Transcript Movement for nuclear safety

Nuclear issues in Russia
Corporate Social Responsibility,
11.02.2015
Concerns regarding nuclear energy
• Nuclear accidents
• Radioactive waste disposal
• Nuclear proliferation
• High costs of nuclear power plants
• Nuclear terrorism
History
• Ministry of Nuclear Engineering and
Industry of the USSR
• 1992-Ministry of Atomic Energy of Russian
federation (MinAtom)
• 2004-Federal Agency of Atomic Energy
• 2007 Rosatom become a state corporation
–controls nuclear weapons companies,
research institutes and safety agencies
Governance
• Rosatom—major agency-state corporation and
the regulatory body
• 2001 Energoatom—operation of civil reactors
• 2007-Atomenergoprom—a holding company for
Russian civil nuclear industry, includes
Energoatom, nuclear fuel producers and
suppliers, uranium trader and nuclear facilities
constructors
• Russia plans the next generation nuclear energy
technology
Global civil society initiative
• Nuclear threat initiative-NGO founded in 2001 by
Ned Turner in the US—to reduce nuclear,
chemical and biological weapons-mostly public
awareness, documentaries
• In Russia: 16% of all power generation comes
from nuclear energy
• Plans to increase reactors in operation from 31
to 59
• 2005 agreement between China and Russia on
new constructions in China
Russia-Finland
• Finland –Loviisa plant (build by Soviets), Olkiluoto,
located near Rauma (build by Swedish, Olkiluoto-3—
Areva-French company)
• Former minister of Rosatom Rumiantsev —now in
Finland as an ambassador
• Khanhikivi-1 (In Puchayokki), Nuclear power plant in
Finland Fennovoima invited Russian Rosatom to build
the reactor
• Finland wanted the reactor of 1600Mvt, but finally agree
to build Russian reactor with the power of 1000-1200Mvt
• Swedish environmentalists protest
• Rosatom (used the pension plan) and become a coowner of this Finnish plant
Why? How?
•
•
•
•
Russia over competed Toshiba,
Russia bought 34% of Fennovoima
2014-started construction ( 2018)
Finland ignore EU calls to curtail energy
deals with Russia, after annexation of
Crimea
• Build nuclear power stations in Bulgaria
and Hungary (agreement 2014), with the
US, cooperation is suspended in 2015
Nuclear power plants in Russia
• 11 reactors are like Chrnobil—been given
life extensions
• “inherently unsafe design”—can not be
improved by upgrading and modernization
• Their existence violate Russian laws
because have not undergone
environmental assessment
• 6 reactors are under construction
(Volgodon, Kalinin, Beloyarsk, etc)
Nuclear Policy in Russia
• After Fucushima accidents in March 2011China, Germany, Switzerland, Israel,
Malaysia, Thailand, UK, and the Philippines
decided to renew their nuclear policy
• Russian response to Japanese accidents in
2011-no policy change
• Agree to do stress tests
• Energy strategy up to 2020—struggle for
energy efficiency
Major issues and NGOs
• Issues: a) Old nuclear power plants b) nuclear
disasters and their legacy c) spent nuclear fuel
• Major NGOs and movements: Natalia Mironova,
«Movement for Nuclear Safety», Chelyabinsk
• Alexey Yablokov, prof., Nuclear Program SEU,
Moscow,
• Fund «For Nature», Chelyabinsk,
• «Legal Consciousness», Chelyabinsk,
• «Green World», Sosnovy Bor, Leningrad Oblast,
• Alexandr Nikitin, Human rights protection Centre
“Bellona”, Sankt Petersburg
Nuclear plant
• Cheliabinsk oblast-Southern Ural Mountains
• River Techa-tributary of Ob river
• Plant Mayak opened in Cheliabinsk oblast in
December 1948—produced weapons’ grade
plutonium
• “closed cities” “fenced in communities”—housing
for scientists, workers
• Administered by the Ministry of Nuclear Energy
(MinAtom) and the KGB (State Security
Committee)
Life in closed cities
• Entry and departure was hard
• Citizens limited in freedom of speech,
rights to congregate
• Paid top salaries, access to luxuries, were
nicknamed Chocolates
• Mayak –two closed cities, Ozersk and
Sneginsk-west, upstream of Techa river
Plant Mayak
• In 65 years had several severe nuclear
accidents
• Tens of thousands of square kilometers of
contaminated land by uranium, plutonium,
discharged to Techa river
• Waste is dumped into lakes Karachay, Old
Marsh, Tatysh, and reservoirs of the Techa
cascade and further to the river Ob and the
Arctic Ocean.
History of radioactive pollution
• The radiation has contaminated the food chain
• poisoned the local population 8000 downstream, 20000
in the contaminated territory
• 1951 Techa River was contaminated with extremely high
radoiactivity
• Mayak started to put high level waste in barrels, dumping
middle waste into the lake Karachai, tried to use wetland
filtration
• 1952-1955-insidents with workers errors
• 13 villages upstream of Musliumovo evacuated and
relocated.
• September 29 1957, disaster, 20 million curie released
(Chernobil 50 million curie), 373000 people were
affected
Culture of keeping quite
• People were not aware
• 1957-Stalin’s times—no criticisms
• 1976 dissident biologist Zhores Medvedev
first leak of information
• 1989—during Perestroika—disclosure of
info by government
• Fish disorders, large mushrooms
• Food from Techa Valley continued to be
sold in Cheliabinsk
Perestroika and Social Movements
• April 1990 MinAtom and Ministry of Health
disclosed the info on Mayak disaster
• Law on Environmental Protection passedprohibited disposal of foreign spent nuclear fuel
on the territory of Russia
• Democratic People’s Front—some people
elected to the Council of People Deputies
• The Commission for Radiological Security
• The Movement for Nuclear safety was formed
State Measures
•
•
•
•
•
President Yeltsin visited Musliumovo
Programs to help the victims “Kyshtim 57”
Compensations to the victims—very low
State programs turned to be inefficient
Citizen “milk the government as much as
possible for what they did”
• People continued living on the polluted land
• consuming polluted food and water have
developed multiple illnesses
International Movement
• Greenpeace, human rights organizations
• Effort to bring Musliumovo case to the International
Court of Justice in Strassburg
• ISAR (Institute for Soviet and American Relations)—
grants, workshops
• NGOs: Kyshtim 57, Nuclear Hostages, White Mice,
Techa, Musliumovo Committee for Self Governance
• Activists traveling to Europe, Japan, US
• Community conflicts and division as a consequence
• Disaster tourism
Consequenses
• Cancer cases have reached 387 casualties per
100,000 people.
• Children’s cancer rates reached 14.1 per
100,000 people, resulting in a 64 % increased of
cancer rates from 2007 to 2008.
• Among the newborn population the number of
abnormalities reached 47.6 per 1000 children
born in 2008.
Musliumovo citizens resettlement
• 2005 recognition by the government,
director of Mayak prosecuted
• 2006-1mln rub compensation—citizens
started resettlements
• Total 741 family, 400 bought new housing
• For others a settlement was build 1.5 km
close by—Newmusliumovo
• The plan was to finalize resettlement in
2010
Intensity of radioactive pollution
Musliumovo
River Techa
Musliumovo
Musliumovo remnants
Musliumovo today
The Import of Spent Nuclear Fuel
• December 2000, state Duma-amendment to the
Law on Environmental Protection—allow
importation of spent nuclear fuel to Russia
• Transport, processing, permanent burial
• US funded facility build
• Protests, direct action, effort to organize the
referendum failed “radioactive soil to Duma’
• Lobbying US State Department
Spent Nuclear Fuel in Russia
• Danish ship Puma brought spent nuclear
fuel from Serbia to Russia, leaking on the
way back!
Spent nuclear fuel
• November 2010 spent nuclear fuel was
planned to be transported to Cheliabinsk,
to the plant Mayak, from Rossendorf,
Germany
• Movement Decommission set up a petition
to Angela Merkel, to Barrack Obama and
to President Medvedev – seems
successful
• Still unresolved issue