Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

Romania and Russia earlier this week signed an inter-governmental agreement on the removal of spent nuclear fuel from the research reactor at Turnu-Magurele, in the south of the country. Russia pledged to repatriate the nuclear fuel, supplied to Romania back in 1957, for temporary technological storage, subsequent processing and ultimate disposal. The director of the national committee for the control of nuclear activity, Borbala Vaida, signed the agreement for Romania, and the general director of the atomic energy agency Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, for Russia. The contract was concluded within the framework of the Russian-US agreement of 2004 on the repatriation of highly-enriched nuclear wastes and their subsequent processing. The project's value is estimated at 4.5 million dollars, which is to be disbursed by the US Department of State. Romania will pay about 700,000 dollars for keeping processed nuclear fuel in Russia. The contract concerns about 200 kilograms of highly enriched (36 percent) nuclear fuel, which may pose a threat, if seized by terrorists. This amount is enough to make a nuclear explosive device. The experimental nuclear reactor in Romania, loaded with Russian fuel, was shut down in 2002, and in 2003 Russia removed part of the waste. The operation will be completed in 2009.

* Russian supplies to keep filling global supply gap * Russia seeks lucrative direct deals with U.S. firms * Eyes China, India and other markets * Uranium mines to expand production By Robin Paxton MOSCOW, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Nearly one in 10 U.S. households runs on power from Soviet nuclear bombs. Now Russia hopes its Cold War arsenal, twinned with fast-growing uranium mines and enrichment capacity, will also be powering China, India and other booming economies when a 20-year nuclear fuel pact with the United States expires in 2013. Russia has expressed no desire to refresh the 'Megatons to Megawatts' programme, under which it will recycle the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads and create enough uranium to power the entire United States for two years.

* Russian supplies to keep filling global supply gap * Russia seeks lucrative direct deals with U.S. firms * Eyes China, India and other markets * Uranium mines to expand production By Robin Paxton MOSCOW, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Nearly one in 10 U.S. households runs on power from Soviet nuclear bombs. Now Russia hopes its Cold War arsenal, twinned with fast-growing uranium mines and enrichment capacity, will also be powering China, India and other booming economies when a 20-year nuclear fuel pact with the United States expires in 2013. Russia has expressed no desire to refresh the 'Megatons to Megawatts' programme, under which it will recycle the equivalent of 20,000 nuclear warheads and create enough uranium to power the entire United States for two years.

"Greenpeace activists are calling on French company Areva to cease nuclear waste exports to Moscow ahead of another train delivery of spent nuclear fuel on Wednesday. Protestors rallied outside Areva's Moscow office and displayed a banner reading "Russia is not a dump". Contracts between Russia and European countries on the delivery of nuclear waste to Russia were signed in the mid-1990s. The deal runs until at least 2014. The uranium is subsequently enriched in Russia, which boasts superior enrichment technology to its European partners. "We are extremely concerned about the security requirements during the realization of these nuclear contracts. This is mainly linked to the fact that [Russia's state-controlled nuclear power corporation] Rosatom enterprises have cut down on radiation security in order to lower the net cost of nuclear production," a letter from the Greenpeace activists to Arevas's management said."

* Daily says 13 pct of French waste dumped in Russia * EDF says radioactive waste is kept in France * EDF says only recyclable spent uranium sent to Russia PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - EDF (EDF.PA) is sending to Russia spent nuclear fuel that needs to be reprocessed, the French nuclear power producer said on Monday, denying a French press report that it was using Siberia to dump nuclear waste. The world's largest nuclear energy producer said that radioactive waste was kept in France, where it was processed and stocked in dedicated facilities at Areva's (CEPFi.PA) storage site of La Hague, on the northwestern coast of Normandy.

* Daily says 13 pct of French waste dumped in Russia * EDF says radioactive waste is kept in France * EDF says only recyclable spent uranium sent to Russia PARIS, Oct 12 (Reuters) - EDF (EDF.PA) is sending to Russia spent nuclear fuel that needs to be reprocessed, the French nuclear power producer said on Monday, denying a French press report that it was using Siberia to dump nuclear waste. The world's largest nuclear energy producer said that radioactive waste was kept in France, where it was processed and stocked in dedicated facilities at Areva's (CEPFi.PA) storage site of La Hague, on the northwestern coast of Normandy.

Russia may respond to U.S. plans for missile defense bases in Central Europe with a host of measures, including the withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a senior military expert said on Thursday. President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that Russia would respond to the U.S. missile shield program in Central Europe, adding that Moscow was "dismayed" by the signing of a U.S.-Czech missile deal. He did not specify what steps Russia would take.

"Russia and the United States signed a new protocol Tuesday on a long stalled agreement to complete the disposal of 34 tons of excess weapons grade plutonium each, pumping new blood into the 2000 Plutonium Disposition Agreement that has been foundering on the shoals of bureaucratic foot dragging and mutual distrust for seven years. Though the signing of the Plutonium Management and Disposition deal between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will be touted as one of the successes of the 46 nation, two-day summit convened by President Barack Obama - alongside laudable agreements by Ukraine to relinquish its weapons uranium - it will also spark a new battle among non-proliferation officials and environmentalists both in Russia and the United States. As has been clear for more than 15 years, Russia regards its stockpiles of weapons plutonium as a money-spinner for a new nuclear economy in Russia that relies on plutonium and reactors that produce it. "

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov welcomed on Sunday the U.S. readiness to consult Russia on a planned missile shield system in Europe. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden said at a security conference in Munich on Saturday that the United States would continue to work on its plans to deploy a missile shield in Central Europe but would also consult Russia on this issue. Asked by reporters about his response to Biden's speech yesterday, Ivanov said it "was very positive." Ivanov said he especially liked Biden's statement that it was time to "press the reset button" in relations between Russia and the United States.

Tochmash, Russia's defense enterprise from the city of Vladimir, conducted successful tests of a special ampoule that was designed to store spent nuclear fuel of Russian nuclear power plants. The ampoule guarantees that the storage of toxic fuel will be ecologically secure. Russia develops special tube to store nuclear wastes Russia develops special tube to store nuclear wastes BREAKING NEWS Latin America creates new currency Train carrying deadly virus arrives in Moscow Relations between Russia and USA get into Cold War spirit again Pilot lands plane on school playground More... Engineers of the enterprise were working on Ampoule PT for eight years. "It is made of stainless steel, is not heavy at all and is equipped with a unique spring lock that does not let the lid open even under the impact of heavy pressure," a spokesperson for the enterprise said. The ampoule looks like a cylinder with a lid. The cylinder will not let fuel particles penetrate into the environment for over 50 years.

"Russia will provide by the end of 2010 the first batch of low-enriched uranium for an international nuclear fuel reserve bank under control of the UN nuclear watchdog, the head of Russia's state-run nuclear power corporation Rosatom said. Russia has earlier proposed to establish international reserves of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to ensure stable fuel supplies to IAEA member countries in case of emergency, including "insurmountable political difficulties." "I believe that the first part of these reserves could be formed by the end of this year," Sergei Kiriyenko said at an international conference on nuclear energy in Paris on Monday. "We want to initially build LEU reserves that would ensure the operation of at least one 1,000 MW reactor," he said. Russia proposed in 2007 the creation of a nuclear center with LEU reserves in Angarsk, 5,100 km (3,170 miles) east of Moscow, to enable countries including Iran to develop civilian nuclear power without having to enrich their own uranium."

This online supplement is produced and published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia), which takes sole responsibility for the content. Published: 12:54PM BST 05 Oct 2009 It seems the crisis has had little impact on Russia's nuclear plans. "The government's support for the atomic industry allows us to maintain our current nuclear power plant construction projects as planned," Kirill Komarov, executive director of Atomenergoprom, said at the 34th meeting of the World Nuclear Association "We continue to work to create a new technology basis for our atomic industry, relying on fast neutron reactors, which will raise the industry to a new level," Komorov added.

This online supplement is produced and published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia), which takes sole responsibility for the content. Published: 12:54PM BST 05 Oct 2009 It seems the crisis has had little impact on Russia's nuclear plans. "The government's support for the atomic industry allows us to maintain our current nuclear power plant construction projects as planned," Kirill Komarov, executive director of Atomenergoprom, said at the 34th meeting of the World Nuclear Association "We continue to work to create a new technology basis for our atomic industry, relying on fast neutron reactors, which will raise the industry to a new level," Komorov added.

This online supplement is produced and published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia), which takes sole responsibility for the content. Published: 12:54PM BST 05 Oct 2009 It seems the crisis has had little impact on Russia's nuclear plans. "The government's support for the atomic industry allows us to maintain our current nuclear power plant construction projects as planned," Kirill Komarov, executive director of Atomenergoprom, said at the 34th meeting of the World Nuclear Association "We continue to work to create a new technology basis for our atomic industry, relying on fast neutron reactors, which will raise the industry to a new level," Komorov added.

"Bellona presents an analysis of the draft law "On Management of Radioactive Waste," currently under consideration in the Russian legislature. This position reflects the opinion shared equally by Bellona and experts from most ecological non-governmental organisations operating in Russia. Aleksandr Nikitin, 01/07-2010 - Translated by Maria Kaminskaya Foreword The draft Federal Law of the Russian Federation "On Management of Radioactive Waste" (hereinafter, the Bill) has been under preparation by Russian legislators for over ten years. At present, the bill is going through its second reading at the lower house of the Russian parliament, the State Duma. According to the requirements set forth by the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, which Russia signed in Vienna in 1999 and ratified in 2005, countries that employ nuclear energy must have a regulatory and legal framework in place to ensure safe management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and radioactive waste. The proposed legislation will govern all legal relations arising in the field of management of SNF and radioactive waste. As an instrument to regulate such relations, the Bill is without doubt a necessity. Precisely how such relations will be regulated by the Bill in its current form, however, is a different matter. For the reader's convenience, the following analysis has been divided into three distinct parts detailing the potential ecological, social, and economical issues raised by the Bill. This analysis represents the opinion shared equally by Bellona and the majority of experts working with ecological non-governmental organisations in Russia. The ecological impact 1. The fundamental ecological problem that arises with the passing of the Bill is that it will legalise the existing practice of injecting liquid radioactive waste (LRW) inside geological formations for disposal."

"Russia and Ukraine have signed an intergovernmental agreement to finish the construction of Reactor Units 3 and 4 at Ukraine's Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant. This means Russia will effectively foot the bill for completing a long-obsolete project developed as far back as when the two nations were still part of the Soviet Union. Andrei Ozharovsky, 09/06-2010 Andrei Ozharovsky, 17/06-2010 - Translated by Maria Kaminskaya The agreement was signed on June 9 in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, by Ukraine's Minister of Fuel and Energy Yury Boiko and Russia's head of the state nuclear corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko. The deal sees Russia unfreezing the construction of Units 3 and 4 at Khmelnitsky Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) - a site located 40 kilometres from the city of Rovno, in Ukraine's Khmelnitsky Region. The plant was built in 1981."

"Ten years have passed since Alexander Nikitin was acquitted charges of treason and espionage by the Russian Supreme Court, which could have landed him in a jail cell for 20 years if not earned him the death penalty. But for the confusion of those years in Russia, Nikitin believes that he would not have been acquitted of the same charges, however innocent he was, in Russia today. Nikitin here tells of the events that took four years, eleven months and eight days. Alexander Nikitin, 14/06-2010 - Translated by Charles Digges I was arrested very early on the morning of February 6th 1996. It read like a page from Stalin's Russia. Someone rang the door and ordered me to come to an interrogation by the FSB, the Russian intelligence service (and the successor to the KGB). They said that I not need to take anything with me and my family should not worry because I would soon come home again. But I did not come home. Instead I found myself in a jail cell. The FSB's accusations against me turned out to be very serious: high treason and espionage. I was at risk for the death penalty. "

As US President Barack Obama seeks congressional ratification for the US-Russia Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation agreement - also known as 123 Agreement - this development may yet again open the route for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) transports into Russia for storage and reprocessing. The series of bilateral deals the United States has been signing with Russia and other states - or 123 agreements, dubbed so for the relevant section of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act - outline US prospects for nuclear-related cooperation with nations, groups of nations, or regional security organisations as possible only on the condition that proper agreements are in place with such entities and that these agreements are approved by the President of the United States and ratified by Congress. "

Russia moved swiftly yesterday to extend a hand to President Obama over American plans for big cuts in nuclear weapons. Sergei Ivanov, the Deputy Prime Minister, said that Russia was ready to sign a new strategic missile treaty with the US. "We welcome the statements from the new Obama Administration that they are ready to enter into talks and complete within a year, the signing of a new Russian-US treaty on the limitation of strategic attack weapons," said Mr Ivanov, a hawkish former Defence Minister, who was once seen as a candidate to become the president of Russia.

* $1 bln in deals signed with PG&E, Ameren Corp, Luminant * Will give Russia 20 percent of U.S. uranium market 2014-2020 * Russia sees nuclear fuel storage in U.S. as next step (Recasts with quotes, details, background) By Simon Shuster MOSCOW, May 26 (Reuters) - Russia signed a landmark deal to supply nuclear fuel directly to U.S. companies on Tuesday, setting itself up to control 20 percent of the U.S. uranium market and extending its global reach in the nuclear sector. At a ceremony in the Russian capital, U.S. electricity firms PG&E, Ameren Corp and Luminant signed deals to get more than $1 billion in uranium supplies from Russia's state nuclear fuel exporter Tenex between 2014 and 2020.

Russia and Japan will sign an agreement on peaceful uses of nuclear energy on May 12 during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's visit to Tokyo. Putin and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso will also discuss North Korea and their territorial dispute, though Russia isn't prepared to cede four Kuril Islands claimed by Japan, Yury Ushakov, Putin's deputy chief of staff, told reporters in Moscow today. "We're not ceding anything, but we may be ready to some degree to discuss hypothetical situations," Ushakov said. "That's all. We're not ready to give the islands away." Russia favors a "calm, constructive" dialogue on the Kurils without "inflated expectations and disappointments," he said.

"U.S. Ambassador to Russia John Beyrle named on Wednesday four main nuclear-connected threats to international security. "Despite constructive cooperation with Russia, the global non-proliferation regime is under great stress," the U.S. diplomat said during a conference on nuclear nonproliferation in the Russian capital, Moscow, which took place ahead of the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference due in New York on May 3-28. Beyrle said the first challenge is "the growing interest by countries and non-state actors in acquiring sensitive nuclear technology." The second is "the gaps in the verification system of the IAEA, which complicate its ability to detect undeclared nuclear activity." The third challenge, according to Beyrle, is "the failure of a handful of states... to comply fully with their obligations under the NPT and in particular IAEA safeguards agreements," and the fourth is "the threat of nuclear terrorism.""

"Powerful environmental groups in Russia have stepped forward to say they have been shut out of a process to revise a new bill on radioactive waste management in Russia, saying their suggestions to improve the bill have been ignored, representatives of Greenpece Russia and Ecodefence told Bellona Web Tuesday. Charles Digges, 10/03-2010 There is no set date for the second reading of the controversial bill - and three readings are required for it to be adopted as law - but the environmental community has all but been cut out of the process of adding necessary improvements to make it safe, Russian environmental groups said Tuesday, said Vladimir Slivyak, co-chairman of Ecodefence. "

"French Greenpeace activists blocked a train carrying some 650 metric tons of radioactive waste in protest against the export of nuclear waste to Russia, the Greenpeace Russia website said. A shipment of depleted uranium hexafluoride was due to be loaded onto the Captain Kuroptev in the port of Le Havre and sent to St. Petersburg. However, the ship weighed anchor and headed towards the port of Montoir-de-Bretagne pursued by the Greenpeace ship Esperanza. The Greenpeace statement said the activists chained themselves to railway tracks, delaying rail traffic towards Montoir-de-Bretagne for more than four hours."