Russia: Archived Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Developments

For information on radioactive waste developments concerning nuclear submarines, please see the Naval Nuclear Reactors: Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste section of the Profiles database.
Information on radioactive waste and spent fuel issues at individual facilities is contained in the facility files.

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

4/20/2004: Two Radioactive Containers Found
On 20 April 2004, a radioactive container was discovered on the Yekaterinburg-Tyumen highway near the Beloyarskiy settlement, Sverdlovsk Oblast. Radiation measured around the container, 20cm in height and diameter and weighing 50kg, amounted to 2,800 microroentgens per hour, which is about 70 times the natural background radiation. However, according to the assistant head of the regional Privolzhsk-Ural Center of the Ministry of Emergency, the radiation source itself was not found. A spectrometric analysis showed that the container, designed for storing radioactive substances used in non-destructive testing of metals, previously held iridium-192. [CNS: Iridium-192 is one of the radioisotopes of high security concern. Very small amounts (much less than one gram) can be injurious and could serve as the radioactive component of a radiation dispersal device.] As of April 2004, local police, federal security service, and emergency response officers were searching for the radioactive substance and owner of the container.[1,2,3]

One month earlier, on 25 March 2004, a radiation source was discovered in the city of Elektrostal near Moscow, within 100 meters of a residential area. Radon representatives found that a cylinder marked with a radioactive warning sign, 24cm in length and 15cm in diameter, was emitting 342 microroentgens per hour, which is about 8.5 times greater than natural background radiation. However, the level of radioactivity at 10 meters from the cylinder was within the normal range. Local authorities launched an investigation into the incident.[4,5,6]
Sources:
[1] Tatyana Pavlova, "Vblizi kafe na trasse Yekaterinburg-Tyumen obnaruzhen radioaktivnyy konteyner," ITAR-TASS Ural, 21 April 2004, http://itartass.ur.ru/news/?id=3083.
[2] Andrey Ivanov, "Novaya radioaktivnaya nakhodka pod Beloyarskom," GoryachiyDen.RU, April 21, 2004, http://hotday.ru/more.php?id=40_0_1_0_M4.
[3] "Ugroza sokhranyayetsya!" Concept-Media news agency (Moscow-Ekaterinburg), 23 April 2004, http://www.conceptmedia.ru/news.asp?nid=809&t=1.
[4] "V podmoskovnom gorode Elektrostal obnaruzhen istochnik radioaktivnogo izlucheniya," ITAR-TASS, 26 March 2004; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.
[5] "V Elektrostali obnaruzhen istochnik radioaktivnogo izluzheniya," Moscow Oblast government website, March 26, 2004, http://www.mosreg.ru/news/4/2004/3/26/.
[6] Nikolay Polezhayev, "V Podmoskovye nashli radioaktivnyy predmet," Utro.ru, 26 March 2004, http://www.utro.ru/articles/2004/03/26/292021.shtml.{Entered 6/11/04 CC; adapted from article published in NIS Export Control Observer, May 2004, http://cns.miis.edu/nis-excon.}

11/19/2003: STOLEN CESIUM RECOVERED
On 19 November 2003 a container with cesium-137, stolen from a local company located in the city of Noyabrsk (Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District), was discovered on the outskirts of the city.[1] In the early morning of 25 September 2003, a group of thieves infiltrated the perimeter of the Kholmogorneft Joint Stock Company, without being detected by company security guards. According to local police officials, the thieves forced the lock of a metal railroad car and took a 40kg lead vessel containing three grams of cesium-137 belonging to Schlumberger Limited, a global oilfield and information services company.[2,3,4,5,9] [CNS: Three grams of fresh Cs-137 would have 264 Ci, which is above the threshold of high-risk sources according to the IAEA. Cesium is constantly decaying, but its half-life is 30 years, which is relatively long, implying that much of the original material has not decayed. In these conditions, it is likely that a 3g sample has a significant amount of radioactivity and could be used in a radiological dispersal device or dirty bomb.]

After the theft was discovered, local law enforcement agencies organized a search for the stolen cesium in which 184 persons and 32 vehicles from all Noyabrsk law enforcement agencies participated.[6] The search was not successful, and Schlumberger later announced a reward of 150,000 rubles ($5,100 as of September 2003) for the missing radioactive substance. [1,5] The circumstances of the subsequent discovery of the cesium remain unclear. According to Yuriy Akishin, investigator at the directorate of internal affairs of Noyabrsk, an employee of Schlumberger found the container with the help of a portable radiation detection device (dosimeter).[7] According to other media reports, a passerby found the container by accident.[1,8] Law enforcement officials examined the container and its content and concluded that the container had not been tampered with and the weight of the stolen cesium remained unchanged.[8] Police investigators believe that the culprits were unable to sell the stolen cesium and decided to get rid of it.[1,8] According to Akishin, the case will remain open until the thieves are apprehended and convicted.[7]
Sources:
[1] "V prigorode Noyabrska obnaruzhen konteiner s tseziem-137, propavhsii na Yamale v kontse sentyabrya," NEWSru.com, 19 November 2003, http://www.newsru.com/russia/19Nov2003/konteiner.html.
[2] "YNAO. Pokhishen konteyner s tseziem," Political News Agency, 25 September 2003, http://www.apn.ru/regions/2003/9/25/39516.htm.
[3] Viktor Sukhov, "Pokhishennyy konteyner s radioaktivnym tseziem do sikh por ne nayden," Tyumen-online, 6 October 2003, http://www.tyu.ru.
[4] "V Noyabrske pokhishen konteyner s tseziem," Rosbalt News Agency, 25 September 2003, http://www.rosbalt.ru/print/120640.html.
[5] "V Noyabrske predlagayut 150 tysyach rubley za informatsiyu o propavshey kolbe s tseziem," UralPolitRu, 10 October 2003, http://www.uralpolit.ru.
[6] "Radioaktivnyy tseziy ischez bez sleda?" Yamskaya sloboda (Tyumen), 8 October 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.
[7] "Firma 'Shlyumberge' nashla ukradenniy v Noyabrske tsezii," UralPolitRu, 19 November 2003, http://www.uralpolit.ru/news/?article_id=7971.
[8] "V Noyabrske (Yamalo-Nenetskiy AO) nayden konteiner s tseziem-137," Regnum Information Agency, 19 November 2003, http://www.regnum.ru.
[9] Schlumberger official Web Site, http://www.slb.com. {Entered 12/12/2003 CC}

9/4/2003: CESIUM SOURCE REPORTED MISSING
Workers at a paper mill in Vologodskaya Oblast reported on 1 September 2003 that a device containing the radioactive isotope cesium-137 had gone missing from a factory in the city of Sokol sometime during the summer months.  The instrument, known as a BGI-75A, has a total mass of 85kg, but it was not reported how much cesium the device contains.  The Sokol region Chief of Police Sergey Turkin said the device was repaired in 2000, which may mean the radioactive core was replaced at that time with a fresh cesium-137 source.  The plant's chief metrologist, Viktor Undozerov, said the instrument poses a danger only if one comes into close contact with it.  The police are continuing to search for the stolen device.
[Dmitriy Katayev, "Ostorozhno, radiatsiya!" Vologodskaya nedelya, 4 September 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://afnet.integrum.ru.] {Entered 12/12/2003 CC}

8/27/2003: RADIOACTIVE SOURCE STOLEN FROM METAL PLANT
An instrument containing the toxic and radioactive isotope plutonium-238 was reported stolen from the Chusov metal plant in Perm, Russia around the end of July 2003.  The instrument, known as an RKTs-1M, is used to measure vanadium concentrations in slag.  It is a metal box, approximately 30 kg in mass and 58 x 30 x 30 cm in size.  The radioactive source itself is an aluminum cylinder 1.2 cm in diameter and 1 cm tall.  The article makes no mention of the level of radioactivity emitted by the instrument. 
["S ChMZ pokhishchen pribor s plutoniem," Moskovskiy komsomolets, 27 August 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.] {Entered 12/12/2003 CC}

7/25/2003: ATTEMPTED SALE OF URANIUM THWARTED IN PRIMORYE
Police in Ussuriysk, Primorskiy Kray, interdicted the attempted sale of 4.5 grams of "uranium-238," ITAR-TASS Vladivostok reported on 25 July 2003. Local police from the organized crime department made the arrest together with officers from the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB).[1]  At a press conference, the head of the organized crime department, Roman Kuzin, announced only that the authorities had prevented the illegal sale and did not mention the name of the suspect, perspective buyers, or any other details of the case. The reports also did not specify the enrichment level of the uranium involved in the incident.  Kuzin did mention that this was the second attempted sale in a week of a radioactive substance.[2] In the earlier case, police arrested a suspect trying to peddle three containers of cesium.  (For details of that incident, see the 7/22/2003 entry, below.)
Sources:
[1] Leonid Vinogradov, "V Primorskom gorode Ussuriyske presechena popytka sbyta radioactivnogo veshchestva 'uran-238'," ITAR-TASS Vladivostok, 25 July 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.
[2] "Vtoraya 'sdelka' za nedelyu" [Second "Deal" of the Week], 26 July 2003, Sobkor.ru; Integrum Techno database, http://afnet.integrum.ru. {Entered 12/12/2003 CC}

7/24/2003: REPORT ON SVERDLOVSK RADIOACTIVE INCIDENTS
The Sverdlovsk Oblast Central Sanitary Board registered five radioactive incidents of the first category in 2002, Inform-Ekologiya reported on 24 June 2003.  The first incident occurred in April 2002, when about 1.5-2 liters of a grayish-black solid substance was found on a train car carrying coal.  The material was determined to contain the radioactive isotope cesium-137.  Also in April, a worker at the Kamensk-Urals Metallurgical Plant found a metal disk with a radiation warning sign on it while sorting aluminum scrap metal.  It was not possible to determine what the disk was used for.  It was disposed of, and the case has been handed over to the prosecutor's office.  In June, radiation-contaminated scrap metal was discovered in a load that was to be sold to the Yekaterinburg Trade and Industrial Company.  Authorities were unable to determine the origin of the contaminated metal.  Two incidents occurred in city of Yekaterinburg during 2002.  In one case, radioactive devices used in the oil industry were found in the center of the city.  In the other, the shielding from an industrial radioisotope defectoscope was found in an empty apartment.  The shielding was emitting a low level of radiation. 
["V oblasti proizoshlo 5 radiatsionnykh avariy pervoy kategorii," Inform-Ekologiya, 24 June 2003; www.informeco.ru; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.] {Entered 12/12/2003 CC}

7/22/2003: PRIMORSKIY MAN ATTEMPTS TO SELL CESIUM
Police in Primorskiy Kray arrested a man in the town of Spassk-Dalniy who was trying to sell a container of radioactive cesium for $1,500, Lenta.ru reported on 23 July 2003.  Police from the railway department arrested the man, a local resident, in the train yard near the Spassk-Dalniy train station.[1]  Another source noted that the arrest took place on 22 July 2003.[2]  During a subsequent search of the suspect's apartment, police found two containers similar to that found at the time of his arrest.  According to police, the suspect once served at an aircraft depot, where he may have stolen the cesium.  The three containers are now being held at the railway police office at Spassk-Dalniy station.  None of the sources mentioned which isotope of cesium was involved or the amount of radiation emitted by the containers.[1] 
Sources:
[1] "Zhitel Primorya pytalsya prodat konteyner s tsezium," Lenta.ru, 23 July 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.
[1]"Vtoraya 'sdelka' za nedelyu" [Second deal of the week], 26 July 2003 Sobkor.ru; Integrum Techno database, http://www.integrum.ru. {Entered 12/12/2003 CC}

5/2003: GAO REPORT ON EFFORTS TO IMPROVE SECURITY OF SEALED SOURCES
The United States General Accounting Office (GAO) criticized US and international efforts to improve the security of sealed radioactive sources in a May 2003 report. The report said the efforts need better coordination and also increased funding.  The problem of orphan sources is especially acute in the former Soviet Union due to the large number of highly radioactive sources that is in use and relatively high percentage of these that might be outside regulatory control or vulnerable to theft.  One of the most urgent problems is the more than 1,000 RTGs located throughout former Soviet States, predominantly in Russia.  These devices, built to provide electricity in remote locations to lighthouses, radio beacons and meteorological stations, contain from 40,000 to 150,000 curies of strontium-90.  Many may not be adequately protected.  Several have already been destroyed by people seeking to sell the metal casing that protects the generators' radioactive cores.  (For more information on the lighthouses, see the Russia: General Civilian Naval Reactor Developments file.)  Officials at the Russian National Technical Physics and Automation Research Institute, where the generators were designed, told the GAO that the devices have a service life of 10 to 15 years.  However, no repair or maintenance work has been performed on them since 1991, and the Ministry of Atomic Energy is considering extending their service life. 

In response to a Congressional requirement that the DOE address the threat of dirty bombs, the agency's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) organized the Radiological Threat Reduction (RTR) program under the Office of International Material Protection and Cooperation.  The program was allocated $37 million in fiscal years 2002 and 2003 to initiate a program aimed at assisting countries in securing sealed radioactive sources.  It has focused on former Soviet states, particularly on Russia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Moldova.  The program is expected to receive an additional $22 million in supplemental funding for fiscal year 2003, including $5 million for work in Iraq.  In 2002, the DOE undertook numerous projects to secure sealed radioactive sources in the NIS.  In April of that year, work began to upgrade security at the Moscow branch of Radon, where 80% of Russia's institutional, industrial, and medical radioactive waste is stored.  Site assessments have also been completed at three other Radon sites, and security upgrades are to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2004. 

In June 2002, DOE announced two new initiatives. The first, the Trilateral Initiative, to be undertaken together with Minatom and the IAEA, aims to inventory, locate, recover, store and dispose of sealed radioactive sources in former Soviet states. The second DOE initiative is a bilateral effort to be conducted with Minatom to secure sealed sources at facilities identified by the Russian ministry.  In July 2002, Minatom provided the DOE with a list of priority projects including recovering RTGs and other orphan sources at 45 sites. The DOE says it will prioritize these projects according to the type and activity level of the radioactive sources concerned.  

For details on these and other programs, and the criticisms in the GAO report, see Abstract 20030630 in the NIS Nuclear Trafficking Database.
[ "GAO Report: U.S. and International Assistance Efforts to Control Sealed Radioactive Sources Need Strengthening," May 2003, United States General Accounting Office (GAO), www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-03-638.] {Entered 12/12/2003 CC}

5/5/2003:  RADIOACTIVE CONTAINER DISCOVERED IN MAGADAN
A container with radiation hazard markings was discovered at an abandoned fish factory in Magadan oblast, the Deita.Ru news agency reported on 5 May 2003. The container was reported to regional emergency officials by police in the village of Arman on 30 April 2003. The report did not provide details of the container's level of radioactivity, nor did it specify the type of material involved.
["Magadan: Na Territorii rybnogo zavoda nayden bezkhozniy radioakivnyy kontayner," Deyta.Ru, http://www.deita.ru, 5 May 2003.] {Entered 7/21/2003 CC}

4/21/2003: RADIOACTIVE CONTAINER SEIZED IN KALININGRAD
Customs officials in Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia found an undeclared radioactive object among rug manufacturing equipment being imported from Belgium, MIGnews reported on 21 April 2003.[1] The cargo reportedly entered the Russian exclave last year via the Bagrationovsk border checkpoint.[2]  The container holding the object was said to be about the size of a five-liter bottle of water.  Most media sources reported that the radioactive object emitted radiation a million times in excess of permissible levels.[3]  However, Colonel Valeriy Sysuyev, head of the Office of Radioactive, Chemical, and Biological Defense at the Kaliningrad branch of the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry said the radiation emitted by the material involved is only 60 microroentgens, three times the acceptable level.  He added that the radioactivity was reportedly being emitted from not one, but six containers.  Sysuyev added that the containers are now being stored at an Emergency Situations Ministry laboratory and pose no threat to the public.  According to one specialist, the contraband objects may simply have been added to the cargo by someone wanting to save themselves the cost of disposing properly of radioactive material that has outlived its usefulness.[2]  According to a Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy official, the illegal transport of such material is commonplace, with up to 1,000 officially reported cases per year.[4]
Sources:
[1] "V Kaliningrade 'arestovali' belgiyskuyu radiatsiyu," MIGnews, 21 April 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.
[2] Aleksey Popov, "Troyanskiy rentgen", Yantarnyy karavan, 6 May 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.
[3] Yadernyy chemodanchik ne opasen dlya zdorovya, Komsomolskaya pravda v Kaliningrade, 22 April 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.
[4]German Solomatin, "Radioactive Container Seized in Kaliningrad Said not to Be Nuclear Waste," ITAR-TASS, 21 April 2003; in FBIS document CEP20030421000253. {Entered 7/21/2003 CC}

4/17/2003: STOLEN RTG RECOVERED IN LENINGRAD OBLAST
Specialists from the Leningrad branch of the Radon Special Combine recovered a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) from the floor of the Gulf of Finland, near the village of Kurgolovo in Leningrad oblast on 28 March 2003.  In an article for Pravda on 17 April 2003, Oleg Bodrov, a physicist and head of the Zelenyy Mir environmental group, wrote that soldiers had earlier notified Radon that a generator had been stolen from a lighthouse.  It turned out that thieves had stolen the generator, removed about 500 kg of stainless steel, aluminum and lead that shielded the radioactive core powering the lighthouse, and dumped the latter onto the ice only 200 meters away.  The core, with a surface temperature of 300-400 degrees Celsius, melted through the ice and fell into the sand on the bottom of the gulf.  Radon specialists, together the navy and police, raised the generator core to the surface using pitchforks and spades.[1]  The core was intact.[2]  They also used an underwater video camera to evaluate the floor of the gulf in the area where the cylinder had come to rest.  The core was then transported for temporary storage to Radon, where it will be evaluated and then sent for final disposal at the Mayak Production Association in Ozersk, Chelyabinsk oblast.[1]  RTGs use the radioactive isotope strontium-90.  The total radiation of the 5 kilogram, 10-cm strontium cylinder was 40,000 curies.  The radioactivity 20 cm from the object was about 1000 roentgen/hr, enough to deliver a fatal dose within minutes.  For more information on RTGs used in Russian lighthouses, see the General Civilian Naval Reactor Developments file. 
Sources:
[1] Oleg Bodrov,"Radioaktivnaya bomba dlya Baltiki," Pravda online edition, 17 April 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.
[2] "Ugroza radioaktivnogo zarazheniya Finskogo zaliva," Radio Svoboda, 17 April 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru. {Entered 7/21/2003 CC}

4/16/2003:  RADIATION SOURCES FOUND AT DESTROYED GROZNYY CHEMICAL PLANT
Containers holding powerful radioactive sources were found on the grounds of a destroyed chemical plant in the Zavod region of Groznyy, the capital of the republic of Chechnya in southern Russia, Regions.ru reported on 16 April 2003. According to Ziva Kadyrov, the Director of Radon Groznyy, there were originally 17 sources at the plant, one of which had been stolen by teenagers from the neighboring village of Kirov. Two of the teenagers died from radiation sickness. Kadyrov said that a plan to decontaminate the chemical plant has been submitted to the government of Chechnya for approval. Meanwhile security has been stepped up around the facility.  According to investigators, there are currently twelve missing radioactive sources in Chechnya.  Radioactive sources have also gone missing from the Groznyy State University under unknown circumstances. Since the beginning of 2000, Radon has recovered and disposed of 80 containers with radioactive materials in Chechnya.  All such containers are removed from Chechnya to be stored at special facilities. In addition, a Radon burial site in Chechnya's Tersk mountain range has been walled in and is being guarded by security.
["Grozny: V zavodskom rayone obnaruzhen istochnik moshchnogo radioaktivnogo izlucheniya," Regions.ru, 16 April 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.] {Entered 7/21/2003 CC}

4/16/2003: LEGALITY OF LRW DEEP UNDERGROUND DISPOSITION LICENSE UPHELD IN COURT
In April 2003, the Tomsk Oblast Court upheld the legality of a Gosatomnadzor license issued to the Siberian Chemical Combine in Seversk, Tomsk Oblast, for deep underground disposition of liquid radioactive wastes (LRW).[1] The license was issued in July 2001, following the March 2001 expiration of the Siberian Chemical Combine's license to use underground natural resources, under which it had been operating the sites since March 1996.[1,2] LRW is currently buried in deep underground storage units constructed in the 1960s at the following locations: the Siberian Chemical Combine; the Mining and Chemical Combine in Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Kray; and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Atomic Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, Ulyanovsk Oblast. A total of 50 million cubic meters of LRW with an initial radioactivity of 2 billion Ci was pumped into these sites. Minatom figures indicate that the natural decay process has reduced the radiation level to approximately 0.8 billion Ci.

Deep underground disposition of LRW is achieved by injecting prepared waste solutions through wells into reservoir beds at a depth of 200 to 1500 meters. According to Minatom, the radioactive elements are absorbed by sandy elements in higher layers of soil, which are separated from the surface layer and groundwater by nearly impervious layers of clay. Under these soil conditions in areas where underground water flows at speeds of less than ten meters per year, the waste will reportedly remain isolated long enough for all of the radioactive components to decay naturally. Accordingly, Minatom expects this method of disposal to protect human populations and the environment from exposure to the radioactivity. Because the disposition is so deep underground, it should also alleviate the threat that the site could be accidentally penetrated or that its contents could become the target of theft. Russian scientists are continuously monitoring the sites, and Minatom has initiated international research using foreign methodologies and involving specialists from the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Belgium, Austria, and other Western countries. Four studies have been completed, and two are currently underway. According to Minatom, results confirm that the sites will securely isolate the waste for at least 1,000 years.[3]                

Environmentalists and local residents, however, claim that this disposition method violates their right to a healthy environment guaranteed by Article 42 of the Russian Constitution and is in violation of the law On Environmental Protection, which bans the burial of wastes.[2,4] Lawyer Konstantin Lebedev has announced that the decision will be appealed to the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation.[1]
Sources:
[1] Arkadiy Kruglov, "SKhK v sude dobilsa prava khranit radioaktivnyye otkhody," Kommersant-Zapadnaya Sibir; 16 April 2003; in PolitSibRu Web Site, http://www.politsib.ru/.
[2] "Vydacha litsenzii na zakhoroneniye radioaktivnykh otkhodov - iskluchitelnaya kompetentsiya Gosatomnadzora Rossii," Zelenyy mir, No.1-2, 2001, p.12.
[3] "Vo glubine sibirskikh rud...(Chto takoe tekhnologiya podzemnogo zakhoroneniya radioaktivnykh otkhodov?)," Nuclear.ru Web Site, http://www.nuclear.ru, 11 March 2002. 
[4] Viktor Svinin, "Novosti: Tomsk," Nezavisimaya gazeta, 19 March 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.{Entered 3/26/2003  SLK; Updated 9/24/2003 SLK}  

4/4/2003:  CESIUM-137 SEIZED IN AKHTUBINSK
Two small cylindrical containers bearing radioactive warning labels and the inscription "harmful to life" were found in a shed in Akhtubinsk, Astrakhan Oblast, in southern Russia, Regions.ru reported on 4 April 2003.  The owner of the shed called the police, who in turn called the Ministry of Emergency Situations.  Officials removed the containers to a special storage facility and warned area residents about the possible danger.  Tests, however, showed that the radiation level at the site where the containers were found was normal and that there was no threat posed to public health.  Regions.ru quotes an unnamed source saying that the cylinders were found to contain the radioactive isotope cesium-137.  The owner of the shed, who recently inherited the property after his mother's death, says he has no idea where the containers came from.  It is thought that there has been an underground market for radioactive materials at the military base in Akhtubinsk since Soviet times.  According to Regions.ru, a container similar to those found last week was found in another district of the city last year.  A criminal case has been opened in connection with the incident. 
[ "Astrakhanskaya oblast: konteynery s tseziem-137 khranilis v sarae u pensionerki," Regions.Ru, 4 April 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.] {Entered 7/21/2003 CC}

2/14/2003: MAYAK TO REPROCESS SNF FROM HUNGARY
On 14 February 2003, Nikolay Shingarev, head of Minatom's Intergovernmental Cooperation and Information Policy Directorate, announced that Minatom intends to sign a contract for the reprocessing of 12,000 spent nuclear fuel (SNF) assemblies from Hungary at PO Mayak. In 1998, Russia imported only 10% of the planned 3,500 Hungarian SNF assemblies for reprocessing. According to Shingarev, the revenue will be used for the implementation of environmental projects.
["'Mayak' budet pererabatyvat 12 tysyach sborok OYaT iz Vengrii," Inform-Ekologiya Web Site, http://www.informeco.ru/, 14 February 2003.] {Entered 2/23/2003 DA}

2/5/2003: UNITED STATES OFFERS INCENTIVES TO RUSSIA
Bellona reported on 5 February 2003 that the US Department of State offered Russia support for its spent fuel import plan if it stops nuclear technology assistance to Iran. Under the proposal, the United States would not oppose the importation of US-controlled spent nuclear fuel to Russia for storage and reprocessing. The share of US-controlled spent fuel is estimated at between 70%-90%. [For more information, see the Spent Fuel Import Project Overview file.]
[Charles Digges, "US publicly offers SNF to Russia if Moscow abandons Iran," Bellona Web Site, http://www.bellona.no/en/international/russia/nuke_industry/
waste_imports/28221.html, 5 February 2003.] {Entered 4/3/2003 MJ}

1/30/2003: DOG-WALKER FINDS RADWASTE ON MOSCOW STREET
On 30 January 2003, RIA Novosti reported that a man had found a glass flask containing uranium dioxide granules while walking his dog along Kustanayskaya Street in southern Moscow. The flask measured 7cm in height by 2.5cm in diameter and bore an inscription that was illegible except for the abbreviation "UO2." The man did not open the suspicious container and notified the Moscow Emergencies Administration, whose representatives arrived on the scene along with police officers and workers from the Radon Radiation Alarm Service, who took the flask with them. Radon representatives established the surface radiation of the flask at 110 microroentgens per hour, while a reading from a distance of 10cm was 27 microroentgens per hour, and from 1m away, it barely registered at background levels. However, if the flask had somehow been opened, the contents could have touched human skin, resulting in a high radiation dose at any contact point.
["V Yuzhnom administrativnom okruge Moskvy naydena emkost c dvuokisyu urana," RIA Novosti, 30 January 2003; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.] {Entered 2/19/2003 SLK}

12/26/2002: PRELIMINARY AGREEMENT ON RETURN OF SPENT FUEL FROM IRAN SIGNED
On 26 December 2002, Russia and Iran signed a preliminary agreement on the return of spent nuclear fuel from the Bushehr nuclear power plant (NPP) to Russia. Under the agreement, Russia will supply Iran with nuclear fuel for a period of 10 years. The two countries also agreed to form a commission to evaluate the possibility of building another reactor in Iran. The agreement was signed in Tehran by Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev and Iranian Vice President and Head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Gholamreza Aghazadeh.[1] Upon his return to Moscow, Rumyantsev said that the text of the agreement was being coordinated with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that the final agreement would probably be signed in about a month, during the next session of the Russian-Iranian intergovernmental commission.[2] (For more information on Russia's exports to Iran, see the Nuclear Exports to Iran file.)
Sources:
[1] "Rossiya i Iran podpisali soglasheniye o vozvrate OYaT s AES v Bushere," RIA RosBiznesKonsalting, 26 December 2002; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com.
[2] "Rossiya i Iran soglasovali okonchatelnyy tekst soglasheniya po postavkam yadernogo topliva na AES v Bushere," Regions.Ru, 27 December 2002; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.com. {Entered 1/23/2003 MJ}

11/2002: ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHARGE THAT NEW TAYSHET ALUMINUM PLANT IS DESIGNED TO PROCESS NUCLEAR MATERIALS
In November 2002, Vostochno-Sibirskaya pravda provided updates on the conflict surrounding the Alyukom-Tayshet aluminum plant's new construction site. Environmentalists are pushing for a thorough environmental impact assessment before it is allowed to begin operations. The plans for the new section of the plant passed their initial assessment in 2001, but what was actually built differs so much from the initial plan that the Irkutsk Oblast Main Directorate of Natural Resources of the Russian Natural Resources Ministry recalled the approval and demanded a new one. Experts involved in the current public interest environmental assessment accuse the company of presenting falsified documents in an attempt to bluff their way through flagrant violations of environmental regulations.[1] Nikolay Zubov of the Krasnoyarsk branch of the environmental group Socio-Ecological Union alleges that this section of the plant, which is located only 300m from the closest residential buildings, lacks required gas purification systems and could expose the local population to massive doses of benzopyrene. Maksim Shingarkin, a nuclear expert with Greenpeace Russia, claims there are several reasons to suspect that the plant was designed by Russia's nuclear lobby to process 10,000 metric tons (t) of irradiated aluminum wastes derived from plutonium production. The reasons he gave were as follows: the plant and its suppliers were given top security status; Alyukom-Tayshet is not a company known on the aluminum market; sources for financing the 8 billion ruble ($225 million as of 11 June 2002) project are unclear; and voltage levels in the plant's electrolysis baths are half the expected level, suggesting they were not designed to process ordinary materials.[2] Lev Pupko, environmental adviser to the mayor of Tayshet, said in an interview with Vostochno-Sibirskaya pravda that representatives of the public who attended a 5 September 2002 meeting held to address citizens' concerns left supporting the project, which will bring jobs to the struggling region. He accused environmentalists of causing trouble where there was none. The main site of the proposed plant is 5.5km from the city limits, while the area in question is an experimental site expected to contain 32 electrochemical reactors and a gas purification unit, Pupko stated. Furthermore, he referred to assertions made by members of the International Academy of Ecology and Life Safety, Professors B.I. Zelberg and A.E. Chernykh, that the 32 modern reactors will result in total atmospheric emissions no greater than those from two of the more than 2,000 older electrochemical reactors at the Bratsk aluminum plant, which do not constitute a hazardous level for local residents. Moreover, no bitumens or benzopyrene (carcinogens) will be produced by new reactors, while the ones in Bratsk emit 2,230t of these toxins annually.[3]
Sources:
[1]Aleksey Aprelkov, "Tayshetskaya anomaliya," Vostochno-Sibirskaya pravda, No. 211-212, 2 November 2002; in Integrum Techno, www.integrum.com.
[2]"Siberian Aluminium Plant Poses Radiation Threat: Ecology Activists," Agence France Presse, 11 June 2002.
[3]Andrey Fedorov, "Tayshetskoye protivostoyaniye: realnost i lozh," Vostochno-Sibirskaya pravda, No. 230-231, 30 November 2002, in Integrum Techno, www.integrum.com. {Entered 3/5/2003  SLK}

10/2/2002: RADIOACTIVE SUBSTANCES FOUND ON CHITA RAILWAY
The Russian Emergencies Ministry announced that on 2 October 2002, three lead containers were discovered near a railway line near the village of Sivyakovo (4km southwest of Chita). The containers, each of which contained a glass vessel, were brought to a radioactive waste storage facility. An additional empty glass vessel was found at the same spot, where radiation levels exceeded background levels by 700 to 800 times on a one-square-meter area surrounding the site. The area was put under guard, and removal and disposal of the contaminated soil was planned for the following day. An investigation was also begun.
["V Chitinskoy oblasti proizoshel razliv radioaktivnykh otkhodov," RIA Novosti, 3 October 2002; in Integrum Techno, http://www.integrum.ru] {Entered 1/23/2003 SLK}

7/25/2002: GAN OPPOSES SPENT FUEL IMPORTS
Russia's nuclear regulatory body, Gosatomnadzor (GAN), came out against importing spent nuclear fuel for storage in Russia. GAN claimed that the plan devised by Minatom overlooks the environmental risks of storage and fails to ensure a proper level of safety at the facilities in question. Nevertheless, Minister of Atomic Energy Aleksander Rumyantsev said that he believed that President Putin would sign the necessary legislation in October, and that Russia would be ready to begin accepting the first shipments of spent fuel in November. Minatom estimates that the storage of imported spent fuel could yield $20 billion over the next ten years, money that could be spent on upgrading the storage facilities for Russia's own spent nuclear fuel. Rumyantsev's claims contrasted with those of other officials, including Nikolay Shingarev, head of Minatom's board of relations with government agencies and information policy. Shingarev claimed that Russia will be uncompetitive in the international spent fuel trade for the next five to seven years. [For more information on Russia's spent fuel imports plans, see the Spent Fuel Import Project Overview.]
[Charles Diggs,"Minatom's Starry-Eyed Import Plans Defy Safety Imperatives and Business Sense," Bellona Foundation Website, www.bellona.ru, 25 July 2002.] {Entered 7/29/2002 TM}
 
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.
[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}

5/24/2002: CONSTRUCTION OF DRY STORAGE FACILITY AT ZHELEZNOGORSK TO START IN 2003
On 24 May 2002, Mining and Chemical Combine 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.
["$360 Facility for Spent Fuel," Moscow Times on-line version, http://www.moscowtimes.ru/stories/2002/05/27/019-print.html, 27 May 2002.] {Entered 5/29/02 ES}

5/22/2002: MINATOM PLANS TO BUILD RADIOACTIVE WASTE BURIAL FACILITY ON NOVAYA ZEMLYA
On 22 May 2002, Minatom's board discussed the construction of a burial facility for low- and medium-level radioactive waste on Novaya Zemlya. According to Minatom's press service, the archipelago's Yuzhnyy island was selected to store waste from nuclear submarines and icebreakers belonging to the Russian Northern Fleet, including radioactive waste accumulated in the Mironova Gora temporary storage facility near Severodvinsk. The new waste depository will allow the reduction of radioactive materials in Arkhangelsk and Murmansk Oblasts. The estimated cost of the future facility, to be built in 36 months, is $73 million. A positive state environmental impact statement was completed in 2002.   An international consortium that includes Sweden and Norway has also endorsed the project. Detailed engineering will start in 2002.
["Na sostoyavshemsya 22 maya zasedanii kollegii Minatoma Rossii obsuzhdalsya vopros o stroitelstve na arkhipelage Novaya Zemlya mogilnika dlya zakhoroneniya radioaktivnykh otkhodov sredney i nizkoy stepeni aktivnosti," Nuclear.ru Web Site, http://www.nuclear.ru/news/full/955.shtml, 23 May 2002.] {Entered 7/3/2002 DA}

4/26/2002: 250 RADIOACTIVE OBJECTS FOUND IN KHABAROVSK
On 26 April 2002, Interfax reported that decontamination efforts had neutralized 170 of the 250 radioactive objects located at the 12th military aircraft repair plant in Khabarovsk. According to the Kray Headquarters on Civil Defense and Emergency Situations, during the course of routine radiation inspections carried out in 2001 on land adjacent to the plant, 78 radioactive objects were discovered and decontaminated on a disposal site where waste had been accumulating for years. However, over a lengthy period of time, many hazardous products had penetrated the soil to depths exceeding one-half meter. The situation was complicated by the fact that people searching for scrap metal had dug in the earth and carried some of the radioactive sources to collection points throughout the city. Operations to remove contaminated soil and radioactive equipment to the Radon plant for decontamination and storage have begun.
["V Khabarovske obnaruzheny 250 istochnikov radioaktivnogo zagryazneniya," Interfax, www.interfax.ru, 26 April 2002.] {Entered 1/29/03 SK}

2/2002:  KURCHATOV TO MOVE WASTE TO RADON
The Kurchatov Institute plans to start removing radioactive waste from the institute site in 2002 using funds from Minatom and Moscow city government.[1] According to Moskovskiy komsomolets, the waste will be removed over the next several years in special vans to temporary storage at the Radon site near Sergiyev Posad.[2] The announcement regarding waste removal came after Radon monitoring posts in northern Moscow registered the presence of iodine-131 on 13 February 2002. Kurchatov Institute officials insist that the institute's nuclear facilities are not leaking and that the decision to remove waste was made long before this incident.[1]
Sources:
[1] Konstantin Blagodarov, Anna Selivanova, "All Radioactive Waste to be Removed from Kurchatov Institute," Komsomolskaya Pravda, 21 February 2002,  p. 6; in "Iodine-131 in Moscow Air Said Not Linked to Waste Removal at Kurchatov Institute," FBIS Document CEP20020225000160.
[2] "Kurchatov Institute Takes Out Radioactive Trash," Moskovskiy komsomolets, 20 February 2002, p. 1; in "Kurchatov Institute Begins Removal of Radioactive Waste From Moscow Premises," FBIS Document CEP20020221000237.{entered 4/5/2002 NL}

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.  For more information, see the 2/15/2002 entry in the GKhK developments file.
 
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.[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.[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. 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.[4]  For more information, see the 7/13/2001 entry in the GKhK developments file.
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}
 
7/10/2001:  SPENT FUEL IMPORTS BILLS SIGNED INTO LAW
On 10 July 2001, President Putin signed a package of laws that would allow the import of irradiated spent fuel into Russia.  For more information, see the 7/10/2001 entry in the Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Legislation and Decrees section.

4/18/2001: MORE THAN 50 RADIOACTIVE SITES IN MOSCOW ESTIMATED
On 18 April 2001, scientists from the Institute of Biophysics and the Radon Scientific Production Association participated in a joint press conference with deputies of the Moscow City Duma. The scientists noted that atmospheric radiation levels, which in many regions of Russia rose to 10 times the norm after the 1986 Chernobyl accident, have dropped almost to levels defined as acceptable. Levels in food and water followed a similar pattern. However, Radon researchers have found dozens of radiation sites in the Moscow region, including several at the Kurchatov Institute, one at a non-ferrous metallurgy plant in Podolsk that recently experienced an accident, and a large liquid and solid waste storage site in Zagorsk. There are also over 50 radioactive landfills in Moscow, mostly resulting from enterprises that produced the wastes and buried them on-site before a centralized system to remove them from the city was enacted in the 1960s. Radon scientists attempted to alleviate concerns by announcing that all new construction sites are being thoroughly studied, and if any radioactive contaminants are found, the projects are frozen. Thousands of businesses in Moscow use ionizing radiation in the course of their work. Accidents at any of them could result in a local catastrophe. The sites are well-protected against sabotage and accidents, especially since anti-terrorism campaigns began, but experts point out that no protection is foolproof.
[Olga Allenova, "Radioaktivnyye kladbishcha v Moskve prizhilis," Kommersant, No. 70, 19 April 2001; in Integrum Techno, www.integrum.ru.]  {Entered 2/7/2003 SLK}

12/5/2000:  INCREASED RADIATION LEVELS DETECTED NEAR NOVOVORONEZH  NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
On 5 December 2000, Interfax reported that radiation monitoring in the exclusion zone surrounding the Novovoronezh nuclear power plant revealed a localized site with radiation exceeding natural levels. The Russian Emergencies Ministry reported that heightened radiation was recorded near a drainage canal from Unit 1 (VVER-210 reactor, operational 1964-1988) and Unit 2 (VVER-365 reactor, operational 1969-December 1990). The area was surrounded with barbed wire and warning signs. Air, water, and soil samples were taken to investigate the cause of the increase. The power plant contains two operational first-generation VVER-440 reactors (Units 3 and 4) and one operational VVER-1000 reactor (Unit 5).
["Bliz nerabotayushchikh energoblokov Novovoronezhskoy AES vyyavlen povyshennyy uroven radiatsii," Interfax, www.interfax.ru, 5 December 2000.]  {Entered 1/27/2000 SLK}

10/20/2000: RADIOACTIVE CONTAINERS FOUND ON SITE OF OLD SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTE
At roughly 6:00pm on 20 October 2000, security guards called the 39th police precinct to report the presence of suspicious containers on land being rented by a commercial enterprise on Elektrodnaya Street in Moscow's Perovo district. The metal containers were found in a courtyard of the scientific institute which formerly operated on the site, and the guards reported that they were emitting radioactivity when checked with a dosimeter. Radon representatives determined that radiation levels of the lead containers exceeded permissible levels by 2.3-3.5 times. The average gamma-radiation exposure reading of the seven containers was 73 microroentgens per hour. The Radon representatives further determined that the containers, which weighed 60kg each, had been constructed to hold spherical objects that contained radioactive substances. The spheres had probably been used in the development of electrodes and had accumulated at the institute over a number of years. That same evening, they were taken to Radon's site for disposal.
[Vitaliy Romanov, "Radioaktivnoye nasledstvo. Na territorii umirayushchego NII pochti pyat let sushchestvovala svalka konteynerov s izotopami," Segodnya, No. 239, 24 October 2000, p. 7, http://news.mosinfo.ru.]  {Entered 2/26/2003  SLK}

9/29/2000: SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL AND REACTOR AT MOSCOW'S KURCHATOV INSTITUTE EXPENSIVE PROBLEM
At a briefing on 29 September 2000, First Deputy Minister of Atomic Energy Valentin Ivanov said that handling the nuclear reactor and accumulated nuclear fuel at the Kurchatov Institute, located in central Moscow, will be expensive. Ivanov stated that it will cost $130 million just to transport and store the 60t of nuclear fuel accumulated at the reactor since it was designed in the late 1950s.
["Nakoplennoye yadernoye toplivo i reaktor Kurchatovskogo instituta sozdayut problemu dlya Moskvy-Minatom," Interfax, www.interfax.ru, 29 September 2000.]  {Entered 1/28/2002 SLK}

5/23/2000: RUSSIA AND US START NEW COOPERATIVE PROJECTS IN RADWASTE AREA
On 23 May 2000, US Undersecretary of Energy Ernest Moniz and Vice President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Nikolay Laverov signed in Moscow two "implementing arrangements" on nuclear waste disposal. The arrangements also include four appendices, which stipulate giving Russia $906,000 over a period of three years for scientific research on radioactive elements and the prospects of nuclear waste disposal in a geologic repository.
["US, Russia Begin Cooperative Nuclear Waste Projects," 24 May 2000, US Department of State Web site, http://usinfo.state.gov.]{Entered 5/7/2001 EF}
 
4/6/2000: CHECHNYA'S RADIOACTIVE WASTE TO BE MOVED TO SARATOV
In May 2000, 100cu m of low- and medium-level radioactive waste (retired equipment used in medical, geological, and industrial defense projects) will be relocated out of reach of Chechen fighters. The waste contains cobalt-60, radium-226, cesium-137, thorium, and thulium-170, all sources of ionizing radiation. Currently buried 30km from Groznyy, Chechnya in the Radon radwaste disposal site built in 1965, it will be moved to the Radon plant several kilometers from the Saratov ring road, considered the most secure facility in the country. Fighters in the Chechen conflict have already raided part of Radon Groznyy, taking several containers whose contents they planned to stuff into explosives. In the summer of 1999, before Minatom decided to relocate the waste, Radon sent specialists from Moscow to cover it with a concrete panel for increased security. The volume of the Chechnya shipments alone will more than double the average annual norm for waste burial at the Saratov plant, which will continue to receive its regular shipments as well. The plant's chief engineer, Arnold Pismennyy, said that Minatom had promised the plant a 10 million ruble (nearly $350,000 as of 6 April 2000) incinerator for smelting radioactive metal in exchange for storing the Chechen waste. Since the equipment can be used to decontaminate radioactive metal, and since no one else in Russia has one, it promises to bring the plant new orders. Neither Minatom nor Radon authorities would confirm the promise of the incinerator and stated that they chose the Saratov plant as a burial site for the Chechen waste because it was the closest. In fact, there are plants in Rostov and Volgograd, both closer to Chechnya.
[Marina Shirokova, "Chechenskaya radioaktivnost dostigla Saratova," Kommersant, 6 April 2000, http://www.kommersant.ru.]  {Entered 2/19/2003 SLK}

4/2000: MINATOM REPROCESSED 160 TONS OF NPP SPENT FUEL IN 1999
In Minatom's April 2000 announcement of the previous year's accomplishments, the ministry reported that in 1999 it reprocessed 160 metric tons of spent fuel from NPPs constructed by the Soviet Union.  According to Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeniy Adamov, the reprocessed fuel was placed in "civilized long-term storage," and will remain there until the technology to use it further has been perfected.
[Mikhail Klasson, "Minatom otchitalsya za proshlyy god," Vremya MN, http://news.mosinfo.ru/news/2000/
VMN/04/data.vm041215.htm]{Entered 5/3/2000 CC}
 
3/30/2000: RADIOACTIVE WASTE SITE DATABASE DEVELOPED BY KURCHATOV INSTITUTE
On 30 March 2000 Anatoliy Alekseyevich Iskra, head of Minatom's Environmental Protection Laboratory, announced the creation of a radioactive waste site database.[1]  Iskra, head of the database project, said that the computer database would be Internet-accessible; at present the database is being maintained by Minatom's Geoinformation Center, and is only available on Minatom's own Intranet computer network.[1,2] The database includes information on all actual and potential radioactive sites in the former USSR, including nuclear power plants, Ministry of Defense storage sites for naval fuel, nuclear explosions, extraction and enrichment of uranium ore, and production of nuclear fuel and nuclear materials.[1,3]    The project, which cost $630,000, was financed by the the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC).  Project researchers identified the twelve most unsafe regions in Russia, including naval facilities in the northwest, Moscow, Moscow Oblast, and Krasnoyarsk Kray.[3]
Sources:
[1] "Polzovateli Internet mogut oznakomitsya so vsemi radioaktivnymi istochkami na territorii byvshego SSSR," RosBiznesKonsalting, http://www.rbc.ru/daynews/seealso/20000330143421.shtml, 30 March 2000.
[2] NISNP Correspondence with Dmitriy Polikanov, Deputy Director, PIR-Center for Policy Studies in Russia, 6 April 2000, RUS20000402.
[3] Yekaterina Golovina, "Scientists Draw Up Map Of Russia's Nuclear-Contaminated Areas," RIA Novosti, 30 March 2000.{Entered 4/10/2000 CC}
  
3/24/2000: RADWASTE FOUND UNDER FLOOR OF DESIGN BUREAU NEAR MOSCOW
A routine inspection by the local civil defense headquarters' chief officer revealed elevated radiation levels in a room of the Sukhoy Design Bureau in the Zhukovsk region of Moscow. Workers from Moscow Radon Scientific Production Association were able to remove the contaminated layers of soil and wood only after 30 square meters of flooring were torn up. The room was likely previously used for work with aircraft instruments coated with radium-based fluorescent dyes. Simple negligence may have resulted in some of the dye spilling and spreading over the entire floor, since the external radiation during clean-up measured 110 microroentgens per hour. (The norm is 10-15.) A total of nearly 80kg of radwaste was removed for reprocessing and burial at Radon's Zagorsk location.
[Mikhail Kolesnikov, "Sotrudniki laboratorii khodili po radioaktivnomu polu," Segodnya, http://news.mosinfo.ru, 24 March 2000.] {Entered 2/18/2003 SLK} 

1/22/2000: POWER CABLE TO NUCLEAR STORAGE FACILITY STOLEN
On 22 January 2000, Izvestiya reported that thieves made off with 5km of aluminum cable that had been providing energy to a radioactive waste storage site near Yekaterinburg, leaving the facility's reserve diesel-powered power station as its only source of electricity. As of 22 January 2000, the criminals had not yet been apprehended.
[Sergey Avdeyev, "Vory obestochili spetsobyekt," Izvestiya, in Integrum Techno, www.integrum.ru, 22 January 2000.]  {Entered 3/26/2003 SLK}

12/01/99:  CHORNOBYL WASTE SITE IN VLADIMIR OBLAST FOUND FREE OF RADIATION
On 1 December 1999 Vladimirskiye vedomosti reported that Vladimir Oblast's Gorokhovets Regional Environmental Committee had completed its examination of local sites housing trains used in the clean-up of the Chornobyl accident.  Committee experts examined the levels of strontium-90, cesium-137, and potassium-40 in the area, and did not find elevated radiation levels.  However, the Vladimir Oblast environmental committee will continue to oversee the train storage area.
[Aleksandr Vladov, "V Gorokhovtse radioaktivnogo zagryazneniya ne obnaruzheno," Vladimirskiye vedomosti, 1 December 1999; in National News Service, http://nel.nns.ru.]{Entered 2/7/2000 CC}
 
11/99:  RUSSIA OPENS FIRST LOW-LEVEL NUCLEAR WASTE PROCESSOR IN KURSK
For more on this development, please see the spent fuel and radioactive waste section under Kursk NPP.
 
9/24/99: MINATOM SEEKS AMENDMENT ALLOWING SPENT FUEL IMPORTS
On 24 September 1999, the Russian State Duma held the first reading of an amendment to Article 50 of the Law on Environmental Protection, which would, if passed, allow imports of spent nuclear fuel to Russia.[1,2] This was the third attempt to change legislation outlawing imports of nuclear waste; the Russian Cabinet failed to approve amendments on 26 August 1999, while the State Duma held an earlier hearing on the issue in February 1999.[1] The amendment seeks to enable Russia to import and reprocess spent nuclear fuel. While lobbyists for the amendment suggest reprocessed fuel will eventually be repatriated to the customer, the proposed amendment does not make repatriation a requirement.[8] Minatom, the chief supporter of the amendment, has been trying to persuade the government to endorse spent nuclear fuel imports for several years.[1,2] Minatom claims that nuclear waste reprocessing is very profitable, citing France and Great Britain as examples of countries earning large profits from reprocessing imported spent fuel.[2] The Russian Federal Environmental Committee (formerly the Ministry of the Environment) also supports the proposed change to the law in favor of the imports.[1,2,3,4] Amendment advocates claim that reprocessing foreign spent fuel would be a valuable source of hard currency needed to fund Russia's own spent fuel problem.[5] According to the Non-proliferation Trust, a US-based non-profit organization assisting Russia in advancing the proposal, the 10,000 tons of nuclear fuel that are expected to be temporarily stored in Russia would generate up to $15 billion in revenues.[5] Russia would use its profits to improve its own radioactive waste management, improving conditions for storing and reprocessing its own large stockpiles of nuclear waste.[1,2,3,5] There are many opponents to the nuclear waste imports, including Tamara Zlotnikova, chair of the State Duma Committee on the Environment; environmental organizations;[2,3] and members of the public.[6] They warn that existing waste management in Russia inadequately addresses the needs of storing and reprocessing immense stockpiles of domestic waste. Additional nuclear waste would only increase the environmental threat that the spent nuclear fuel poses and would have severe implications for the future.[3] Opponents suggest that Russia should aim to attract international investment in order to improve the nuclear fuel storage and reprocessing situation.[7]
Sources:
[1] Igor Kudrik, "Duma Reads Spent Fuel Imports Bill," 27 September 1999, Bellona web site, www.bellona.no/e/russia/990927.htm.
[2] Yuriy Medvedev, "Na radioaktivnom rasputye," Izvestiya online edition, http://www.online.ru, No. 179, 24 September 1999.
[3] Svetlana Nikitina, "Can Nuclear Waste Help Ecologists? Viktor Danilov-Danilyan's Paradoxical Viewpoint," Nezavisimaya gazeta, 24  September 1999; in "Nuclear Waste Proposals Eyed," FBIS Document FTS19990927000636.
[4] "Glava Goskomekologii RF vystupayet za pererabotku na territorii Rossii otrabotavshego yadernogo topliva iz drugikh stran," Interfax, No. 2, 22 September 1999.
[5] "Will Russia Become World Nuke Waste Repository?" The Electricity Daily, 23 September 1999; in Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe, web.lexis-nexis.com/universe.
[6] Ekaterina Chistiakova, "Russia Wants to Store World's Radioactive Waste," Environment News Service, www.lycos.com/ens/sep99/1999L-09-08-02.html, 8 September 1999.
[7] Sergey Shashurin, "Odnim iz povodov dlya napadok," Zelenyy mir, No. 20, 6 October 1999, p. 6.
[8] "Federalnyy zakon 'O promyshlennom khranenii i pererabotke otrabotavshego yadernogo topliva,'" Zelenyy mir, No. 12, 25 May 1999, p. 1. {Entered 10/25/99 SK}
 
6/24/99: RADIOACTIVE WASTE BURIAL SITES POLLUTE MOSCOW OBLAST
On 24 June 1999, Moscow TV-6 reported that there were six "nuclear" dumps in Moscow Oblast. [Probably referring to radioactive waste sites.] Money to clean up or eliminate the sites is lacking. The biggest burial site is located near Solnechnoye Lake in Ramenskoye. It covers an area of two hectares and is estimated to hold 5,000MT of waste. Work on eliminating the dump began in 1995, but only one of three dump zones was removed. Another site has been forming since the early 1960s near Scherbinka, Kuchino, and Zabolotye. The decision to seal off the dump in 1972 has been carried out ineffectively, resulting in radiation that exceeds allowable levels by 100 percent in some places. Elevated radiation from waste can also be found at the Zhestovo quarry near Mytischi, an Elektrostal storage facility, a Podolsk plant, and the "Mosrentgen" [sic--probably Mosroentgen] plant.
[Moscow TV-6, 24 June 1999; in "TV-6 on Nuclear Dumps in Moscow Oblast," FBIS Document FTS19990714001064.] {Entered 11/4/99 SK}
 
6/18/99: RUSSIA DEVELOPS NEW METHOD OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL: NUCLEAR EXPLOSION
In an effort to address the problem of radioactive waste disposal, the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics, the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense Central Physical Technical Institute, and several other organizations have for the past three decades engaged in the development of nuclear explosion technology to dispose of highly radioactive wastes. The method, which entirely eliminates the waste, involves the use of underground nuclear explosions. It requires the excavation of an underground chamber approximately 600m below the ground in an aluminosilicate rock mass with a low volatile content. Next, containers with highly radioactive waste are isolated with special stabilizing filters. Two to three nuclear explosive devices, with a cumulative yield of 60 to 100 kilotons (kT) of TNT, would then be detonated, and the resulting explosion and shock wave would result in the mixing and vitrification of the radioactive waste in the chamber. According to an 18 July 1999 article in Nezavisimoye voyennoye obozreniye, the explosion method is better than the traditional waste burial method in that it does not cost as much and does not require continuous monitoring, control, and security. The Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site has been identified as a possible location for such explosions. Since the detonation of nuclear devices, even for peaceful purposes, is not allowed under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), the authors of the proposal call for the amendment of the treaty. If implemented, the method could address the problem of naval radioactive waste disposal, as well as the mass removal of radioactive waste associated with the planned shutdown of nuclear power plants built in the 1970s and 1980s.(For an earlier item on this topic, please see the 5/6/97 item in this file. For more information on naval reactor waste, please see the Naval Nuclear Reactor Radioactive Waste section of the NIS Profiles Database.)
[Leonid Yevterev, Vladimir Klimenko, Varfolomey Korobushin, Vladimir Loborev, Anatoloy Panshin, "Klin klinom vyshivayut," Nezavisimoye voyennoye obozreniye, No. 23,  18-24 June 1999, p. 5.] {Entered 11/18/99 SK}

6/99:  PODOLSK NONFERROUS METALS PLANT CAUSES CONTAMINATION IN PODOLSK, MOSCOW OBLAST
In June 1999, a working group of the Moscow Oblast Commission on Emergencies met at the Podolsk plant to discuss continued radioactive waste contamination problems there.  In 1989, a Ministry of Geology helicopter discovered extremely high radiation levels during a routine flight over the area.  It turned out that at some time in the 1980s, the plant had accidentally melted down irradiated metal.  The shop that had melted down the material was immediately dismantled, and the most highly radioactive material was sent to Radon. The plant received federal funds to begin the construction of two radioactive waste storage facilities to house the remaining radioactive material.  However, funds were reduced after the Ministry of Nonferrous Metallurgy was eliminated.  No funding has been received since 1997.  Completion of the storage facilities would cost 65 million rubles ($2.6 million as of 1 June 1999). Approximately 20,000 cubic meters of radioactive waste remain.  During the June visit, dosimeters indicated emissions of as much as five milliroentgens per hour.
[Yelena Boldyreva, "Peyzazh na fone," Vremya MN online edition, http://news.mosinfo.ru/news/vmn/
, 3 June 1999.] {entered 11/3/99 CC}

1/12/99: GREENPEACE ALERTS  PUBLIC TO POSSIBLE IMPORT OF RADWASTE
On 12 January 1999, Greenpeace's anti-nuclear campaign coordinator, Igor Forofontov, announced that on 17 September 1998 in Zurich, Minatom signed a memorandum of understanding with Elektrizitaets-Gesellschaft Laufenburg AG and other nuclear utilities in Switzerland and Germany.[1,2,3]  The document concerns the transportation into Russia of over 2,000 MT of spent nuclear fuel and 550 cubic meters of highly radioactive nuclear waste over the period from 2000 to 2030.  According to Forofontov, the talks were kept confidential because Swiss companies do not want reprocessed waste to return to the country.  Russia's acceptance of such terms would violate the Russian government resolution of 29 July 1995, says Forofontov, under which the import of spent nuclear fuel from foreign nuclear power plants is banned if the supplier country refuses to accept it back after reprocessing.[1]  In response to the Greenpeace announcement, Minatom spokesman Yuriy Bespalko said that the memorandum of understanding was "of the most preliminary nature and is not obliging anyone to do anything."  Bespalko added that the countries "have only stated their positions and expressed their intent to cooperate."[1]
Sources:
[1] "Rossiyskiy 'Grinpis' obnarodoval sekretniy protokol o namereniyakh Minatoma RF na vvoz v Rossiyu iz Shveytsarii dvukh tysyach tonn yadernykh otkhodov," Interfax, 12 January 1999.
[2] "Na Ural snova khotyat otpravit yaderniy gruz.  Na etot raz -- iz Shveytsarii," Yuzhno-Uralskaya Sluzhba Novostey, 13 January 1999, http://www.surbis.ru/news/su.htm
[3] "Greenpeace warns of Russia plan to import N-waste," Reuters, 12 January 1998. {Entered 2/15/99 LBB}
 
1/5/99: ADAMOV PROPOSES WASTE REPROCESSING AS SOURCE OF CAPITAL
On 5 January 1999, Minister of Atomic Energy Yevgeniy Adamov told Krasnoyark Kray legislators that Russia will try to regain its foothold in the market of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, which in his view is a profitable business.  He said that reprocessing can bring in up to $1,000 for one kilogram of spent nuclear fuel.[1]  Adamov had suggested in November 1998 that in ten years Russia could be collecting over $5 billion a year by reprocessing radioactive waste.  Russia's vast territories and the low cost of waste reprocessing make the country a good candidate for attracting partners in this market.[2]
Sources:
[1] Interfax, 5 January 1999; in "Russia Moves to Become Leader in Nuclear Fuel Recycling" FBIS-SOV-99-005.
[2] "Rossiya dolzhna vyyti na mirovoy rynok utilizatsii RAO", Yadernyy kontrol No. 6, November-December 1998,  pp. 22-23.  {Entered 3/5/99 LBB}
 
12/98:  SPENT FUEL AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROGRAMS NOT IMPLEMENTED FOR LACK OF FUNDS
In December 1998, at a Federation Council hearing on waste problems, Valeriy Sudarenkov, Head of the Federation Council Committee on Science, Culture, Education and Health, noted that the bill On the handling of radioactive waste had not yet passed, and the law On industrial and consumer waste had not gone into effect because corresponding instructions and sanctions had not been formulated.  The federal program "On the Treatment of Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Materials, Their Recycling, and Their Disposal from 1996-2005" was not being implemented for lack of funds.  Meanwhile, in the first half of 1998 the Russian Federal Inspectorate for Nuclear and Radiation Safety (Gosatomnadzor) noted over 9,000 violations of norms and rules governing the use of nuclear energy.  The most violations were discovered at the Bilibino, Smolensk, and Kalinin NPPs.
[Anna Kozyreva, "Pit, dyshat i yest -- zapreshchayetsya?" Rossiyskaya gazeta, No. 7, 15 January 1999, p.11.] {entered 11/5/99 CC}
 
11/20/98: MINATOM DISCUSSES POTENTIAL SUBORDINATION OF RADON
According to a 20 November 1998 article in Delovoy Ural, Radon's subordination to the Ministry of Land Policy may soon be changed. The Conception for the Treatment of Radioactive Waste and the law On the Treatment of Radioactive Waste, passed by the State Duma in November 1995, envisioned the creation of a national radioactive waste enterprise (Kontsern RAO) to which Radon would be subordinate. However, President Yeltsin sent the law back to the Duma for corrections, and it has not yet been approved. In the meantime, the Chernomyrdin government prepared to transfer Radon to Minatom. These plans continued under Kirienko and Primakov. According to Anatoliy Greshnyakov, director of the Radon Special Combine in Chelyabinsk, the subordination of Radon to Minatom would adversely affect regional Radon combines, burdening them with additional waste from new Minatom sources.
[Lyudmila Kalugina, "Radon. Kak on yest." Delovoy Ural, 20 November 1998, pp. 1-2; in Yadernyye Materialy, No. 38, 14 December 1998.] {Entered 11/11/99 SK}
 
8/11/98: RUSTED RADWASTE CONTAINERS REMOVED FROM ST. PETERSBURG
On 11 August 1998, Izvestiya reported that the previous week, the State Environmental Commission (Goskomekologiya) inspected containers of radioactive waste buried on the grounds of St. Petersburg State University. The waste in the containers resulted from experiments relating to radium and plutonium extraction conducted in the 1940s by Academician Vitaliy Khlopin. Oblast officials were aware of the site, but when verifying the safety of the buried waste, Goskomekologiya found that the containers had rusted. To prevent the contents from contaminating the soil and ground water, the containers were removed and transported beyond the city limits for disposal.
["V Peterburge likvidirovali yadernoye pepelishche po sosedstvu s universitetom," http:/www.online.ru/rproducts/izvestia-
izvestia-year/11-Aug-98/10.rhtml.] {Entered 8/14/98 LBB}
 
7/18/98: RADIOACTIVE WASTE BURIED IN CHECHNYA
Yuriy Vishnevskiy, Chariman of Gosatomnadzor, said in an interview with Vechernyaya Moskva on 18 July 1998 that he does not intend to send any of his subordinates to Chechnya to inspect a radioactive burial site. He emphasized that the waste is buried deep underground and is therefore difficult to reach.
[Dmitriy Anokhin, "Glava Gosatomnadzora ne poyedet v Chechnyu, nesmotrya na ostavsheyesya tam radioaktivnoye zakhoroneniye," Vechernyaya Moskva,18 July 1998, p. 2; in WPS Yadernyye Materialy, 28 July 1998, No. 16.] {Entered 11/8/99 SK}
 
6/25/98: CHORNOBYL RADIOACTIVE WASTE SITE IN VLADIMIR OBLAST UNSAFE
According to a 25 June 1998 ITAR-TASS report, the radioactive waste and irradiated trains brought to Vladimir from Chornobyl after the accident are stored in inadequate conditions, posing a threat to the surrounding environment and local population. Valeriy Bryukhanov, deputy chair of the Vladimir Oblast environmental committee, said oblast authorities would give the All-Russian Institute of Rail Transport a deadline to clean up the dump.
[Eduard Vasilyev, ITAR-TASS, 25 June 1998; in "Deadline Set For Clean-Up at Chernobyl Waste Dump," FBIS-TEN-98-176.] {Entered 12/16/99 SK}
 
6/98:  SUPPORT FOR CREATION OF A STATE RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND SPENT FUEL COMPANY
At its June 1998 meeting in Murmansk, the Coordinating Council of the Northwest Economic Cooperation Association drafted a decision recommending that Minatom, in cooperation with other federal agencies, prepare a government decree on the creation of a state company for dealing with radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel.[1] Deputy Minister of Atomic Energy Nikolay Yegorov suggested that a radioactive waste fund to be controlled by the Northwest Association or an insurance system to compensate for damage caused by nuclear waste could be developed in order to raise funds to handle the waste.[2]
Sources:
[1] "Minatom News," Atompressa, No. 29, August 1998, p. 1; in "Minatom News Briefs:  Northwest," FBIS-SOV-98-292.
[2] Denis Pinshuk, ITAR-TASS, 23 June 1998; in "Ministry Concerned Over nuclear Waste in Russia's Northwest," FBIS-TAC-98-175. {entered 11/5/99 CC}
 
4/14/98: MINATOM PLANS NEW WASTE ENTERPRISE, FINANCIAL-INDUSTRIAL GROUP
According to the Arkhangelsk Oblast Environmental Protection Committee Chairman Anatoliy Petrovich Minyayev, Minatom is actively developing an idea to create a state enterprise or commercial company which would treat all radioactive wastes regardless of origin.  At the 31 March 1998 Minatom conference in Moscow, Deputy Minister N. Yegorov expressed dissatisfaction with the proposed cost of the project.  The minutes of the conference also included plans for the creation of a Minatom financial-industrial group.
["Yadernyy mogilnik na novoy zemle?" Volna, 14 April 1998,  p. 7.] {Entered 8/25/98 LBB}
 
3/17/98: SHCHERBINKA FACILITY CAUSES CONTAMINATION IN PODOLSK
Environmentalists are concerned that radioactive waste from Podolsk's PMKhZ factory [expansion not given] is not properly stored at a testing facility called Shcherbinka.  Surface and ground water and sediments from the Pakhra and Konopelka Rivers have been contaminated by radiation.  In an area of three square kilometers, there are eight sites with radiation levels of up to 3000 microroentgens per hour.
[Sergey Golubchikov, "Ekologiya. Podmoskove stalo zonoy radiatsionnykh anomaliy," Pravda-5, 17 March 1998.] {Entered 9/3/98 LBB}
 
3/28/97: GOVERNMENT DECREE ON STATE SYSTEM OF MONITORING OF NUCLEAR WASTE
According to experts, many Russian enterprises that produce radioactive materials will be forced to build on-site radioactive waste storage facilities due to the shortage of finances for shipping and processing waste.  Without a proper radioactive waste monitoring system, Russian experts expect incidents of smuggling of nuclear materials to increase.  In an attempt to solve this problem, the Russian Government has recently drafted a decree to develop a state system to monitor and account for the production, transport, storage, and recycling of radioactive materials.  Minatom has been put in charge of monitoring the function of the new program at the federal level.  The document does not specify the roles of Gosatomnadzor and the Russian Defense Ministry.  The financing for the new safety system will come from Minatom’s targeted programs, the federal budget, and extrabudgetary funds.  In response to this federal decision, Professor Igor Korenkov, chief of the Russian Medical Academy’s Department of Radiobiology and Radiation Protection, stated that with such authority, Minatom will no longer be accountable to the public.  Point ten of the decree states that 800 million rubles' worth of hard currency must be allocated from the sale of blended-down highly enriched uranium extracted from nuclear weapons in order to finance the work of Minatom.
[Natalya Vdovina, “Threat from Radioactive Tomb,” Rossiyskiye vesti, 28 March 1997, p. 2; in “Flaws Seen in Nuclear Waste Safety Systems,” FBIS-SOV-97-067.] {Entered 8/4/97 EV}
6/20/97: US-RUSSIAN JOINT PLAN TO STORE SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL IN PACIFIC
The U.S. Fuel and Security Company (USFS) proposed a joint venture with Russia to build a spent nuclear fuel storage facility on an uninhabited island in the Pacific Ocean. Spent nuclear fuel from nuclear electric power plants in Europe would be the first waste stored at the facility. Eventually, the facility is to contain spent nuclear fuel from the United States, Japan, and South Korea. U.S. and Russian representatives have met to discuss the possibility of implementing the proposal, but USFS must first obtain the proper legislation. The United States must draft and pass a law that transfers the U.S. Wake Atoll in the Pacific Ocean to USFS, and USFS must also receive permission to construct an international spent nuclear fuel storage facility there. USFS indicated to Russia that it would seek both congressional and presidential support in July 1997. While the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy has given the proposal its support, the Russian government must approve the plan before Russia can cooperate with USFS. It is uncertain whether the Russian government will support the proposal. The Russian government may question the qualifications of USFS to construct a spent nuclear fuel storage facility, because the proposal is not fully worked out and may be infeasible.
[Andrey Vaganov, "'Security' rubric: 'Nuclear Settling Tank in the Pacific. The Russian Federation Ministry of Atomic Energy Has Supported a Project To Create a Radioactive Waste Storage Facility on a Coral Reef,'" Nezavisimaya Gazeta, 6/20/97, p. 1; in "Doubts About Planned Storage Facility," FBIS-SOV-97-121.] {Entered 7/21/97 LK}
 
5/6/97: SCIENTISTS PROPOSE UNDERGROUND NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS TO BURY SPENT NAVAL FUEL AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE
According to a report in Izvestiya on 6 May 1997, Minister of Atomic Energy Viktor Mikhailov, Minister of Defense General Pavel Grachev, and Chief Military Inspector General Konstantin Kobets wrote in a 4 July 1994 confidential letter to Russian President Boris Yeltsin that the accumulation of spent nuclear fuel from nuclear-powered submarines and naval surface vessels poses the main radioactive waste handling threat to Russia.  As a solution, the Central Physical-Technical Institute of the Ministry of Defense and the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Experimental Physics (VNIIEF) in Sarov (Arzamas-16) proposed using an underground nuclear explosion technique to vitrify and bury the radioactive waste in tunnels at the Central Atomic Test Site at Novaya Zemlya.  Before they set off the explosion, specialists must prepare the existing tunnels at Novaya Zemlya and then place the waste (spent fuel rods, naval reactors, waste from other nuclear enterprises, and solid radioactive waste) in the tunnels among various materials capable of reducing radiation and improving the quality of the vitreous state.  Scientists estimated that one nuclear explosion equivalent to 100kT of TNT at a depth of 600m would vitrify 100 metric tons of spent fuel, and just three explosions would alleviate the Northern Fleet's waste problems.  The estimated cost of this proposal runs $36 million over two years. In contrast, traditional methods for storing waste would cost at least $500 million.
 
On 24 October 1994, President Yeltsin formed a task force consisting of then-Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin, Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrey Kozyrev, and Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Viktor Danilov-Danilyan to study and prepare a proposal for implementing the project.  The Ministry of Foreign Affairs opposed the project itself and the idea of publicizing it, stating that it would undermine Russia's commitment to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).  However, the Ministry of Atomic Energy (Minatom) categorized the explosions as "clean" and non-weapons-related.  The President drafted the decree, On Liquidating High-Level Naval Nuclear Waste Utilizing Nuclear Explosive Technology, and the Central Physical-Technical Institute prepared a proposal for its implementation, estimating the cost at $150 to $350 million.  This estimate included the costs of an international expert analysis, shipment of the waste to Novaya Zemlya, and social programs.  The waste burial project designers hoped to earn up to $5 billion by burying other countries' waste, too. (For more information on naval reactor waste, please see the Naval Nuclear Reactor Radioactive Waste section of the NIS Profiles Database.)
[Viktor Litovkin, "Yadernyy vzriv pod grifom 'sekretno,'" Izvestiya, 6 May 1997, p. 5.]  {Entered 8/4/99 JET}

3/12/97: POWER CUT AT VOLGOGRAD PLANT
The power was switched off at the Titan-Izotop enterprise in Volgograd, which specializes in reprocessing radioactive waste for burial, calibrating radioisotopic equipment, and recharging flaw detectors.  The power was turned off without warning in order to penalize the enterprise for its unpaid debts.  At the time the power was cut, work was being done with highly radioactive materials in a hot cell.  Fire safety systems were inoperative due to the power loss.  Civil authorities intervened, restoring power 4.5 hours later.
[Valeriy Kornev, “Specter of Chernobyl Appeared Momentarily Over Volgograd,” Izvestiya, 12 March 1997, p. 2; in “Power Cut Raised ‘Specter of Chernobyl’ at Volgograd Plant,” FBIS-TEN-97-004.] {Entered 8/28/97 EV}
 
2/18/97: EFFORTS TO NEUTRALIZE NUCLEAR WASTE TO INCREASE
During a meeting of the Gore-Chernomyrdin commission in Washington, the United States and Russia agreed to increase efforts in Murmansk to transform liquid radioactive waste. The United States will supply funds to buy equipment and improve technology. The goal is to increase by five times the capacity of the Murmansk region to convert the waste from the submarines of the Northern Fleet and civilian nuclear-powered ice-breakers.
["Processing of Nuclear Waste to Be Accelerated," Jamestown Monitor, Vol. 3, No. 35, 2/19/97.]
 
12/4/96: FINLAND SENDS THE LAST SHIPMENT OF SPENT FUEL TO RUSSIA
Pursuant to a recently passed national law banning export of spent fuel to other countries, Finland completed the 15th and the last shipment of 29 tons of spent fuel to Russia.
Sources:
[1] IZVESTIYA, 11/28/96, p. 3; in FBIS-SOV-96-233, "Last Trainload of Nuclear Waste Sent to Russia."
[2] HELSINKI SUOMEN YLEISRADIO NETWORK, 12/4/96; in FBIS-WEU-96-234, "Final Load of Nuclear Waste Transported to Russia." {ENTERED 12/17/96 KVY}
 
10/15/96: NUCLEAR WASTE ACCUMULATES IN RUSSIA
Deputy Atomic Energy Minister Nikolay Yegorov announced that Russia has amassed 650 million cubic meters of radioactive waste. The major sources of the waste are the Navy and the Mayak facility in Chelyabinsk. Funds of ninety billion rubles were allocated for research into storage and processing of the waste. However, only 21.8 billion rubles have been actually been invested in waste research.
["Figures on Russia's Nuclear Waste," Jamestown Foundation Monitor, Vol. 2, No. 193, 16 October 1996.] {Entered 7/25/97 LK}
 
9/19/96: ESTIMATES OF NUCLEAR WASTE IN RUSSIA
Russia's total stock of spent nuclear fuel has a radioactivity level of 4.65 billion Ci. The rest of its accumulated radioactive waste, most of which is linked to the production of weapons materials, contains 1.5 billion Ci of radioactivity. Most of the nuclear waste associated with defense related activities is located at the facilities of Minatom, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Transportation, and State Committee for Defense Industries. Nuclear waste accumulated as a result of civil research and production of nuclear materials is stored by the Moscow-based Radon enterprise at its regional sites. Most spent reactor fuel is stored at reactor sites. About 0.5 billion Ci of spent fuel are stored at away-from-reactor sites managed by Minatom.
["Snova ob otkhodakh," SEGODNYA, 9/19/96, p. 9.] {ENTERED 12/18/96 KVY} {revised 1/15/96 AB}
 
9/1/96: SOUTH KOREA WILL HELP RUSSIA PROCESS LOW LEVEL NUCLEAR WASTE
South Korea will provide Russia with $1 million worth of equipment to process low level nuclear waste. Russia said it would have no option but to dump the nuclear waste, produced in the Far East, into the Sea of Japan. South Korea decided to supply Russia with the necessary equipment to prevent environmental contamination.
[The Joong-Ang Ilbo WWW, 2 September 1996; in "ROK Decides to Supply Nuclear Waste Processing Equipment to Russia," FBIS-EAS-96-173.]{Entered 7/25/97 LK}
 
9/96: UNITED STATES, NORWAY, AND RUSSIA COOPERATE TO CLEAN UP KOLA PENINSULA
The United States, Norway, and Russia signed an agreement in September each pledging $1 million to help clean up the Kola Peninsula. Military activities have contaminated the peninsula and the expenses to reverse the damage are high. Norway has already contributed $35 million to the cause over the past two years.
["Kola to Be Cleaned Up," Nuclear Engineering International, November 1996, p. 8.]{Entered 7/24/97 LK}
 
8/96-9/96: OVERALL POOR STATE OF NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT
In a report on Gosatomnadzor's activities, Nikolai Filonov states that the problem of radioactive waste and spent fuel management is acute throughout Russia due to extensive concentrations of nuclear spent fuel from RBMK, EGP, AMB and research reactors, and to slow unloading of VVER and BN reactors. Large stockpiles of nuclear spent fuel are located at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow, the Energy and Physics Institute in Obninsk, the Research Institute of Naval Reactors in Dimitrovgrad, the Research and Design Institute of Energy Technology in Zarechniy, and the Institute of Nuclear Physics.
["O deyatelnosti Gosatomnadzora v oblasti yadernoy I radiatsionnoy bezopasnosti Rossii v 1995 godu," YADERNIY KONTROL, 8/96-9/96, p. 32.] {ENTERED 12/17/96 KVY}
 
8/29/96: ACCORD BETWEEN RUSSIA AND NORWAY TO ADDRESS SPENT FUEL
Under the terms of a bilateral agreement, Norway will assist Russia in building a new temporary spent fuel facility to replace the currently operated one in the Andreyev Bay, Murmansk region. Norway will also help build a ship and four railway cars for transportation of spent nuclear fuel.
[ITAR-TASS, 8/29/96; in FBIS-TEN-96-010, "Environmental Accord With Norway Initialed."] {ENTERED 12/18/96 KVY}
 
6/18/96: GOVERNMENTAL COMMISSION ORDERS A TIMETABLE FOR FINANCING RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
During a 6/96 closed session, the Governmental Commission on Operational Issues ordered the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Defense, and the Ministry of the Defense Industry to design a timetable for financing radioactive waste management projects at the Russian naval bases, including nuclear waste shipment to Mayak for reprocessing.
[YADERNIY KONTROL, 8/96-9/96, p. 1] {ENTERED 12/17/96 KVY}
 
5/02/96: RADWASTE IN THE OCEAN
Yeltsin's environmental advisor Aleksey Yablokov stated that the USSR and Russia have dumped as much as 9 million curies of waste into the sea since the beginning of the Cold War. Most of the waste consists of untreated primary coolant discharged from submarine reactors during refueling and maintenance. On April 19, Yeltsin pledged to the Japanese Prime Minister Hashimoto that in 1996 Russia would sign the London Convention banning the ocean dumping of all nuclear waste.
["Yeltsin Pledge on Waste Dumping Paved With Western Assistance," NUCLEONICS WEEK, 5/02/96, p. 16.]
 
4/19/96: RUSSIA WILL SPEND $1.8 BILLION ON STORAGE IMPROVEMENTS
Deputy Nuclear Energy Minister Nikolay Yegorov said that Russia had accumulated 600 million cubic meters of radioactive waste amounting to 2.5 billion curies. Nearly 90% of this waste came from the military sector. Spent nuclear fuel from electric power stations constitutes about 8,500 MT, with 4 billion curie of total radioactivity. Nuclear fuel was removed from only 40 out of 146 nuclear-powered submarines dismantled recently under disarmament agreements. Yegorov said that the Russian government planned to spend 9 trillion rubles ($1.8 billion) on improving nuclear storage processing and safety. He noted, that Russia was ready to sign the 1993 London convention prohibiting maritime nuclear waste dumping, but it needed to verify that adequate storage and waste-processing facilities would be available.
[Andrey Khalip, "Russia: Nuclear Waste," REUTER, 4/19/96.] (See also "General Fuel Cycle Comments" in section 4.)
 
4/17/96: ONE HUNDRED KG OF RADIOACTIVE METAL FOUND NEAR MOSCOW
A dump with more than 100 kilograms of radioactive rods has been discovered in the Glazynino village near Moscow. The radioactivity level of the unbroken rods was measured at 30 to 300 roentgen per hour while the radioactivity of the damaged ones reached 1,600 roentgen per hour. The investigation showed that boxes with the rods were delivered to the dump together with the other waste from the City Military Committee which was destroyed by fire.
Sources:
[1] "Radiation," SEGODNYA, 4/17/96, p. 6.
[2] "Radiation," SEGODNYA, 4/20/96, p. 5.
 
4/5/96: YELTSIN SIGNS LAW
President Yeltsin signed a law "On Financing of Radioactively Hazardous Production Enterprises and Facilities." The law established regulations for guaranteed funding for works at radioactively hazardous nuclear facilities vital for safe and continuous operation of the facilities. It specified federal funding for such facilities with 40 percent advance payment.
[SEGODNYA, 4/5/96, p. 1.]
 
3/26/96: SOUTH KOREA TO SUPPLY DISPOSAL EQUIPMENT
South Korea intends to have supplied Russia with $1 million worth of Korean equipment for nuclear waste disposal by July 1996. The equipment includes containers, trucks, cranes and computers. A South Korean foreign ministry official said that the Korean government accepted a Russian request for cooperation to prevent Russia from dumping nuclear waste into the Sea of Japan.
["South Korea to Provide Russia With Nuclear Waste Disposal Facilities," BBC MONITORING SERVICE, 3/27/96.]
 
3/11/96: LYTKARINO RADWASTE IN SUBSTANDARD FACILITY
Forty MT of radioactive waste are being stored in Lytkarino, reported the economic crime department at the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate. The waste, which includes federally-owned uranium alloys, is being stored in 28 containers at a warehouse of the Atomic Energy Ministry's Research Institute For Instruments in Lytkarino. An inspection revealed that the warehouse is poorly protected against theft and fails to meet radiation safety requirements.
["Radioactive Waste Storage Regulations Broken in Moscow Region," BBC MONITORING SERVICE, Reuter Insurance Briefing, 3/11/96.]
 
3/96: EXPERT GROUP TO IMPROVE INTERNATIONAL WASTE MANAGEMENT EFFORTS IN RUSSIA
The Contact Expert Group for International Radwaste Projects (CEG) held its first meeting in Moscow in March 1996. Forty-one representatives from twelve countries were present at the conference. CEG aims to coordinate international assistance projects to manage nuclear waste in Russia. The expert group will examine the international projects in Russia to determine where efforts overlap, are lacking, or need to be prioritized. CEG hopes to develop a fully coordinated international plan of action to improve management of Russian nuclear waste.
["Successful expert meeting on Russian nuclear waste," NRPA Bulletin, 20 September 1996.]{Entered 7/30/97 LK}
 
2/6/96: RADIATION SITUATION NEAR CRITICAL AT PODOLSK
The state of radioactive sources at the Podolsk metallurgical plant and the Elektrogorsk Institute of Petroleum Refining in the Moscow region is nearing emergency levels. There are 13,000 cubic meters of radioactively contaminated soil at Podolsk and 501 spent sources of radioactivity at the Elektrogorsk institute. Local authorities voted to encourage federal government organs to design a program for liquidation of these radioactive sources in the Moscow oblast.
["Attention: Radiation," NARODNAYA GAZETA, 2/6/96, p. 1.]
 
1/16/96: STORAGE FACILITY TO BE DESIGNED
A federal program on dealing with radioactive waste earmarked 500 million rubles for 1996 for the design of a temporary storage facility on the Pacific shore. The actual construction of the facility will begin in 1997.
[Victor Litovkin, "Japanese And Americans Are Solving Our Problem Of Liquid Radioactive Waste," IZVESTIYA, 1/16/96, p. 1.]
 
1/96: US-RUSSIAN COMMITTEE MEETS AT LIVERMORE
A Russian-US committee studying options for disposal of surplus plutonium from dismantled weapons met for three days at Livermore Laboratory.
["Lab Hosts US-Russian Plutonium Disposition Panel," SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REVIEW, 4/96, p. 2.]
 
1/96: RUSSIAN-HUNGARIAN WASTE DEAL SIGNED
An agreement regulating this year's shipments of spent fuel for reprocessing from Hungary to Russia was signed in Moscow by Nikolay Yegorov, Russian Deputy Minister of Nuclear Energy, and Jozsef Szabo, general manager of the Paks nuclear power plant.
[Budapest MTI, 04/04/99, in "Spent Nuclear Fuel Sent for Reprocessing to Russia," FBIS-EEU-96-069-A, 04/04/96.]
 
2/16/95: NORWAY, RUSSIA TO COOPERATE ON WASTE ISSUES
Russian Defense Minister Grachev and Norwegian Defense Minister Jorgen Kosmo agreed to form joint commissions to visit sites where spent fuel is buried in Russia and to exchange information on radioactive contamination. In response to Norwegian concerns over nuclear contamination in the region, Grachev suggested that he and Kosmo meet again in the summer of 1996 at Andreyev Bay, the main burial site for spent nuclear fuel from Northern Fleet ships, and visit Novaya Zemlya.
["Pavel Grachev: Ambient Radiation On Novaya Zemlya Is Lower Than In My Office On The Arbat," THE CURRENT DIGEST, vol. 47, no. 50, 1/10/96, p. 23.]
 
2/95: UNSAFEGUARDED FACILITY DISCOVERED IN CHECHNYA
According to the press service of the Ministry of Emergency Situations an unsafeguarded storage location for radioactive waste has been discovered in Chechnya. Another source states that there are three such locations in Chechnya. In addition, the Chechen leadership received another container with radioactive waste specifically for rogue use.
Sources:
[1] Nikolay Filonov, "Gosatomnadzor: 'Osnovaniya dlya trevog yest!'," MOSKOVSKIYE NOVOSTI, 4/14/-4/21/96, p. 16.
[2] "Terroristu nado lish poltory minuty," MOSKOVSKIYE NOVOSTI, 4/14/-4/21/96, p. 9.
 
12/95: WASTE TAKEN FROM CENTRAL MOSCOW
Specialists from the Radon enterprise removed 101,380 kilograms of radioactive waste from the former Laboratory for Pipe Defect Studies in the center of Moscow.
[YADERNYY KONTROL, 2/96, p. 10.]
 
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