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| Europe |
| Russian spent fuel rods in Kola "a nuclear bomb" |
| 2007-06-01 |
| Research now indicates that the enormous tanks holding discarded submarine fuel rods in the Andreeva Bay may explode at any time, creating a nuclear nightmare for Northern Europe. Norway and other Western authorities have argued for years that the stockpile of highly radioactive nuclear waste on the Kola peninsula poses an environmental hazard to the local population and for Norway. A new report from Rosatom, the Russian government's highest nuclear authority, shows that there is a grave danger that the stockpile can explode. For Norway the consequences could exceed the fallout from the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, and no one knows how imminent the danger is - if it is a question of years - or hours. "In the best case a small, limited explosion in just one of the stored rods can lead to radioactive contamination in a five-kilometer (three-mile) radius. In the worst case, such a single explosion could cause the entire tank facility to explode. We have no calculations for what that could lead to," Aleksandr Nikitin of environmental group Bellona told Aftenposten. "It will at least, at a careful estimate, hit Northern Europe. There are enormous members of radioactivity stored in these tanks," said Nils Bøhmer, nuclear physicist and head of Bellona's Russian division. In 1982/83 radioactive contamination began to leak from used fuel rods from the nuclear submarine reactors. These were stored in flimsy warehouses in the old navy installation at Andreeva Bay. Three large cement tanks became a hurried solution, housing a series of large metal pipes encased in concrete. The rods were carefully placed in these pipes. This measure was intended as a provisional solution for four to five years, but nothing has happened since. Norwegian authorities partially financed a study involving several of Russia's foremost experts and institutes. In the end of 2006 a conclusion was reached, but the research has not been made public until now. Nikitin came across the conclusions in the course of compiling a new Bellona report on the state of Andreeva Bay. Nikitin and Igor Kudrik translate from the reports and explain. The large tanks, each containing 21,000 rods, are near the sea. Salt water has entered the tanks and lead to the rapid disintegration of the metal pipes. The salt water has then entered the pipes, breaking down the rods, releasing small uranium particles that fall to the bottom of the metal pipes. "The conclusion of Rosatom is that when the amount of particles on the bottom reaches five to ten percent in relation to the amount of water, potentially explosive critical mass will occur," Kudrik said. Rosatom uses the term "uncontrolled chain reaction" for what will occur. Nikitin has had a prison term and a five year battle to be totally cleared of espionage charges by the Russian Supreme Court as his price for compiling Bellona's first report on radioactive contamination at Kola. "These stockpiles and what they contain have been known to the world for over 15 years. Nothing is done. But now something must be done or uncontrolled events will take place of their own accord. The consequences will be more dramatic than we can imagine. Inaction for all these years has put us on top of a large nuclear bomb. We know where the 'gunpowder' is, but we don't know how long the fuse is," Nikitin said. "Significantly greater pressure on Russia from its neighbors - and the entire world - is needed. The day it goes wrong, no one can say any longer that we did not know what would happen," Nikitin said. But the Russkies now have a missile that can "defeat" our AMD system, so they have that going for them. |
| Posted by:mrp |
| #7 Here's an even better link, http://www.logtv.com/films/chelyabinsk/nuclear.htm |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-06-01 23:55 |
| #6 Ah! Found it. Disaster occured in 1957 in the Urals near a secret Soviet nuclear facility at Ozersk. The town of Karabolka was evacuated and nearly a quarter of a million people were contaminated by a radioactive plume. See http://www.mindfully.org/Nucs/2004/Karabolka-Nuclear-Disaster23apr04.htm for the link. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-06-01 23:47 |
| #5 One would have thought the Russians might have learned their lesson(s) following Chernobyl and a similar storage disaster in the Urals back in the 60's as I recall. An entire town simply seized to exist on old Soviet maps with no explanation as to why. Years or a decade or more later western experts figured out that the Soviets had been using an old mine to store nuclear power plant waste (ie used fuel rods), stored them improperly, and they blew taking a large chunk of the countryside with them (primarily due to radioactive contamination). To this day, I'm told, the area is a "No Go" area in Russia. |
| Posted by: FOTSGreg 2007-06-01 23:39 |
| #4 The Soviet Union's enduring historical legacy will be an endless laundry list of crimes against humanity and nature. The global community's condemnation of America for how it consumes so much of this world's resources rings false in light of how Rusiia continues to squander everything that passes through its hands. Much like the Palestinians, Russia has almost nothing to show for nearly a century of communist corruption. They are parasites on a massive scale. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-06-01 23:32 |
| #3 As the saying goes: Russia has no disasters but the very worst. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-06-01 14:11 |
| #2 Osama is sending a crew shortly to pick up the fuel and transport it to jihadistan. It may take several crews being sequentially irradiated to death, but they're lined up to give it all for Allan. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-06-01 13:40 |
| #1 Russians---gorillas with tools---and that's not being fair to gorillas. From the people that's brought more death from nuclear irradiation (Chernobyl, North Sea Fleet, etc.) than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. |
| Posted by: Almost Anonymous5839 2007-06-01 10:49 |