Russia’s Nuclear Industry is a Disaster Waiting to Happen

Dr. Richard Rousseau | OilPrice.com

The state of Russia’s civilian nuclear power should be cause the entire planet to shudder: Radioactive waste deposal sites are full to the bursting point, and many reactors are outdated and fail to meet even the most basic of safety standards. In short, as one reads between the lines, a new disaster is pending.

The now-famous disaster in Japan has taken on tragic proportions and caused massive public health problems. Explosions in Japanese atomic power plants are forcing world experts to question once more the future of nuclear energy, as well as the existing and engineered safety level for various nuclear facilities around the world. Is nuclear energy “outdated”? Is it a source of energy that should be abandoned out of safety concerns? The time has arrived once again for a cold-eyed and careful assessment of nuclear energy security in the world. This is especially pressing in the case of Russia.

Currently, 10 plants and 32 nuclear units are online within the territory of the Russian Federation. In considering the larger picture of Russia’s energy generation, inherent risks, and dismal safety record, neither modern nuclear reactors nor uranium-based fuels should be considered as a panacea for the country’s energy development. There are severe limitations in the development of the Russian modern nuclear energy. These are well noted in the scientific community and the mainstream media.

The accumulation of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel is proportional to the generation of electrical energy. In 2011 there were over 20,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel stored in Russian nuclear power plants and chemical storage sites. Only a tiny fraction of it is processed at special plants. Russia’s stock of spent nuclear fuel accumulates in the highly populated European part of Russia and the total of stored quantities contains nearly 175 tons of plutonium, a substance particularly dangerous because of its harmful effect on the environment.

In fact, the current situation in Russia in terms of radioactive waste is critical. The territory of the Russian Federation is home to nearly half the total amount of atomic waste in the world. Nearly 99 percent of nuclear waste is concentrated in companies run by Rosatom (Nuclear Energy State Corporation), a state-owned company; this waste contains all high-level and a large portion of intermediate-level waste.