Sunday, December 12, 2021

After Ten-Year Pause, Russia Resumes Importing Radioactive Wastes from Europe

Paul Goble

            Staunton, Oct. 16 – To the horror of environmental activists in Europe and Russia and the fears of security analysts that Moscow will reprocess this waste for nuclear projects including potentially weaponry, Moscow has begun importing radioactive wastes from Europe after a ten-year gap when such shipments did not take place.

            Russia confirmed that it has begun importing for storage more than a thousand tons of radioactive waste from France on the basis of a deal that was reached last year (region.expert/uranium/ greenpeace.org/eu-unit/issues/climate-energy/45879/french-nuclear-companies-exposed-dumping-radioactive-waste-siberia/, and newizv.ru/news/society/13-10-2021/rossiya-budet-pererabatyvat-uranovye-othody-i-frantsii).

            Environmental activists have expressed serious concern that Moscow has won these contracts with low bids that reflect the fact that it does not observe the safety requirements for the storage of materials that will remain radioactive for decades or longer or ensure that transit from ports to the interior of the country is handled in ways that do not threaten public health.

            France is not the only EU member now sending nuclear wastes to Russia for storage. Germany is too on the basis of an agreement reached in 2019 that anticipates the dispatch of 12,000 tons of radioactive waste from Germany to Russia in the coming years (finanz.ru/novosti/aktsii/v-rossiyu-vvezut-12-tysyach-tonn-uranovykh-otkhodov-iz-germanii-1028622113).

 

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