, 10m of fuse, six combat
grenades, more than 500 cartridges of various calibers, and a large
quantity of ammunition and parts for small firearms.
An investigation has been opened in
connection with the incident.
[Yuriy Khots, "600 grammov trotila,
6 plastin plastida, 6 boyevykh granat s zapalami, svyshe 500 patronov khranil
praporshchik v gorode yadershchikov Zheleznogorske Krasnoyarskogo kraya," ITAR-TASS,
30
December 1998; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/.] {Entered
11/28/2002 DA}
9/22/98: MINATOM AND DOE SIGN AGREEMENT ON CONVERSION AT RUSSIAN NUCLEAR
WEAPONS FACILITIES On 22 September 1998, Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeniy Adamov and
US Secreatary of Energy Bill Richardson signed a
five-year agreement according to which the United States will allocate $30
million for the conversion of Russia's closed nuclear cities. The agreement
affects10 of Russia's closed nuclear cities, including Zheleznogorsk
(Krasnoyarsk-26), Sarov (Arzamas-16),
and Snezhinsk (Chelyabinsk-70).
According to Minatom, the US-Russian agreement would facilitate the creation of
15,000 jobs in coordination with the Russian program "Reconstruction and
Conversion of Enterprises of the Atomic Industry (the Nuclear Weapons Complex)
in 1998-2000," which the Russian Government approved on 24 June 1998.
Izvestiya reported that some of the US financial assistance will be used to
stop the emigration of nuclear specialists to other countries. (For the complete
text of this document please see the
NCI Agreement file. For more information please see the
NCI Overview.)
[Maria Kalugina, "Amerikantsy platyat za konversiyu 'atomnykh
gorodov' Rossii," Izvestiya online edition
http://www.online.ru/rproducts/izvestia-izvestia-year/, 24 September 1998.]
{Entered 12/2/99 SS}
8-10/98: MINATOM DEBTS LEAD TO
HEAT AND POWER SUPPLY CRISIS IN ZHELEZNOGORSK In September-October 1998,
Zheleznogorsk had no heat and a limited supply of hot water due to a
temporary shutdown of the plutonium production reactor at the Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK).[1]
The reactor was stopped on 30 August 1998 for regular maintenance and an upload of fresh fuel,
but continued to be out of operation for several weeks because of GKhK's lack of
funds to buy and ship nuclear fuel from the
Novosibirsk Chemical Concentrate Plant.[2]
Minatom had failed to pay
the 245 million rubles (over $22 million as of 30 August 1998)
it owed the combine for orders in 1997-1998. Consequently, GKhK was not able
to pay its employees on time and accrued 70 million rubles
(over $6 million) in wage arrears for April-August
1998.[3] As a result,
plutonium reactor refueling was delayed, and workers staged a
protest over unpaid wages.[1,3] The crisis was eased after Krasnoyarsk Kray
Governor Aleksandr Lebed and GKhK Director Valeriy Lebedev reached an agreement
with Minister of Atomic Energy
Yevgeniy Adamov on
the repayment of Minatom's debt to GKhK.[4,5] Sources:
[1] Michael R. Gordon, "Special Report: The Hidden City. Hard
Times at Russia’s Once-Pampered Nuclear Centers,” The New York Times, 18
November 1998. [2] Grigoriy
Yanushkevich, "Teplo kak ukhodyashchaya epokha, ili ...Plus gazifikatsiya vsego
ZATO," Gorod i gorozhane, No. 37, 16 September 1998; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/. [3] "Zheleznogorsk
prosit pomoshchi," Krasnoyarskiy rabochiy, No. 202, 22
October 1998; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/.
[4] "Minatom gotov otdat dolgi,"
Krasnoyarskiy rabochiy, 15 October 1998; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/.
[5] Grigoriy Yanushkevich, "Novosti GKhK,"
Gorod i gorozhane, No. 41, 15 October 1998; in Integrum Techno,
http://www.integrum.com/. {Entered 12/4/2002 DA}
7/9/98: REACTOR CONVERSION CONTINUES Under the terms of a US-Russian
agreement on reactor core conversion, GKhK is entering the third phase of
converting its reactor from weapons grade plutonium production to commercial heat
and electricity production. The third phase--final preparation for conversion--is
to be completed by the end of 1998. While the GKhK reactor is to be completely
converted by the middle of 2001, Minatom does not have the money to continue the
conversion process. The actual conversion will be supervised by Gosatomnadzor
and various environmental protection organizations. There is some question
as to whether certain processes, such as waste processing, will be delegated to
GKhK or its sister organization the Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK).
There is some concern about the price of heat and electricity the converted reactor
will provide. Prior to conversion Minatom has provided money for the reactor's
operating budget. The reactor was not built for commercial use, and after
conversion, it must become self-supporting. It is generally believed that
prices of electricity and heat provided by GKhK will be higher, but there is uncertainty
about how much higher the prices will be. The newly formed Technical Council
under the leadership of First Deputy Minister Lev Ryabev is supervising the conversion
of the reactor at GKhK and two reactors at SKhK.
[V. V. Zhidkov, "Rabota po konversii reaktora," Vestnik
GKhK, No. 15-16, 9 July 1998, p. 3.] {Entered 10/7/99 MB}
7/14/97: GKHK TO OPEN MAGNETIC TAPE PLANT In a countertrade deal worth DM350 million ($200 million
as of July 1997), GKhK received German machinery and equipment for a magnetic
tape plant in return for proceeds from sales of uranium and enrichment services.
The plant will be built on the GKhK complex as part of the conversion process.
The countertrade deal was brokered in Frankfurt by the Internexco firm.
The deal was begun in 1991 in cooperation with the German firm Emtec, formerly
a subsidiary of BASF, but now owned by the South Korean firm Kohap. When
it reaches full production, the plant will be able to produce 25 million audio
and 30 million video cassettes per year.
[Mark Hibbs, "Krasnoyarsk Conversion
Project Financed by Uranium, SWU deals," Nuclear Fuel, 14 July 1997, p.
9.] {Entered 11/09/99 MB}
11/21/96: GKHK NEGATIVELY AFFECTING LOCAL RESIDENTS A five-year study by researchers from the Institute of Complex Problems of
Hygiene and Occupational Diseases indicates that radioactive waste from Krasnoyarsk's
Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK) is adversely affecting the health of nearby
residents. Vladimir Mazharov, one of six authors of the paper, informed Nucleonics
Week that the researchers had no data on the contamination levels of the areas
studied, and were thus unable to draw conclusions relating varying doses to illnesses.
[Ann MacLachlan, "Russian Researchers Find Health Hurt by Soviet
Plutonium Complex," Nucleonics Week, 21 November 1996, pp. 7-8.] {Entered
2/19/97 LBN}
1/96: KRASNOYARSK-26 TECHNICIAN ARRESTED FOR ZIRCONIUM THEFT Russian official sources denied media reports which claimed that a scientist
had been arrested at Krasnoyarsk-26 for attempting to smuggle weapons-grade fissile
materials out of the complex. Kremlin sources insisted that a metallurgist technician,
not a nuclear scientist, was arrested after a partial physical inventory of zirconium
metal was taken at the complex, and that somewhat more than a kilogram of zirconium,
not fissile material, was missing. At the time of the arrest it was not certain
whether the zirconium had been smuggled out of Krasnoyarsk.
["Zirconium, Not Fissile Material, Reported Missing at Krasnoyarsk,"
Nucleonics Week, 16 May 1996, p. 13.]
11/30/95: RUSSIA WILL RELEASE INFORMATION ON REACTOR DESIGN SAFETY REVIEW It was reported that Russia will hand over information on a reactor design
safety review, avoiding a potential US threat to cut funding for a joint feasibility
study on converting the Krasnoyarsk-26 and Tomsk-7 reactors. Russia will also
allow a US inspection team access to the Krasnoyarsk-26 control room. A US team
may go to Krasnoyarsk-26 in 12/95. A decision may be made on the reactors' conversion
during the 1/96 meeting of the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission.
["Russia Releases Requested Data; Core Conversion Study On
Track," Post-Soviet Nuclear & Defense Monitor, 17 November 1995, p.
3.]
11/27/95: US INSPECTORS BARRED FROM KRASNOYARSK-26 It was reported that Russia is not allowing US inspectors to conduct inspections
at Krasnoyarsk-26, due to the facility's "military sensitivity." US officials
are currently waiting for an invitation to inspect the facility.
["'Military Sensitive' Keeps Russian Nuke Plants Off-limits,"
Washington Times, 27 November 1995, p. A9; "US Seeks Greater Access To
Russian Nuclear Plants," Washington Post, 27 November 1995, p. A16.]
11/27/95: MIKHAILOV SAYS RUSSIA WILL HALT PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION BY YEAR
2000 Minister of Atomic Energy Viktor Mikhailov again pledged that Russia will
halt production of weapons-grade plutonium by the year 2000, and that the three
plutonium-producing reactors at Krasnoyarsk-26 and Tomsk-7 will be converted to
peaceful use. In order to convert the reactors from plutonium production, the
cores of Tomsk-7 reactors will first be modernized to provide heating as a 500
MW power plant, to be replaced later by a VVER-640 power reactor. Minatom may
also construct a high-temperature helium-cooled reactor at Tomsk-7 to burn weapons-grade
plutonium. A 350 MW BWR will be constructed at Krasnoyarsk-26 by the year 2000.
US officials have been denied access to the reactors, and according to Western
sources, the reactors are unsafe.[1,2]
Sources: [1] ITAR-TASS, 27 November 1995; in "Production Of Weapon-Grade
Plutonium To Cease By 2000," FBIS-SOV-95-228. [2] Doug Clarke, "Russia Again Pledges To Halt Plutonium Production,"
OMRI Daily Digest, 29 November 1995, p. 3.
11/17/95: JOINT RUSSIAN-US STUDIES ON REACTOR CONVERSION AT KRASNOYARSK
-26 In 12/95, three joint US-Russian working groups will submit to Minatom and
the US Department of Energy their proposals for conversion of the Mining and Chemical
Combine in Krasnoyarsk-26. The working groups are researching possible alternative
energy sources for the area. One alternative is to construct a heat plant at Sosnovoborsk.
Another is to convert the reactor at Krasnoyarsk-26 to produce energy, but not
plutonium. A third option is to build a new nuclear power plant at the existing
facility.
[ITAR-TASS, 17 November 1995; in "Plans Under Way For Conversion
Of Siberian Plutonium Plant," FBIS-SOV-95-222, 17 November 1995.]
10/31/95: US FUNDED STUDY FACES OBSTACLES A US-funded feasibility study of four proposed Russian reactor designs to
replace the plutonium production reactors at Krasnoyarsk and Tomsk may be in trouble
unless Russia releases information and allows the US Department of Energy (DOE)
access to the control room at Krasnoyarsk. The information includes a safety review
of one of the proposed Russian designs, according to the DOE. Under the study,
called the nuclear options replacement power (NORP) study, the four proposed designs
are the AST-500 and NP-500 for Tomsk, and the ATEC-200 and VK-300 for Krasnoyarsk.
The US representatives include scientists from the DOE, Pacific Northwest Laboratories,
Argonne National Laboratory, and Bechtel Power Corporation. The Russian participants
include scientists from the Experiment Design Bureau of Machine Building (OKBM),
OKB Gidropress, Research and Development Institute of Energy Technologies (NIKIET),
All-Russian Institute of Atomic Reactors (NIIAR), All-Russian Research and Design
Institute for Energy Technology (VNIPIET), and the Research and Development and
Architect and Engineering Institute (Atomenergoproyekt).
["US-Russia Study On Nuke Option To Replace Pu Plants Headed
For Impasse?" Post-Soviet Nuclear & Defense Monitor, 31 October 1995,
p. 3-4.]
8/3/95: US MEMBER OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXPEDITION ARRESTED IN KRASNOYARSK
REGION Jason Lynch, a US member of an official environmental expedition in the Krasnoyarsk
Region, was arrested near the Mining and Chemical Combine at Krasnoyarsk-26 (Zheleznogorsk)
and charged with "visual reconnaissance" or espionage.[1-4]
Sources: [1] "V obstyatelstvakh zaderzhaniya amerikantsa vozle atomnogo
obyekta mnogo neyasnostey," Izvestiya, 10 August 1995, p. 1. [2] Aleksey Tarasov,"Vo glubinye sibirskikh rud 'kholodnaya
voyna' i ne zakanchivalas," Izvestiya, 10 August 1995, p. 5. [3] Aleksey Tarasov, "Grazhdanin SShA Linch, po-vidimomu, budet
vyslan," Izvestiya, 11 August 1995, p. 2. [4] "Linch vse zhe grubo narushil pravila," Izvestiya,
15 August 1995, p. 1.
7/95: MINATOM AND GENERAL ATOMICS TO ESTABLISH JOINT VENTURE Minatom and General Atomics (GA) were finalizing the agreement to establish
a joint venture for development of GA's gas turbine modular helium reactor (GT-MHR)
for use in Russia. The plutonium-burning reactor will possibly replace the plutonium-producing
reactors at Krasnoyarsk-26 and Tomsk-7.
["International Briefs," Nuclear News, October 1995,
p. 44.]
6/30/95: O'LEARY, MIKHAILOV SIGN STATEMENT OF INTENT US Energy Secretary O'Leary and Russian Minatom Minister Mikhailov signed
a "statement of intent" to conduct a study on substituting electric and thermal
power for the three plutonium-production reactors at Krasnoyarsk-26 and Tomsk-7.
The statement was signed during the fifth meeting of the Gore-Chernomyrdin Commission.
Russia would like to replace the current reactors with plutonium-burning reactors.
However, due to concerns of cost and proliferation, the United States does not
support this position.
[Evan S. Medeiros, "Gore-Chernomyrdin Talks Resolve Several
Outstanding Issues," Arms Control Today, September 1995, p. 32.]
4/95: MINATOM AND GENERAL ATOMICS SIGN FINAL AGREEMENT General Atomics and Minatom signed a final agreement concerning the joint-design,
development, and production of a gas turbine-modular helium reactor that will
replace the weapons-grade plutonium-producing reactors at Tomsk and Krasnoyarsk.
Although the Russian government has not yet given its support for the project,
General Atomics and Minatom will each provide an initial $1 million for the project.
The leading facility in Russia to work on the project will be the Experimental
Machine Building Design Bureau (OKMB) at Nizhniy Novgorod.
["Final agreements have been signed...," Nuclear News,
April 1995, p. 50.]
12/94: MODERN MPC&A SYSTEM URGENTLY NEEDED According to Moskovskiye novosti, the Krasnoyarsk-26 facility urgently
requires the introduction of modern systems of registering, control and physical
protection of nuclear materials. Attempts to steal nuclear materials have been
recorded.
["MN File," Moskovskiye novosti; in JPRS-TAC-95-002,
14 June 1995, p. 98.]
6/23/94: KRASNOYARSK AND TOMSK PLUTONIUM PRODUCTION REACTORS TO BE SHUT
DOWN UNDER RUSSIAN-US AGREEMENT US Vice-President Al Gore and Russian Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
signed an agreement that provides for the plutonium production reactors at Krasnoyarsk
and Tomsk to be shut down and converted into fossil fuel units for producing heat
and electricity. Russian plutonium production for use in weapons will end around
the year 2000 [1]. The US has promised to assist Russia in finding alternative
energy sources [2].
Sources: [1] Wilson Dizard III, "Russia To Halt Pu Production Around
2000 Under New Accord," NuclearFuel, 4 July 1994, p. 15; Dunbar Lockwood,
"US, Russia Agree To Phase-Out Of Nuclear Weapons Reactors," Arms Control Today,
July 1994, p. 24. [2] Frank von Hippel, "Fissile-Material Security In The Post-Cold
War World," draft of article for Physics Today, 16 March 1995, p. 6.
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