Norway grants Russia NOK 54 million to nuclear safety
Under the direction of the County Governor of Finnmark, Norway grants another portion of money to removed radioactive strontium batteries (RTGs) from lighthouses that pose a local pollution hazard in the Russian part of the Barents Region. A series of attempted thefts in recent years has shown that they could also be accessible to terrorists. The radioactive sources will be replaced with solar cell technology.
The 2007 agreement was signed on Tuesday at the Russian General Consulate in Kirkenes by Finnmark County Governor, Gunnar Kjønnøy, and his Russian counterpart in Murmansk, Governor Yuri Yevdokmov. Russian Ambassador to Norway, Sergey Andreev, Russian General Consul in Kirkenes, Yuri Nikiforov, and Norwegian General Consul in Murmansk, Rune Aasheim, participated at the meeting.
The Norwegian authorities consider it highly important to ensure that the RTGs are replaced safely and securely. Since 2001, 126 radioactive strontium batteries are removed with Norwegian funding from remote costal areas along the Kola Peninsula and in the White Sea area. This year, another 27 RTGs will be removed under supervision of Finnmark County Governor.
Alongside the project for replacing RTGs with solar panels, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is funding the final disposal of removed RTGs. But since 2004, Norwegian authorities are denied access to the disposal storage at the Mayak-plant in Chelyabinsk Oblast in the southern Urals. As long as Norway is denied access, this part of the funding is put on hold from the Norwegian side.
Photo: Per-Einar Fiskebeck / Finnmark County Governor
- We discussed that tricky issue at the meeting today, says Governor Gunnar Kjønnøy. He is still optimistic and think Norwegian experts will be given permission to inspect the RTG storage site at Mayak during 2007. It’s the Russian security organ, the FSB, which decides who to be allowed entrance to the Mayak plant and who not be granted such permission.
Long transport route
It’s a long and risky transport route the removed RTGs are travelling. From their remote locations along the Kola coast, the strontium batteries are transported to RTP Atomflot in Murmansk where they are placed on special railway wagons and transported to Moscow. At a special facility in Moscow, the highly radioactive batteries are re-packed into safe containers hand after a while, sent to the Mayak-plant just north of Chelyabinsk.
The agreement signed in Kirkenes Tuesday does also cover infrastructure investment at the nuclear waste storage facility in Andreeva Bay on the Kola Peninsula. The main task for 2007 will be upgrading the harbour facility in the bay.
Photo: Per-Einar Fiskebeck / Finnmark County Governor
Some NOK 13 million will be spent this year. The upgrading of the harbour facility is needed before the actual work to remove the spent nuclear fuel from the run-down storage tanks can start. The main contractor for the planned removal of the spent nuclear fuel from submarines stored in Andreeva bay will be the United Kingdom in cooperation with Russia. Norway’s main task is only infrastructure improvements.
Andreeva bay is the main storage facility for spent nuclear fuel from the submarine fleet. Some 21.000 spent fuel assamblies are stored in the bay, in addition to large amounts of solid- and liquid radioactive waste. The work to remove the spent fuel and radioactive waste will last until 2030. The first shipment of spent fuel out of the Andreeva bay is planned to take place in 2012.
Facts on RTGs
A substantial number of radioactive sources are present in Russia and in the former Soviet republics. They have been used for a variety of purposes including medicine, industry, research and agriculture. Many of them are poorly secured and represent a hazard to the environment and to safety. The lighthouse lamps are powered by radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) based on radioactive strontium-90 sources. RTGs are also used as power sources for radio beacons and weather stations and are found across wide areas of Russia and other former Soviet states. The RTG-powered lighthouse lamps on the Kola Peninsula are owned and operated by Mintrans or the Northern Fleet.
