This file is no longer
being updated. For major recent developments, see the
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Developments file.
To return to the main GKhK entry, see the
Zheleznogorsk
file.
10/30/2003: DRY STORAGE FACILITY
CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY
On 30 October 2003, GKhK public relations head Pavel Morozov told IA Regnum
that the
construction of the first dry storage unit for spent nuclear fuel (SNF), capable of
storing 10,000 metric tons of SNF, has begun and is scheduled to be operational in 2005. The plan includes the completion of three units. (For more information, see
the
4/18/2003,
6/2002,
5/24/2002, and
9/26/2001
entries, below).
8/1/2003: KRASNOYARSK
ADMINISTRATION WILL NOT ALLOW IMPORT OF UKRAINE'S SPENT FUEL UNTIL DEBT PAID
On 1 August 2003, UNIAN reported that, according to Yuriy Lebedev,
head of Russia's International Fuel and Energy Company, which is managing the
import of spent nuclear fuel to Krasnoyarsk Kray for storage, the Krasnoyarsk administration will
not allow new shipments of spent fuel from Ukraine for storage until Ukraine
pays its
$11.76 million debt for 2002 deliveries.
4/18/2003: FIRST UNIT OF DRY STORAGE FACILITY TO
BEGIN OPERATION IN 2005
On 18 April 2003, Press-Layn reported that the first unit of a dry storage
facility for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at GKhK will be put into operation in
2005. The unit will store 8,000t of SNF from Russian VVER-1000 and RMBK-1000
reactors, and foreign nuclear power plant reactors. The cost of the project is
estimated at about 4 billion rubles ($128.25 million as of 18 April 2003).
According to the report, GKhK is actively dismantling some buildings
of its RT-2 spent fuel reprocessing
plant to accommodate the dry storage facility.
12/10/2002: GKhK PLANS TO USE SQUARE
CASKS FOR SNF STORAGE
On 10 December 2002, Vestnik GKhK reported that GKhK is considering using
square casks for storing spent fuel assemblies instead of round casks. A square cask can hold
more assemblies than a round one (16 and 12 assemblies, respectively). This would
make a 30% increase in the capacity of the GKhK wet
storage facility possible. Currently, the wet storage facility is more than 50% full.
6/2002: DRY STORAGE FACILITY TO BE
BUILT AT GKhK
In June 2002, the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine hosted a meeting of
the Minatom scientific and technical council on the RT-2 spent fuel reprocessing
plant. The council approved the construction of a dry storage facility for
irradiated nuclear fuel at RT-2. The plan provides for unit-by-unit construction
with each unit to contain about 10,000 cubic meters of waste. The facility's
total capacity will be 33,000 cubic meters. The total cost of the facility is
estimated at $330-360 million. The cost of the first unit, to be put in
operation by 2006, is $120 million.
Rosenergoatom plans to finance construction using revenues from the sale of nuclear energy. Construction of the
facility has already been approved; the draft design is expected to be completed in 2002.
The dry storage facility will replace the existing 6,000m3 wet
storage facility, which is already 52% full. Meanwhile, the completion of RT-2
has been postponed by at least 20 years, according to
Nezavisimaya gazeta.
5/24/2002: CONSTRUCTION OF DRY STORAGE FACILITY AT ZHELEZNOGORSK TO START IN
2003
On 24 May 2002, GKhK spokesperson Pavel Morozov announced that the construction
of a $360 million dry storage facility capable of storing up to 40,000t of spent
nuclear fuel will start in 2003. The first part of the facility, with a
capacity of 10,000t, will be ready by 2006-2007 and cost $120 million. The
facility was designed by the
All-Russia Scientific Research Institute
for Energy Technology.
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]
11/2001-2/2002: IMPORT OF BULGARIAN SNF
CAUSES CONTROVERSY IN RUSSIA
On 8 November 2001, Tekhsnabeksport shipped 41t of VVER-1000 spent nuclear fuel (SNF)
in the form of 96 irradiated fuel assemblies from the Kozloduy
nuclear power plant (NPP) in Bulgaria to the Zheleznogorsk
Mining and Chemical Combine
(GKhK).[1,2,3] Opponents of SNF imports to Russia claimed that the shipment was illegal because
the contract had not been submitted for an environmental examination. Valeriy Denisov,
head of the Siberian Division of Gosatomnadzor, insisted that the Bulgarian SNF
was transported to Russia for permanent storage rather than for reprocessing and
subsequent return, since Russia does not have reprocessing facilities for VVER-1000 fuel. The Gosatomnadzor commission headed by Denisov came to the conclusion that rods
with burnable absorbers, which fall under the definition of radioactive
waste, had been shipped to Zheleznogorsk along with the SNF
assemblies, despite the ban on radioactive waste imports under Russian law (only
imports of SNF were legalized by
the State Duma in June 2001).[2,4,5]
In addition, according to media reports, the train transporting the Bulgarian SNF barely
avoided an accident that
had occurred on the same railroad.[6]
Minatom rejected the accusations, saying that the
Ministry of Economic Development
and Gosatomnadzor had provided all the necessary certificates, licenses, and
permissions, and that the shipment was made in full compliance with safety
standards for SNF
transportation. Moreover, according to Minatom, the shipment contract
had been negotiated in 2000 in accordance with the 1995 Russian-Bulgarian agreement
on cooperation on the peaceful use of nuclear energy, and is not subject to
the new Russian legislation.[7,8,9] According to Minatom spokesman Yuriy Bespalko, rods with burnable absorbers are
an integral part of fuel assemblies and can
be imported to Russia under the new law. According to GKhK Director Vasiliy Zhidkov, absorbers are specially designed to ensure
the safe
transportation of assemblies.[10,11]
Minatom was also accused of dealing with a non-existent offshore company, Energy Invest & Trade Corporation,
that had been
liquidated in March 2001. Minatom explained that the Bulgarians had initially
included the company in the
payment scheme as an intermediary because
of Kozloduy
NPP's financial problems. However, when the
shipment was being prepared, the Bulgarians informed
Tekhsnabeksport that the plant
itself would pay the $25 million
for the shipment.[8,11]
Kozloduy
NPP was reported to have paid $620 per kilogram of SNF.[7]
In January 2002, Zhidkov
announced that the Zheleznogorsk Combine had already received $17 million for
the SNF shipment.[12]
According to Zhidkov,
25% of the money will be transferred to the Krasnoyarsk Kray budget to implement
social and environmental programs, and 25% of these transferred funds will
return to Zheleznogorsk to address local environmental problems.[11] He also
mentioned that in 2001 the combine paid 230 million rubles ($7.55 million as of
15 January 2002) to the regional budget for SNF
received from Ukrainian nuclear power plants.[7]
9/26/2001: MINATOM
APPROVES CONSTRUCTION OF SNF DRY STORAGE
FACILITY IN ZHELEZNOGORSK
At its 26 September 2001 meeting the
Minatom collegium approved the construction of a dry storage facility
for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) at the
RT-2 Spent Fuel
Reprocessing Plant
of the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine. According to Minatom
officials, the actual construction will begin when Russia receives payment for the
first foreign SNF shipments. The approval followed the Russian State Duma
passage of laws allowing Russia to import and reprocess foreign
SNF.
4/16/2001: RT-2 EXPECTS TO RECEIVE FIRST
FOREIGN SPENT FUEL SHIPMENT IN 2001
An article in the Krasnoyarsk newspaper Novaya Devyatka
discusses the prospects of resuming foreign spent fuel storage and
reprocessing in Russia and its effect on the RT-2 Spent Fuel
Reprocessing Plant in Zheleznogorsk. According to the article,
RT-2
stores spent fuel from Russian and Ukrainian nuclear power plants at half the market
price. Byulleten Tsentra po obshchestvennoy informatsii po atomnoy energii,
cited in Novaya Devyatka, estimates the market price for long-term storage of
spent nuclear fuel at $300-$600 per kilogram. The article also notes that an agreement has been concluded
with the Bulgarian nuclear plant in Kozloduy on storing its
spent fuel at RT-2 at a price lower then the market rate, but higher than what
Russian and
Ukrainian power plants are charged. The first shipment of Bulgarian spent nuclear fuel
is expected in August-September 2001.
11/30/2000: MINATOM ANNOUNCES RT-2 PLANT TO
BE COMPLETED BY 2015
During a conference in St. Petersburg in November
2000, Ministry
of Atomic Energy (Minatom) representative Boris Nikipelov announced that the RT-2
spent fuel reprocessing plant at the
Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine would be completed by 2015. Once
completed, RT-2 would reprocess fuel from VVER and RBMK reactors by using a high-temperature dry processing technique. Nikipelov also announced Minatom's decision to proceed with
the construction of dry
storage facilities at RT-2 in addition to the already operational
"wet" storage facility there. Nikipelov further said that the RT-1 plant at PO Mayak
would be modernized during the years 2001-2006.
8/2/2000: RT-2 NEEDS DRY STORAGE FACILITY
In August 2000 Krasnoyarskiy Rabochiy
reported that, according to Yuriy Maltsev, head of the Krasnoyarsk Kray environmental
expertise commission, in 1997 the commission recommended that a
dry storage facility be built at RT-2. Currently spent nuclear fuel is stored
in a wet
storage facility, but containers can only be stored for 30 to 40 years under
water.[1] In 1996 Minatom decided to build a dry
storage facility at RT-2, and the project has been under development since
1998. The launch of the construction of the facility is planned for 2001, with
completion slated for 2005.
The project will be financed primarily by Rosenergoatom and nuclear power
plants in Russia and Ukraine. There are no official plans to seek foreign
investment for this project.[2]
8/18/99: DEBATE OVER RT-2 PLANT CONTINUES
Debate continues in Krasnoyarsk Kray over completion
of the RT-2 storage facility. Much of the debate over the facility concerns
its potential environmental and health consequences, in part because 70 percent
of the inhabitants of Krasnoyarsk Kray live within 100km of GKhK.
Some ecologists have stated that the environmental safety of the facility cannot
be guaranteed. A second argument against the facility is economic; completion
of the storage facility would cost at least $4 billion. As of August 1999,
GKhK is unable to earn enough hard currency to pay for the plant. Because
Article 60 of the 1991 law On Environmental Protection prohibits imports
of nuclear waste from all countries except Ukraine, Russia cannot currently import
and store waste for hard currency. Deputy Minister of Atomic Energy Valentin
Ivanov recently said that Russia will not build the RT-2 facility in the next
30 years. Despite local opposition and this statement by Ivanov, the local
press reports that Minatom has already named GKhK as the most likely candidate
for the facility. Other sites that were considered were Tomsk and Chelyabinsk.
7/21/99: RT-2 PLANT SAFETY FEATURES
Proposed safety features for the proposed RT-2 facility
were recently announced. The plant will have equipment to detect and cleanse
radioactive aerosols and dangerous airborne chemicals, a closed water intake and
recycling system separate from the local water system, and technology to convert
liquid radioactive waste into solid form.[2] The buildings will have equipment
to measure the internal and external radiation levels, a ventilation system
that forces air to flow from less contaminated zones to more contaminated zones,
airlocks between zones, and the use of different barriers to lessen the strength
of gamma rays.[1] Additional safety features are being considered, including
the use of nuclear safety equipment, establishment of safe working conditions,
and controls to limit the possibility of uncontrolled chain reactions.[1]
4/30/99: GKHK TO TEST NEW RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE METHOD
According to a Russian report of 30 April 1999, scientists at GKhK plan to
test a new method of storing radioactive waste, called the Krasnoyarsk Sponge,
developed at the Krasnoyarsk Institute of Chemistry and Chemical Technology. When
liquid is poured over the sponge, a pumice-like material, it is absorbed and immobilized.
When the sponge is heated, the pores where the liquid enters the sponge are closed,
trapping the waste within the sponge. The sponge itself is made from readily
available, inexpensive materials. The Institute plans to test the sponge
with radioactive waste at GKhK, but neither GKhK nor the Krasnoyarsk Kray government
has the 16.3 million rubles ($650,000 on 19 May 1999) to pay for the testing program.
The US has offered $1.5 million for the project. According to scientists
at Krasnoyarsk, this is approximately the amount required for $650,000 to trickle
down to GKhK through the bureaucracy. Aleksandr Treyakov, director of GKhK,
said that GKhK also wants guarantees that their intellectual property rights will
be safeguarded. A commission formed by Krasnoyarsk Kray Governor Aleksandr Lebed
recently confirmed the need to eliminate pools of radioactive waste from past
production of weapons-grade plutonium because of the danger they pose to the environment.
GKhK has also been storing foreign radioactive waste, especially for Ukraine,
which recently agreed to raise the price for waste storage to $500 per kilogram
by 2003 after Lebed threatened to stop receiving Ukrainian waste unless the price
was increased.
2/99: RUSSIA RESUMES ACCEPTANCE OF
UKRAINE'S SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL
Russia resumed accepting spent nuclear
fuel shipments for processing from Ukraine after a dispute over a price for the
service. The administration of Krasnoyarsk Kray agreed that the Mining and Chemical
Combine in Zheleznogorsk will accept Ukraine's nuclear waste at $330 per kilogram.
Although this price is $45 per kilogram higher than last year,[1] it is still
below the world price of $700-1000 per kilogram [2] and below Krasnoyarsk Kray
Governor Aleksandr Lebed's proposal of $500 per kilogram.[1]
1/6/99: KRASNOYARSK DECISION PROMPTS UKRAINE
TO ACCELERATE PLANS FOR SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL STORAGE FACILITY
The decision of the administration of Krasnoyarsk Kray to refuse spent nuclear
fuel for storage and reprocessing has moved forward Ukrainian plans to build a
domestic spent fuel storage facility by the year 2000. The storage facility
will be built at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. According to Ukrainian
officials, both the transportation infrastructure and the necessary storage technologies
have long been in place, but insufficient funding prevented completion of a storage
facility by 1999. The cost of finishing the facility at Zaporizhzhya is
comparable to what Ukraine would have to pay GKhK for storage, approximately $91
million.[1] Russia's Minister of Atomic Energy and the management of GKhK
have argued that Ukraine's price was more or less competitive, and that Russia
would endure a major setback in the competetive spent nuclear fuel storage and
reprocessing business if it blocked fuel from Ukraine. Underlying this reasoning
is not only the need for revenue, but also the desire to keep Ukraine's nuclear
industry dependent on Russia.[2]
1/5/99: ADAMOV TRAVELS TO KRASNOYARSK TO INVESTIGATE
SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL DISPUTE
Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeniy Adamov traveled
to Krasnoyarsk Kray on 5 January 1999 to urge the region's governor, Aleksandr
Lebed, to accept Ukrainian spent nuclear fuel for storage. Adamov stressed
that in not doing so, Krasnoyarsk was endangering Russia's position in the spent
fuel storage and reprocessing market. He said that the low price Ukraine
was paying for nuclear fuel storage and reprocessing was part of a temporary
agreement and that the fee would be increased later. According to Adamov,
other nations such as China are trying to capture business in the expanding field.[1]
Adamov told deputies of the Krasnoyarsk Kray Legislative Assembly that the business
of storage and reprocessing spent nuclear fuel is profitable and has not yet been
monopolized, and that reprocessing one kilogram of spent nuclear fuel can earn
up to $1,000. Russia currently earns less than $300 per kilogram from storing
spent nuclear fuel from Ukraine.[2]
12/98: MINATOM COUNCIL DISCUSSES REPROCESSING
VVER-1000 SPENT FUEL AT MAYAK'S RT-1 PLANT
In late December 1998, Minatom's Scientific-Technical
Council on Fuel and Special Nuclear Materials met to discuss reprocessing
spent nuclear fuel from VVER-1000 reactors and agreed to convene a working
group to study the possibility of reprocessing VVER-1000 spent fuel at
Mayak's RT-1 plant. Russia currently stores VVER-1000
spent nuclear fuel at the Mining and Chemical
Combine (GKhK) in Zheleznogorsk (Krasnoyarsk-26). According to Atompressa,
19 VVER-1000 reactors generate 420MT of spent nuclear fuel each year, and
of this amount, GKhK accepts 380MT from Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian
reactors for storage. Minatom officials reported that GKhK already stores
3,000MT of spent nuclear fuel and its storage facility would reach full
capacity in 2008. Proponents of the plan to reprocess the fuel at Mayak
noted that costs to reprocess VVER-1000 fuel at the RT-1 plant and to modernize
the plant would be considerably less than the costs of finishing the construction
of the RT-2 facility in Zheleznogorsk.
Moreover, the RT-1 plant primarily reprocesses fuel from VVER-440 reactors,
which will gradually be phased out beginning in 2000. Supporters predicted
that the project would provide an economic boost to RT-1 as well as to
the entire nuclear sector as it would create the possibility of reprocessing
spent fuel from foreign VVER-1000, pressurized water, and boiling water
reactors and thus allow Minatom to secure its position on the international
market.
11/17/98: KRASNOYARSK KRAY WILL NO LONGER
ACCEPT SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL
As a result of the announcement on 17 November 1998
by the administration of Krasnoyarsk Kray that it will no longer accept spent
nuclear fuel for storage, the Leningrad, Balakovo, Kalinin, Kursk, and Smolensk
nuclear power plants in Russia and the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine
must halt the transport of RBMK spent nuclear fuel to GKhK. The kray administration
is upset with the fact that it only receives $275 per kilogram of waste while
the international rate is $800-$1000 per kilogram. The administration has
also called for an independent evaluation of the facilities at GKhK, due to fears
that the storage facilities may be overfilled.[1] As a result of the decision
not to accept the nuclear fuel, the territory will lose about 200 million rubles
(approximately $10.7 million) in revenue. GKhK Managing Director Valeriy
Lebedev fears that Ukrainian nuclear authorities would be unwilling to agree to
pay twice as much for storage, and West European enterprises involved in storage
and reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel might be willing to offer Ukraine more
advantageous terms.[2] According to Segodnya, Deputy Governor of
Krasnoyarsk Kray for Ecology Aleksandra Kulenkova announced that three conditions
must be met by the Russian and Ukrainian governments before additional nuclear
waste is accepted: 1) fees for storing the spent nuclear fuel must be pre-paid
in dollars; 2) the price per kilogram must be no lower than $500; and 3) Krasnoyarsk
must be able to participate in negotiating all intergovernmental agreements between
Kiev and Moscow on the question of nuclear fuel storage and reprocessing. Since
the Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) does not want to consider the kray's opinion
in this matter, the kray has begun proceedings in the Constitutional Court against
Minatom. The situation has become so heated that the Minister of Atomic
Energy Yevgeniy Adamov is planning a visit to the region in an attempt to meet
with the Governor of Krasnoyarsk Kray Aleksandr Lebed and settle the dispute.[3]
10/25/98: MINATOM ABANDONS RT-2 CONSTRUCTION
The Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) has
discontinued construction of RT-2 and its plans to reprocess VVER-1000 fuel at
that site for economic and technological reasons, after nine years of uncertainty.
Instead, Mayak's RT-1 facility will be converted
to reprocess VVER-1000 fuel, which could take up to 20 years. The new method
to be used at RT-1 relies on a pyroelectric process involving molten salt developed
in conjunction with vibropacked plutonium fuels, and will work with other types
of fuel as well. In addition, the new process will supposedly cost 66 percent
less than the Purex process used at RT-1. Due to unsatisfactorily high levels
of cesium in the resulting plutonium and uranium, however, the pyrotechnic process
needs further development. Scientists will test the process on VVER-1000
fuel over the next several years at a pilot facility. Spent fuel removed
from reactors once the conversion is finished will be reprocessed at RT-1, but
the plans do not provide for shipping spent fuel already at RT-2 to RT-1.
In the interim period, Minatom will develop dry spent fuel storage at both RT-1
and RT-2.
6/26/97: REFERENDUM TO BAN CONSTRUCTION OF RT-2 REJECTED
Environmentalists in Krasnoyarsk Kray gathered 100,000 signatures to support
a referendum banning the construction of RT-2 and other nuclear fuel storage and
recycling facilities.[1] Russia's Ministry of Nuclear Energy, after on-site
inspections with international experts, determined that the construction of RT-2
would pose no threat to local residents.[2] The local Duma fully rejected the
call for a referendum by the people.[1] Regional authorities approved the project
and a Presidential Decree was signed regarding its construction.[2] Environmentalists
have appealed the Presidential Decree and the Supreme Court has since suspended
the decision. Every month 30 more metric tons of spent fuel is added to the Krasnoyarsk
storage facility while a decision is awaited. Plans to build the RT-2 plant for
the reprocessing of nuclear fuel have been halted by lack of sufficient funding
and by local opposition to the plant.[1]
12/30/96: FUNDS NEEDED TO FINISH RT-2 PLANT CONSTRUCTION
The construction of the RT-2 spent fuel reprocessing plant in Zheleznogorsk
(formerly Krasnoyarsk-26) has been frozen.[1] A storage facility capable
of holding up to 6,000 metric tons of spent fuel is still in use.[1,2] As
of 30 December 1996 it was 20 percent full.[1] Special train-car containers
from nuclear sites in Russia and Ukraine continue to bring more nuclear waste
waiting to be reprocessed.[1] According to Trud, approximately $4 billion
is needed to finish the construction.[2]
12/96: GKHK TO PUT SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL IN DRY STORAGE
Zheleznogorsk will be the site of Russia's first major dry storage facility
for spent nuclear fuel. The temporary storage facility will be used until a decision
is made on the construction of the RT-2 fuel reprocessing plant.
4/4/96:SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS ENVIRONMENTALISTS' DEMANDS
The Supreme Court of Russia agreed with the demand of environmental organization
"Rainbow Guardians" to repeal a Presidential edict that condoned reprocessing
of foreign nuclear spent fuel at the Kransoyarsk Combine.
3/10-3/17/96: ESTIMATES ON RT-2 COST DIFFER
According to Western estimates the completion of the RT-2 requires $5 billion,
while the Minatom quotes a figure of $2 billion. Some of the funds will come from
the fees collected from storing imported spent fuel for 10 to 50 years before
reprocessing.
3/96: RT-2 CONSTRUCTION STALLED
Due to lack of funding, the construction of RT-2 has not progressed. Minatom
has proposed that foreign clients, such as Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, India,
China, Kazakhstan and several Middle Eastern states, should invest in the construction,
since Russia alone will not be able to fund the entire project in the near future.
Even if a rich sponsor, such as Japan or the US, agrees to assist with funding,
RT-2 will still spend more time standing idle than operating, Moscow
News reports.
12/95: PLANS TO BUILD PLANT TO REPROCESS FUEL MAY BE SCRAPPED
Senior Minatom officials state that the plans to complete a plant to reprocess
spent VVER-1000 fuel at Zheleznogorsk were in serious trouble. Should this project
be scrapped, these officials indicated that it would make sense to move the inventory
of plutonium to Ozersk.
11/30/95: GERMANY AND SWITZERLAND WILL NOT SEND SPENT FUEL TO KRASNOYARSK
FOR REPROCESSING
Krasnoyarsk Kray Deputy Governor Sergei Arinchin told Izvestiya that
Germany and Switzerland decided not to send their spent nuclear fuel to Krasnoyarsk
for reprocessing. Russia had planned to accept foreign waste in order to help
finance the construction of the RT-2 reprocessing plant. Thus, the decision by
Germany and Switzerland could hurt the prospects for successful completion of
the construction of RT-2.[1,2]
11/29/95: GERMANY, SWITZERLAND BACK OUT OF DEAL
Segodnya reported that Minatom announced that Germany and Switzerland,
RT-2's two major potential clients, will no longer ship nuclear spent fuel to
Russia for reprocessing. Ukraine remains the only future foreign client of RT-2.
10/95: RT-2 REPROCESSING PLANT IS 25 PERCENT COMPLETE
It was reported that the RT-2 reprocessing plant is 25 percent complete and
construction has been restarted.
9/2/95: GOVERNMENT DECISION MAY POSE PROBLEMS
The recent government decision that the Krasnoyarsk-26 (Zheleznogorsk) reprocessing
plant may accept spent nuclear fuel from foreign nuclear power plants may cause
certain problems. The RT-2 refinery, capable of reprocessing fuel from the domestic
VVER-440 reactors as well as from foreign reactors, will not be operational for
at least another 10-15 years, and if the Krasnoyarsk-26 storehouses are filled
with imported fuel, they will be full by the year 2000. Furthermore, the storage
of spent nuclear fuel from foreign plants at the Zheleznogorsk refinery would
be a violation of the law on the protection of natural resources and the environment,
passed on 19 December 1991.[1,2]
9/1/95: KRASNOYARSK FACILITIES 30% FULL
Georgiy Kaurov, head of Minatom's public relations department, said that
the storage facilities at Krasnoyarsk-26 are at 30 percent capacity.
7/95: RUSSIA'S GKHK RECEIVES UKRAINIAN SPENT FUEL
Russia began to receive Ukrainian spent fuel for reprocessing. The fuel will
be stored at the Mining and Chemical Combine (GKhK) in Zheleznogorsk (formerly
Krasnoyarsk-26) until the RT-2 reprocessing plant is complete.
6/9/95: SPENT FUEL FROM BALAKOVO TO BE REPROCESSED AT ZHELEZNOGORSK
A train-load of spent nuclear fuel from the Balakovo nuclear power plant
was delivered to the Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine for reprocessing.[1,2]
6/7/95: LEGAL ARGUMENTS AROUND RT-2 CONSTRUCTION
The Constitutional Court of Russia decided that the 25 January
1995 presidential decree does not violate any previously adopted legislation
concerning nuclear waste. Even before the decision, RT-2 had signed contracts
with Switzerland, South Korea, Germany, and Taiwan for reprocessing nuclear spent
fuel. Advocates of the plant successfully argued that the spent VVER-1000 fuel
should not be defined as "waste," since one ton of this spent fuel contains 950
kg of uranium and 6 kg of plutonium, along with 40 to 45 kg of fission products.[1-5]
3/19/95: PUBLIC PROTEST IN ZHELEZNOGORSK AGAINST RT-2 CONSTRUCTION
It was reported that inhabitants of the villages surrounding Zheleznogorsk
petitioned that the construction of RT-2 be halted, protesting that they could
be in danger from radiation leakage.
3/7/95: STORAGE TOO EXPENSIVE FOR SOME NPPS
Yuriy Fedorov, deputy main engineer at RT-2, said that several Russian nuclear
power plants may cease operations this year as they cannot pay for storing their
nuclear spent fuel at the RT-2 storage facility.
1/25/95: PRESIDENTIAL DECREE ON RT-2 CONSTRUCTION
Boris Yeltsin issued a decree approving final construction of the RT-2 reprocessing
plant and authorizing the facility to reprocess and provide temporary storage
for foreign spent fuel.[1] The decree specifies that 25 percent of money received
for reprocessing spent fuel remain in the region.[2]. The decree also orders that
Zheleznogorsk be converted from military to commercial activities.[3] Deputies
of the State Duma argued that the decree violates several articles of the environmental
decree "On Protecting the Environment."
10/31/94: KRASNOYARSK AUTHORITIES ENDORSED RT-2 CONSTRUCTION PLAN
Local Krasnoyarsk authorities agreed to the construction of the new, 3.5
trillion-ruble (in early 1994 prices) RT-2 spent fuel reprocessing facility at
Krasnoyarsk-26. Construction will be completed in 10 years.
9/94: ENVIRONMENTAL GROUP AGAINST CONSTRUCTION OF RT-2
The Social-Ecological Union called for the cessation of construction of a
nuclear fuel processing plant at RT-2. The Union stated that the plant is an environmental
hazard.
1993: UKRAINE WILL ASSIST IN RT-2 CONSTRUCTION
Ukraine agreed to contribute funds to complete the RT-2 reprocessing facility.
12/92: CONTRACTS ON UKRAINE SPENT FUEL SUPPLIES CANCELED
The chief engineer of the Mining and Chemical Combine at Krasnoyarsk-26,
Yu. S. Volzhanin, said that the cancellation of contracts for the reprocessing
of spent fuel from Ukrainian power plants resulted in significant losses for the
Combine. Volzhanin added that while the Krasnoyarsk facility could not be converted
or modified, it could, however, switch to the production of polysilicon, monosilicon,
gallium arsenide, germanium, wafers, and other similar items.
This file is no longer
being updated. For major recent developments, see the
Nuclear Fuel Cycle Developments file.
Comments or questions? Contact Elena Sokova at MIIS
CNS: Elena.SokovaATmiis.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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