Antinuclear

Russia’s nuclear security and nuclear weapons proliferation dangers

A great example of Russia’s unscrupulousness is the $1 billion Bushehr nuclear station in Iran……..….

………….the plant designs promoted by Russian companies (in particular, the floating stations) present high proliferation and environmental risks because they use uranium of a very high enrichment level, have caused accidents in the past, and create a byproduct that scientists are yet to learn how to dispose of.

Russia: A Nuclear Security Leader? Partnership for a Secure America , by Volha Charnysh |26 April 2010, Considered the Pandora’s box of nuclear security issues for decades, Russia is now being recast as a nuclear security leader……. However, Russia’s active and at times reckless pursuit of nuclear business contradicts its claim to nuclear security leadership and could weaken the commitments made at the Summit.

Reading Russia’s memorandum at the Nuclear Security Summit, one is struck by its dissonance with its US counterpart. While the US national statement begins by stressing “the risk of nuclear terrorism as the most immediate and extreme threat to global security”, the Russian document begins by praising the nuclear industry as “one of the strategic directions of development.” Only in the sixth paragraph of the memorandum does Russia acknowledge that the risks of nuclear terrorism are “still present” in the world. Those risks clearly do not emanate from Russia, according to the document that claims there are no “vulnerable nuclear materials and facilities with inadequate levels of physical protection” on the Russian territory……..

…..While the US primary objective, according to its national statement, is to “ensure that terrorists never gain access to plutonium or highly-enriched uranium,” Russia seems more concerned about making money by selling nuclear technology. It is willing to conduct business even with the states whose motives are questioned by the rest of the international community. A great example of Russia’s unscrupulousness is the $1 billion Bushehr nuclear station in Iran……..

…..the plant designs promoted by Russian companies (in particular, the floating stations) present high proliferation and environmental risks because they use uranium of a very high enrichment level, have caused accidents in the past, and create a byproduct that scientists are yet to learn how to dispose of.

As a result of Moscow’s focus on nuclear expansion at any cost, even the well-meant joint US-Russian programs may sometimes have unintended consequences………

…….as long as Russia continues to put the development of nuclear industry first, there is a danger that one day it will decide to use the plutonium disposition facilities to revitalize its reprocessing industry or to develop a closed plutonium fuel cycle. Of course, the United States and Russia signed transparency provisions allowing them to monitor each other’s disposition efforts. However, there is no way to ensure that once the 34 tons covered by the PMDA agreement are processed, the same breeder reactors will not be used to produce plutonium. Across the Aisle: The PSA Blog » Russia: A Nuclear Security Leader?

April 28, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | uranium | antinuclear, enriched, nuclear, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium