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Press releases

YABLOKO conducted a picket by the Russian Atomic Energy Agency against construction of nuclear power stations abroad on the Russian federal budget money

Press Release, April 26, 2013

Every year on April 26, the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, YABLOKO has been conducting an action by the Russian Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) to commemorate those who died, express sympathy for those who got sick in this tragedy and remind everyone of the consequences of nuclear energy sector.
The danger of explosion has not been the only issue for the past years, the topic of distribution of budgetary funds by Rosatom has also been touched. This time YABLOKO has protested against Rosatom’s plans to spend billions of dollars of budget money on construction of nuclear power plants’ abroad.
Rosatom plans to invest USD 20 billion in the economy of Turkey to construct and operate the Akkuyu nuclear power plant. Turkey’s economy will receive this colossal amount of money from Russia’s taxpayers without any counter profit for Russia. Rosatom also plans to construct a nuclear power plant in Vietnam which will cost USD 10 billion. India, China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Egypt and even Bangladesh with its unstable situation and some other countries are next in turn for Russia’s budgetary funds via Rosatom...

YABLOKO conducted a picket by the Russian Atomic Energy Agency on the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster
Press Release, April 26, 2012.

...YABLOKO leader Sergei Mitrokhin, who also attended the action, said that the party had been commemorating the tragic Chernobyl anniversary for many years already. "Not only we commemorate those who died and express sympathy for those who got sick in this tragedy, but we also speak about the danger of the new Rosatom’s plans,” said Sergei Mitrokhin.

He spoke about Rostam’s plans to build a nuclear power plant on the border of Novgorod and Vladimir regions, near the town Murom. The nuclear power plant would be built on moving karst soils, where an accident may occur at any time and this would inevitably lead to a disaster similar to that in Chernobyl. At the same time Sergei Mitrokhin said that the money for this construction came from the state budget rather than private investors. "This is the taxpayers' money, the money of ordinary Russians, teachers, doctors and people with disabilities. Moreover, Rosatom builds with our money nuclear plants not only in Russia but also abroad," Sergei Mitrokhin stressed...

Academician Alexei Yablokov, leader of YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction and renowned environmentalist, told about independent assessments of the Chernobyl disaster being significantly more pessimistic than the official reports. "It's millions of deaths and diseases, cancers, premature aging and diseases of the endocrine system," stressed Yablokov.

According to Yablokov, 43 per cent of toxic sediments polluted the territory of the former Soviet Union after the disaster and the rest were spread across the globe. "Today, Chernobyl sediments can be found in the lakes of China, the Nile Delta and Japan," he said...

YABLOKO to picket the Russian Atomic Energy Agency on the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster
Press Release, April 25, 2012.

On Thursday, April 26, the anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster, YABLOKO will conduct a staged action by the Russian Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) under the slogan "Save the world from the peaceful atom"...

The action will start at 12:30.

Address: Tretyakovskaya metro station, Bolshaya Ordynka 24.

Also YABLOKO will hold the same action in Chelyabinsk, where YABLOKO activists, environmentalists and civil activists will pay tribute to the memory of liquidators of the Chernobyl disaster.

The activists will fly 26 balloons symbolizing 26 years since the tragedy.

The action will begin at 18:00.

The Green Russia faction conducted an action commemorating the tragic anniversary of nuclear disaster at Fukushima
Press Release, March 13, 2012.

YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction conducted a memorial action commemorating the victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The action was held on the first anniversary of the disaster on the nuclear power plant.

Environmentalists held pickets in Volgograd, Petrozavodsk, Sosnoviy Bor, Ulan-Ude, Ufa, Arkhangelsk, Kostroma, Chita, St. Petersburg and Moscow. The participants of the actions tried to draw attention of the Russian citizens to the dangerous consequences of the nuclear industry, and distributed leaflets "Rosatom, shut down your Fukushimas!"

YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction conducted an All-Russia Memorial Action commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster

Press Release, April 27, 2011.

On April 26, 2011, YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction conducted an All-Russia Memorial Action (Chernobyl+25) commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. The action was held in 23 Russian cities.

The actions organised by the Green Russia faction together with many other political and public organisations all over the world pay remind to the world of the Chernobyl tragedy, the largest technogenic disaster in the human history.

The Green Russia conducted actions in several regions. Activists distributed leaflets on the Chernobyl tragedy and its consequences.

YABLOKO conducted an action by the Russian Atomic Ministry commemorating the 25th Chernobyl disaster

Press Release, April 26, 2011.

Today YABLOKO’s activists conducted an action commemorating the 25th Chernobyl disaster. The action was conducted by the Russian Atomic Ministry (Rosatom). The participants of the picket paid tribute to the victims of the Chernobyl tragedy and also spoke about the problems of the modern nuclear energy sector...

Russia should derive a lesson from the disaster in Japan. Statement by YABLOKO’s Political Committee. March 26, 2011.

The Political Committee of the Russian United Democratic Party YABLOKO is sending deep condolences to the Japanese people in connection with tragedy resulting from the natural disaster. Destruction of nuclear power stations prone with additional radiation exposure for people and dangerous pollution of the territories is especially dangerous and presents a continuous threat to the population. Attempts to stop the tragic developments have not been much successful so far...

YABLOKO welcomes Germany’s decision not to send its nuclear waste to Russia

Press Release, December 7, 2010
“We welcome the decision of the German government not to export spent nuclear fuel from Saxony to Russia. We think that the German government has demonstrated a responsible approach in the solution of this problem,” stated YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin.

On Monday, December 6, Nobert Roettgen, German Federal Minister for Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, announced that Germany had revoked its decision to export spent nuclear fuel from Saxony to the Mayak plant in the Urals due to the absence of conditions for safe treatment of nuclear waste in Russia...

Against corruption in the nuclear sector and turning Russia into a world’s nuclear waste dump

Statement by the Federal Council of the YABLOKO party, November 17, 2010

The YABLOKO party considers the adoption of the law “On Radioactive Waste Management” developed by Rosatom (Russian Atomic Ministry) absolutely unacceptable. We believe that the proposed wording the law makes it corruption prone, as well as creates additional conditions for the mass-scale imports of foreign radioactive waste into Russia for their burial...

Radioactive waste should not get into Russia

Statement by the YABLOKO party, November 12, 2010

The YABLOKO party considers the practices of enrichment of uranium tailings in the territory of Russia dangerous and morally unacceptable. We are against the plans of transferring spent nuclear fuel from the German Centre for Nuclear Research in Rossendorf to Russia. Transfer of the spent fuel to Russia, where its storage and recycling is accompanied by radioactive emissions is dangerous, and we do not want Russia to turn into an international nuclear dump. There are no guarantees of security during transportation of spent nuclear fuel because of the quality of infrastructure, the danger of terrorism and high level of corruption in the country...

Nuclear Disarmament and Arms Control – Using the New Momentum in the Debate for a “Global Zero”

Resolution of ELDR Congress, Helsinki, October 13-15, 2010

submitted by FDP, Germany, and YABLOKO, Russia

The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party, convening in Helsinki, Finland, on 13-15 October 2010:

ELDR welcomes the new drive in the debate on nuclear disarmament and arms control that has been neglected for too long. This progress is reflected in particular in President Obama’s speech in Prague and also in the debate on the declining importance of nuclear weapons laid down in NATO’s new strategic concept and in the successful conclusion of the 2010 Review Conference on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)... MORE

YABLOKO's Federal Council adopts a New Course

Press Release, November 9, 2010

YABLOKO’s Federal Council meeting took place on November 5-6, 2010. The Federal Council is YABLOKO’s representative body and comprises about 170 people...

...In the document entitled “On the New Political Course” the Federal Council states the YABLOKO “considers qualitative evolutionary changes in Russia’s political and economic system by the key political task”. “We are reaffirming our the commitment to the principles and objectives stated in the Programme of the YABLOKO party - the Democratic manifesto. Construction of a modern democratic welfare state of the European type which would expresses the interests of the civil society and be controlled by it is the only possible way of Russia’s development. There is no other strategy for preservation and development of Russia,” runs the document...

European liberals’ congress adopts a resolution of nuclear disarmament motioned jointly by German FDP and YABLOKO

Press Release, October 15, 2010

Today, on October 15, the Congress of the European Liberals and Democrats party, ELDR, (Helsinki, October 14-15) adopted resolution Nuclear Disarmament and Arms Control – Using the New Momentum in the Debate for a “Global Zero” motioned jointly by the German FDP party and YABLOKO. “ELDR perceives nuclear disarmament and arms control as a corner stone of the global security architecture. ELDR explicitly commits itself to the establishment of a world free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. However, ELDR wants the progress in the current debate to have an impact on conventional disarmament,” runs the resolution...

...Yesterday on October 14, YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin representing the party at the ELDR Congress met with Ambassador of Russia in Finland Alexander Rumyantsev for discussion of some issues of Russia-Finland relations. In addition, Mitrokhin and Rumyantsev (who had previously headed the Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy in 2001-2005) discussed the problems of the nuclear energy sector.

YABLOKO’s ecologist Olga Tzepilova to inspect nuclear facilities in the USA
Press Release, October 1, 2010.

Deputy Chair of YABLOKO’s Green Russia faction ecologist Olga Tzepilova will participate in the research tour on the invitation of the American Centre for Safe Energy on October 3-11, 2010. The goal of the tour is to examine nuclear facilities in the states of Vermont and Man...

Russia should not be turned into international radioactive waste dump!
Statement by the YABLOKO party,
September 29, 2010.

...In the past, during the cold war, huge territories in the Urals and Siberia were contaminated by waste from nuclear fuel recycling. Today it is not war, but purely commercial and immediate financial interests of Russian bureaucrats which lead to the same result – radioactive contamination of the Chelyabinsk region, dangerous transportation of radioactive waste via St.Petersburg and many other Russian cities, multiplication of radioactive risks in Angarsk, Seversk, Dmitrovgrad and other centres of Russia’s “nuclear archipelago”. Our position is clear and unchanged: in accordance with the international principle of equal environmental security, the country producing nuclear waste should bear responsibility for this waste, it is impossible to pay for ensuring health of population in some countries with the health and welfare of the residents of other countries.

YABLOKO’s leader visits Chelyabinsk
Press Release, September 28, 2010.

On September 29 YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin visited Chelyabinsk where he met with students of the Urals Academy of State Service and workers of the Polyot plant, as well as participated in the mourning action held in commemoration of nuclear explosion at the Mayak plant.

At the meeting with the students Mitrokhin spoke about the need to transfer to professional army and abolishment of military conscription. He also criticized the intentions of the military to increase the age for conscription from 27 to 30 years of age, and YABLOKO is going to resist these plans.

Then YABLOKO’s leader met with the workers of Polyot plant. According to Mitrokhin, this hi-tech production is in a deplorable state...

YABLOKO conducted an action against nuclear waste imports into Russia

Press Release, August 24, 2010.

YABLOKO’s activists conducted an action against nuclear waste imports from Germany into Russia by the German Embassy in Moscow today. YABLOKO has been consistently opposing the plans of the Russian government to import nuclear waste for procession and storage stating lack of transparency and control, corruption and terrorists’ threats.

YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin and Executive Secretary of YABLOKO’s Political Committee Galina Mikhalyova handed to representative of the Embassy Kirsch York YABLOKO’s address to the German government calling to abrogate the decision of exporting German nuclear waste into Russia...

Radiological situation in Russia should be taken under control

Statement by YABLOKO's Chairman, August 13, 2010.

The YABLOKO Party has repeatedly drawn attention to the unacceptable negligence by the Russian authorities to ensuring of environmental safety of the population. Today we once again are drawing the attention of the authorities and the citizens to the danger of possible additional radiation exposure caused by the pyrogenic spread of radionuclides. Forest fires in Russia have already reached the Bryansk forests contaminated by Chernobyl’s fallout, and the forests around the city of Ozersk in the Chelyabinsk region polluted by the plutonium productions...

Weapons of mass destruction have no place on the planet!

Statement by the YABLOKO party, August 6, 2010.

The memory of the dozens of thousands people killed by the nuclear tornado in those August days of 1945 calls for our increased efforts so that to achieve as soon as possible complete prohibition of all forms of weapons of mass destruction.

The end of the Cold War and fabulous material and human resources wasted by the mankind for a dangerous confrontation set a new challenge for the world: finding other methods and techniques for provision of national security that would not involve elimination of people.

In the 21st century the global security, including national security systems of the states of the globe, represents above all the need to address common human and global problems of climate change, chemical and biological pollution and other negative effects of modern civilisation...

The 123 Agreement will turn Russia into the world burial of nuclear waste

Statement by the YABLOKO party, July 24, 2010.

The YABLOKO party has always opposed imports of nuclear waste into Russia. It was the only parliamentary party which in 2000 jointly voted against introduction of changes into the law allowing for imports of radioactive waste into Russia. Even at that time we were saying “we should not turn Russia into an international radioactive waste dump even for much money!” However, such changes in the law were made under the pressure from the Russian Atomic Agency (Rosatom), despite of the fact that 90 per cent of Russian citizens are against imports of radioactive waste into Russia.

The 123 Agreement on cooperation with Russia in the nuclear field has been considered by US Congress at present. In case it is approved, Russia will be able to import US radioactive waste from Taiwan, Japan, South Korea and many other countries, under a formal pretext of recycling and virtually for its burial.

Submitting the bill into Congress US President said, “implementation of this agreement does not bear any risks for our security…” Such care of US President of his country security inspires respect, while the Russian authorities’ care of the security of their country arises much doubt and concern...

Aid to the victims of nuclear disasters is a moral and political responsibility of the state

Statement by the YABLOKO party on the Memory Day of Nuclear Disasters Victims, April 26, 2010

Today we are commemorating the victims of nuclear disasters, the innocent victims of Novozemesky and Semipalatisnky nuclear testing sites, those who got under the radioactive cloud from Chernobyl, dozens of thousands of Chernobyl liquidators who passed out prematurely, submariners who died in the accident with the Komsomolets submarine and other submarines, and the victims of the disaster and pollution from the Mayak plant and other nuclear facilities.

The state has been trying to forget and avoid responsibility for the life and health of hundreds of thousands Russian citizens living in the territories with radioactive pollution, such as Bryansk, Tula, Oryol, Kaluga, Tomsk, Chelyabinsk, Novosibirsk, Irkutsk and other regions, Yakutia, Altai, Matitime, Baikal and Krasnoyarsk areas, as well as to forget about the consequences of dozens of underground “peaceful” nuclear tests conducted in Russia.

We can not agree with the ideas that “it is high time to forget Chernobyl and the consequences of the cold war” neither from moral grounds nor from academic views: all these consequences of nuclear pollution will affect the health of several further generations. These policies led to the situation when many thousands of involuntary hostages of the nuclear sector can not get just compensations...

YABLOKO commemorated the victims of nuclear disasters by the Rosatom building

Press Release, April 26, 2010

Today, on April 26, on the Memory Day of Nuclear Disasters Victims, YABLOKO held an action commemorating the victims of nuclear disasters by Rosatom (Russia’s Atomic Agency). The police and security guards refused to let YABLOKO’s activists to the territory of Rosatom, therefore the activists fixed the placard “Memory of nuclear disasters victims” on the fence around the building and laid flowers to it.

“Rosatom is a legal successor of the Atomic Ministry and bears full responsibility for the disasters,” said YABLOKO’s leader Sergei Mitrokhin, who also participated in the action. According to Mitrokhin, the victims of these tragedies “have not got due compensations yet”, moreover, even “not all the victims have legal right to such compensations”...

Action commemorating the victims of nuclear disasters

Press Release, April 25, 2010

Today, on April 26, an action commemorating the victims of nuclear disasters organised by the Youth YABLOKO will take place by Rosatom (Russia’s Atomic Agency).

The activists will hold placard “Memory of nuclear disasters victims”. They will also lay flowers by Rosatom’s building...

State officials’ poaching should be stopped!

Statement by the YABLOKO party July 1, 2009

Mayor of Minusinsk (a city in the Krasnoyarsk Area) got drowned in the Podkamennaya Tunguska river on June 27. The circumstances of the accident showed that this accident took place during committing of a crime [by the Mayor] – unlawful fishing (fishing is prohibited in this part of the river until winter due to sturgeon spawning).

 

Sergei Mitrokhin: Yavlinsky Convinced Putin Not to Import Spent Nuclear Fuel
from rbc.ru, March 4, 2004

In an article Putin Will Process the Nuclear Damp (from February 27) Alexei Vinogradov made a serious mistake. The author of the article stated that the President supports imports of spent nuclear fuel into Russia. This is not true. In the quotation used by Vinogradov as his source, Putin speaks refers to the need to focus on waste from our [domestically produced] fuel. He implies here that spent nuclear fuel from domestically produced fuel rod arrays were exported to Europe by the USSR and then by Russia.

 

On Radioactive Safety in Russia
Statement, April 26, 2003

The Chernobyl disaster provided convincing proof that usage of nuclear energy even for peaceful purposes, despite the highly skilled personnel and rigid control system existing in the USSR, represented a serious risk to the health and lives of the citizens.

 

Ministry of Nuclear Power Ready to Finance Environmental Programs in Chelyabinsk Region
Press release, October 31, 2003

...the Ministry is willing to "discuss the draft specific environmental program aimed at rehabilitating the territories contaminated due to operations of Mayak plant, including evacuation of the residents of Muslyumovo and Tatarskaya Karabolka towns".

 

The last professional resigns from management of the nuclear power sector
Press release, June 30, 2003

"One the best qualified managers in the domestic nuclear complex is dismissed," said Deputy Head of the YABLOKO party, deputy of the State Duma Sergei Mitrokhin.

 

Sergei Mitrokhin plans to gain access to data on the threat to Russia's ecology posed by the Highly-Enriched Uranium - Low-Enriched Uranium Agreement
Press release, June 25, 2003

"Many specialists think that this waste, also called "tails", poses a serious potential threat to the health of the personnel of dangerous sites contaminated with radiation and the local population, to say nothing of the environment."

 

YABLOKO to try and dismiss the present Cabinet
Press release, April 27, 2003

The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO plans so submit a no-confidence motion in the RF goverment and will try to achieve its dismissal.

 

YABLOKO: Nuclear Power Ministry can allot USD5 billion for nuclear safety measures
Press release, March 13, 2003

Sergei Mitrokhin, Deputy of the State Duma, member of the YABLOKO faction, has expressed his surprise over the statements by some representatives from the nuclear power ministry that the Minister for Nuclear Power Alexander Rumyantsev had not allegedly expressed any readiness to discuss with YABLOKO termination of the construction of new nuclear power stations.

 

The Ministry of Nuclear Power expresses its gratitude to YABLOKO for inspecting the safety of nuclear power facilities
Press release, March 5, 2003

In his speech in the State Duma on March 5, 2003, the Minister of Nuclear Power Alexander Rumyantsev expressed his gratitude to deputy of the YABLOKO faction Sergei Mitrokhin for his repeated criticism of the Ministry of Atomic Energy regarding the poor state of physical protection for nuclear power facilities.

 

Russia should send the UN inspectors to North Korea
Press Release, January 13, 2003

"Russia should soon send a group of inspectors to North Korea to take control of all the nuclear materials of Russian origin disposed of by this country and develop recommendations as for their further destiny. All the materials that can be used to produce weapons of mass destruction should be taken out of North Korea," said Deputy Head of the YABLOKO party, deputy of the State Duma Sergei Mitrokhin.

 

The Russian Federation and the United States. Approaches in Cooperation in Nuclear Conversion Programmes. YABLOKO's proposals.
Sergei Mitrokhin, Specially for the YABLOKO web-site, April 3, 2002
New approaches have been developed during constructive dialogue with Russian public organisations and reflect the modern role of civil society in international cooperation aimed at reducing nuclear defence programmes.

 

Statement on the composition of the State Commission for Control Over the Imports of Spent Nuclear Fuel into Russia
October 24, 2001

 

Nuclear waste bill passes first reading in Russian parliament

World Information Service on Energy & Nuclear Information
On 20 December 2000, the Russian State Parliament (Duma) approved a first reading of an amendment to the Law on Environmental Protection which gives a green light to the importation of spent nuclear fuel by Minatom, the Russian ministry of atomic power.

 

Duma reads spent fuel imports bill
By State Duma holds first reading of a bill favouring spent fuel imports. Russian Federal Envirocommittee grants support for the bill, Bellona Foundation, September 27, 1999
Russian State Duma, the lower chamber of the parliament, held first reading of a bill regarding amendment of the Law on Environmental Protection to allow spent fuel imports to Russia on September 24. The Russian Ministry for Atomic Energy, or Minatom, failed to persuade Russian Cabinet members to approve amendments and forward them to the State Duma for consideration in late August. The Duma took the issue up on its own without waiting for the Cabinet.

 

Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy
Transcript of official letter from Russian nuclear authorities to the U.S. Secretary of Energy, dated 23 December 1998.
To Secretary of Energy United States of America William Richardson

 

 

Deputy Mitrokhin is satisfied with the results of the public inspection of Zheleznogorski mining-and-chemical complex. The wages of personnel of the nuclear-fuel cycle should be raised 2 or 3-fold.
Press Release, December 05, 2002

The public inspection performed in February 2002 by a deputy from the YABLOKO faction Sergei Mitrokhin at the Zheleznogorsk mining-and-chemical complex in the Krasnoyarsk Area yielded positive changes.

 

Sergei Shoigu refused to support the evacuation of people from territories contaminated by radiation
Press Release, December 05, 2002

Russia's Ministry of Emergencies does not support the amendment to the draft federal budget for 2003 proposed by deputies from the YABLOKO faction Sergei Mitrokhin and Igor Artemyev envisaging the allocation of ten million roubles for the evacuation of Tatarskaya Karabolka town, Chelyabinsk region. This is indicated in the official letter from Minister Sergei Shoigu obtained by Sergei Mitrokhin.

 

Grigory Yavlinsky: YABLOKO learns to be an environmental party
Press Release, December 03, 2002

The meeting between the representatives of environmental organisations from Tomsk and Chelyabinsk regions, Krasnoyarsk Territory and the leaders of the YABLOKO party took place in the State Duma on December 3, 2002. YABLOKO was represented by Chairman of the party Grigory Yavlinsky, as well as deputy chairmen, deputies of the State Duma Sergei Mitrokhin and Igor Artemyev.

 

A march of remembrance took place in Chelyabinsk Region on the 45th anniversary of the disaster at the "Mayak" plant
Press Release, September 30, 2002

On September 29, 2002 public environmental organisations and the regional branch of the YABLOKO party conducted a march of remembrance in Chelyabinsk Region to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the disaster at the "Mayak" plant. About 500 people took part in the meetings and other events in Tatarskaya Karabolka, Kasli and Kyshtym.

 

Deputy of the State Duma Sergei Mitrokhin elected Co-Chairman of the Russian-European working group that will study the feasibility of imports of spent nuclear fuel into Russia
Press Release. June 27, 2002
An inter-parliamentary working group has been formed that will study the feasibility of nuclear waste imports into Russia from the European Union for recycling and storage.

 

Meeting Against Imports of Spent Nuclear Fuel into Russia.
Photo Gallery, Moscow, Kaluzhskaya square, Photos by Olga Sweitzer and Sergei Loktionov, April 26, 2002

 

 

Protest action against imports of nuclear waste into Russia.
Press Release, April 26, 2002
On the 16th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster a protest action against importing nuclear waste into Russia is being held in more than 50 Russian regions. The action was organised by the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO, different environmental and human rights organisations.

 

The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO and associations of the handicapped and those who eliminated the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster agreed on cooperation
Press Release, April 24, 2002
The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO and associations of the handicapped and those who eliminated the consequences of the Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster agreed on cooperation.

 

Protest action against imports of nuclear waste into Russia.
Press Release, April 27, 2002
A protest action against importing nuclear waste into Russia was held in 53 Russia's regions in commemoration of the 16th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster. The action was organised by the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO, different environmental and human rights organisations.

 

Moscow authorities prohibit action by the YABLOKO party and environmentalists in memory of the Chernobyl disaster
Press Release, April 22, 2002

April 26 is the 16th anniversary of the accident at Chernobyl nuclear power station. The Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO supported by dozens of public organisations plans to conduct a nationwide action.

 

Sergei Mitrokhin and environmentalists state that a number of Russian atomic energy objects are not properly guarded
Press Release, February 15, 2002
Deputy of the State Duma Sergei Mitrokhin (Yabloko faction) and representatives of the environmental organisation "Greenpeace of Russia" state that some Russian atomic energy objects are not guarded properly.

 

The State Duma refused to investigate the deal on imports of spent nuclear fuel from Bulgaria
Press release, January 1, 2002
On January 16, 2002, the State Duma refused to forward a parliamentary inquiry to Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov on observation of the law to import 71 tonnes of spent nuclear fuel from Bulgaria to the processing plant in Zheleznogorsk, Russia.

 

Yabloko and the Kurchatov [Nuclear Power] Institute will cooperate in working out the economic concept of developing and improving the safety of the nuclear energy sector
Press release, October 24, 2001
The leader of the Yabloko party and its faction in the State Duma Grigory Yavlinsky and the President of the Russian Research Centre "Kurchatov Institute" agreed on cooperation in working the concept of economic development and ensuring safety in the nuclear energy sector in Russia - one of the areas of activity of the institute.

 

Most of the deputies of the State Duma refuse to take care of the nuclear safety of the country
Press release, October 24, 2001
"A doubtful benefit for the President" - that is how the Coordination Council of the Yabloko and Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) factions called today's refusal of the parliamentary majority to include an agreed candidate from the Yabloko and Union of Right-Wing Forces Sergei Mitrokhin in the State Commission for Control over the Imports of Spent Nuclear Fuel into Russia.

 

State Duma shows no interest in the problems of nuclear terrorism
Press release, September 19, 2001
On September 19, 2001 during the first meeting of the State Duma, a deputy from the Yabloko faction, Sergei Mitrokhin proposed listening to the report of Alexander Rumyantsev during the Government’s Hour in the Duma. Mitrokhin considers it necessary, in view of the threat of terrorism, to obtain from the Minister information on security measures at nuclear objects, such as nuclear power stations, spent nuclear fuel recycling plants and nuclear waste depositories.

 

Yabloko: By agreeing to import spent nuclear fuel, Russia has opted for the same path as third world countries
Press release, September 6, 2001

 

Igor Artemyev will head the team working on the preparation of the referendum, initiated by Yabloko, on imports of spent nuclear fuel into Russia
Press release, July 13, 2001
Secretary of the Yabloko Association and Deputy Head of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma of the Russian Federation Igor Artemyev will head the team working on the preparation of the referendum, initiated by Yabloko on imports of spent nuclear fuel into Russia.

 

Yabloko has not given up on the idea of a referendum on imports of nuclear waste into Russia
Press release, July 11, 2001
Boris Nemtsov, leader of the Union of Right-Wing Forces (SPS) faction in the Duma, thinks that President Putin has "made a major political mistake" in signing today the draft laws allowing for the import of spent nuclear fuel into the country.

 

Yabloko: President's signing of the laws on the import of nuclear waste into Russia is a major error
Press release, July 11, 2001
The Yabloko Association thinks that President Putin's signing of the laws on the import of nuclear waste into Russia represents a "political mistake". As Grigory Yavlinsky, the leader of Yabloko stated on Wednesday, July 11, 2001, this decision "damages the national interests of Russia and will have serious consequences for future generations of the citizens of our country."

 

In autumn 2001 Yabloko will begin gathering votes for a referendum on the import of nuclear waste into Russia
Press release, July 3, 2001
In summer 2001 the public and political association Yabloko is going to "finish the organisational period for the preparation and gathering of votes against imports of nuclear waste into Russia." This decision was announced on July 2, 2001 by Igor Artemyev at a press conference in St. Petersburg.

 

Sergei Mitrokhin: the members of the upper chamber of the Russian parliament have virtually approved the import of nuclear waste into Russia
Press release, June 29, 2001
The Ideology Secretary of the Yabloko party Sergei Mitrokhin said that on Friday, June 28, 2001 the Federation Council virtually approved the total package of the laws known as “nuclear laws”. In an interview with journalists, Mitrokhin stressed that the adoption of even a single law out of the package obviously demonstrates that all the three laws are supported, i.e. the senators virtually approved imports of the spent nuclear fuel into Russia.

 

The Federation Council should not deny responsibility for decision-making on the import of nuclear waste into Russia
Press release, 20.06.2001
The Yabloko faction of the State Duma called on the members of the Federation Council to hold an extraordinary meeting of the chamber to consider and reject the package of laws on the import of nuclear waste into Russia.

 

Yabloko to initiate nation-wide referendum on the problem of imports of nuclear waste into Russia
Press release, 10.06.2001
The Central Council of the Yabloko party adopted a decision to initiate a nation-wide referendum on the problem of imports of nuclear waste into Russia during its meeting in Pavlovsk (suburb of St. Petersburg) on June 10, 2001.

 

Yabloko insists on a referendum on the import of nuclear waste to Russia
Press release, 06.06.2001

The Yabloko party insists on a nation-wide referendum to postpone the laws allowing for the import of spent nuclear fuel into Russia, even if this law is approved by the Federation Council and signed by the President. At the same time Yabloko will do all it can to persuade the Federation Council and the President not to plunge the country into ecological catastrophe.

 

 

Nikolai Ryzhkov accuses Yabloko of organising a campaign against deputies voting for the import of nuclear waste into Russia
Press release
Deputy of the State Duma Nikolai Ryzhkov (the CPRF faction) accused theYabloko faction of organising an “unruly campaign” against deputies voting for the export ofnuclear waste into Russia.

 

A protest was held in Barnaul against the import and storage of nuclear waste in Russia

Press release

A protest action against the import and storage of nuclear waste in Russia took place in Barnaul.

 

Yabloko will not stop opposing the transformation of Russia into a radioactive waste dump
Press release, April 18
The leader of the Yabloko faction Grigory Yavlinsky said that the adoption by the State Duma at its second reading of draft laws allowing for the import of nuclear waste from abroad represents an "irreparable mistake in the long-term".

 

The Yabloko faction considers the decision to import nuclear waste to Russia the “crime of the century”

Press release, March 20, 2001

The Yabloko faction thinks that if the Duma adopts the amendments to the regulations on importing, preserving and recycling nuclear waste, Russia will suffer catastrophic losses. These amendments to the legislation will be considered by the Duma at its second reading on March 22, 2001. Sergei Mitrokhin, deputy of the Duma from the Yabloko faction, said at a press conference on March 20 in Moscow, “We shall do all we can to ban this package of laws...”

Publications

ALDE continues to push nuclear safety agenda
Press Release, ALDE, April 6, 2011

...Stressing that the consequences of a nuclear accident go beyond national borders and need to be tackled at a multinational level, Lena EK (Centre Party, Sweden), ALDE spokesperson for the Industry, Research and Energy Committee (ITRE), said: "There is an obvious need for close cooperation, coordination and exchange of information within the EU and with neighbouring third countries. We need a strategy that goes beyond EU borders and that provides common standards guaranteeing a high level of nuclear safety..."

The Politics and Business of Going Green
By Roland Oliphant

The Moscow Times, January 12, 2011

This year will see increasingly politicized environmental movements sprouting up around local issues, and an alliance between green groups and businessmen to open up Russia's potential in renewable energy — provided there are no more fires...

Protesters failed to close the Baikal paper mill and a government-appointed commission gave the Khimki highway project the go ahead in December. But the public outcry over both “put regional environmental problems on the federal agenda,” said Alexei Yablokov, who heads the Yabloko party's green wing.

That puts single-issue pressure groups in the peculiar position of being disillusioned with their current tactics, but in a strong position to open a new front: the overtly political.

“We're expecting a strengthening and greater politicization of the green movement in 2011,” Yablokov said in e-mailed comments. “Groups that previously avoided politics have come to understand that, without political decisions, nothing gets done, laws don't work”...

the original publication in the Moscow Times

Sergei Mitrokhin: YABLOKO’s union with the greens is strategic

A short version of Sergei Mitrokhin's speech at the 3rd Conference of the Green Russia faction, November 23, 2010. Part 1

I believe that the union we concluded long ago between YABLOKO and Green Russia is very important. I was an active advocate of such a union. Together we have created virtually the only political organisation in the country which has been engaged in comprehensive solution of environmental problems. No one in this country, except us, has ever raised the issues of environmental policy as such, and this is a tragedy of our country. And the worst here is that the government does not deal with these problems either. The system of environmental protection has been destroyed in several months after Putin came to power, and you were the political force which strongly opposed this. The first steps we have done separately, but then we joined our efforts and out voices protesting against the policy which was carried out then, or rather, a rejection of any policy in this field...

Proteste gegen Atommülltransport vor deutscher Botschaft in Moskau
Von Manfred Quiring

Die Welt, 25.08.10

Moskau - Mit Gasmasken und Transparenten haben Demonstranten der oppositionellen liberalen Jabloko-Partei am Dienstag vor der deutschen Botschaft gegen die Einfuhr von deutschem Atommüll nach Russland protestiert. Sie wollen die radioaktiven Abfälle, die aus dem Rückbau des einstigen DDR-Forschungsreaktors in Rossendorf bei Dresden stammen, nicht in das Land hineinlassen. In der Region im Ural, wohin der Transport gehen soll, würden die Menschen ohnehin bereits unter extrem hoher Strahlenbelastung leiden, sagte Parteichef Sergej Mitrochin auf der von der Miliz scharf bewachten Veranstaltung. Das sei die Folge einer verbrecherischen Atompolitik Moskaus...

The original

Ecologists call on Minister Khristenko to abolish imports of nuclear waste into Russia
IA MiK, April 23, 2004

On April 22, 2004, the "Ecozaschita" (Ecoprotection) group conducted an anti-nuclear action timed to coincide with the 18th anniversary of the largest technogenic disaster in the history of mankind - the disaster at Chernobyl nuclear power station. One person was detained.

 

Nuclear Power Ministry and Green Cross in the Same Team.
By Sergei Leskov, Izvestia, December 19, 2003

The President discussed with the representatives of the nuclear department and the ecologists the problems of burying spent nuclear fuel, where opinions were divided irreconcilably.

 

Vladimir Putin Held Working Meeting Devoted to Nuclear Security Issues
RIA "OREANDA", November 29, 2003

According to the RF President's press-service, Vladimir Putin touched upon the multilateral nuclear ecological programme ratified by the State Duma. The programme foresees mutual work with foreign partners to liquidate Russian nuclear submarines.

 

President Putin Conducts a Nuclear Safety Meeting
RIA "Novosti", November 28, 2003

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a working meeting on matters of nuclear safety.

 

Kurchatov Institute nuclear waste disposed - Putin.
Itar-TASS, November 28, 2003

The ratification of the multilateral nuclear environmental programme at the State Duma is "a serious step forward in the resolution of the problem of nuclear waste disposal in Russia," President Vladimir Putin said at a Friday conference on nuclear security.

 

Putin chairs meeting over nuclear safety
Itar-TASS, November 28, 2003

Yavlinsky noted that the local population there was suffering greatly. A decision to resettle them had been made 50 years ago. "We reached common ground with the Nuclear Power Ministry on the financing of the project," he said, "but safety remains the key issue."

 

Ministry of Nuclear Power Ready to Finance Environmental Programmes in Chelyabinsk Region
RIA "OREANDA", November 3, 2003

The deputy minister's letter is the Ministry's official response to Mitrokhin's appeal to the Ministry to allot money to move people away from nuclear-contaminated areas in Chelyabinsk region.

 

Nuclear Watchdog Chief's Vow
By Sarah Karush, Associated Press, August 11, 2003

New Gosatomnadzor chief Andrei Malyshev said Friday that he was committed to preserving the independence of the nuclear safety watchdog, amid fears that the appointment of an industry insider would spell the end of regulation in the nuclear power sector.

 

A Master-Tinker's Nuclear Dreams
By Yevgenia Borisova, The Moscow Times, July 3, 2003

But nothing stirs up passions more than his nuclear devices, two of which -- a new kind of reactor and a new way to process spent fuel -- could eliminate most of the dangers associated with atomic energy and turn the industry on its head if widely adopted, he says.

 

An Inventor Tries to Save the World
By Yevgenia Borisova, The Moscow Times, July 3, 2003

Although not everyone takes his work seriously, many do, some so much that they've stolen his designs, his institute and nearly his life.

 

Russia needs $2 bln to clean up radiation-contaminated areas
Interfax, June 4, 2003

In Russia, "radio-nuclear contamination has spread over 581 square kilometers. Just 0.5 square kilometers have been cleaned up over five years due to the costliness of the operation"...

 

Minister for Nuclear Power Warns About Collapse of Shield over Chernobyl
Rosbalt, April 28, 2003

Minister for Nuclear Power Alexander Rumyantsev has warned about a possible collapse in the shield over the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. "The consequences would be devastating. The sarcophagus was built to last five years, but has been there for 17 years. Nobody has inspected these walls in detail. We do not know what is happening under the shield," Rumyantsev told the Izvestia newspaper in an interview published on April 26.

 

Russia Will Have Enough Nuclear Power Until 2030
Rosbalt, April 18, 2003

Deputy Minister for Nuclear Power Mikhail Solonin told Rosbalt at a special round table session in the Russian parliament on Friday that Russia currently ranked 7th in the world in terms of nuclear power reserves estimated at 160,000 tonnes.
...At the same time, he said that the Russian nuclear power industry faced a number of serious environmental problems.

 

850 million roubles are required to evacuate the population from Tatarskaya Karabolka and Muslyumovo
Ural-Press-Inform (Chelyabinsk), April 2, 2003

YABLOKO proposes that the President of Russia adopt urgent measures to evacuate the residents of these territories that were subject to radioactive contamination due to the Mayak disaster and the flow of radioactive waste into the Techa river.

 

Lack of international aid hampers destruction of Russia's weapons-grade plutonium
RIA Novosti, March 14, 2003

Moscow, March 14, 2003 (RIA Novosti correspondent Eduard Puziryiv). Instead of the required USD2 billion required to build a plant to destroy weapons-grade plutonium in Russia, the international community has gathered only USD800 million, a RIA Novosti correspondent quoted minister Alexander Rumyantsev, the Ministry for Nuclear Power, as reporting on Friday.

 

U.S., Russia Sign Reactor Shutdown Deal
By Charles J. Hanley , Associated Press, March 12, 2003

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The United States and Russia signed agreements on Wednesday reviving an on-again, off-again deal to shut down the last three Russian reactors producing nuclear weapons-grade plutonium.

 

Not Enough Money to Protect the Nuclear Sector
By Dmitri Chernov, Vremya MN, March 6, 2003

There is at present no danger of another disaster like Chernobyl at the functioning reactors of nuclear power stations in Russia.

 

See Murmansk and die!
By Paul Keysers, MAXIM magazine, Belgium, no. 20, December 2002

Russia dumped tons of nuclear waste in the region around Murmansk for 50 years. At present about 100 nuclear submarines are laid up there awaiting decommissioning. At a rate of between six and, at best, eight vessels per year, progress is hardly overwhelming. Engineers can only observe that the level of radioactivity above ground is 5,000 times that of France's underground nuclear test on Mururoa atoll.

 

YABLOKO learns to be an environmental party
Aliance Media, December 10, 2002

The meeting between the representatives of environmental organisations from Tomsk and Chelyabinsk regions, Krasnoyarsk Territory and the leaders of the YABLOKO party took place in the State Duma on December 3, 2002. YABLOKO was represented by chairman of the party Grigory Yavlinsky, as well as deputy chairmen, deputies of the State Duma Sergei Mitrokhin and Igor Artemyev.

 

Chelyabinsk Region. Representatives from the YABLOKO faction visit the "Mayak" plant
VolgaInform, December 16, 2002

A public inspection at the Zheleznogorsk mining-and-chemical complex in Krasnoyarsk Territory had positive changes. Let us remind you here that a commission headed by deputy from the YABLOKO faction Sergei Mitrokhin visited the complex in February, 2002. Now measures have been implemented to strengthen the security systems. The uncompleted shell of the RT-2 plant has been dismantled and a new concrete fence is being built.

 

Activists address Russia's radioactive legacy before disaster's anniversary
Associated Press, By Vladimir Isachenkov, September 27, 2002

MOSCOW - The fallout from a catastrophic nuclear dumpsite explosion in Russia's Ural Mountains 45 years ago and decades of radioactive pollution have gravely affected the local population's health, but authorities have done little to assess or limit the damage, environmentalists said Thursday.

 

FEATURE-Russian 'atomic city' builds future on nuclear dreams
Reuters, By Larisa Sayenko, October 2, 2002

ZHELEZNOGORSK, Russia, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The streets of this Siberian city are eerily clean and uniform, free of the buzz of commerce and jumble of billboards found even in the smallest and poorest of Russian provincial cities.

 

Yavlinsky Conceives Split of the Ministry of Nuclear Power
Vedomosti, by Zoya Kaika and Elena Evstigneeva, July 31, 2002

The YABLOKO faction, conducting a campaign against the import of spent nuclear fuel into Russia, found a radical way to resolve this problem. YABLOKO proposed that President Vladimir Putin virtually disband the Ministry of Nuclear Power, distributing its proxies between the Energy Ministry, Defence Ministry and the Ministry of Industry. However, this idea has no backers in the Presidential Administration or Government.

 

Yavlinsky opposes spent nuclear fuel imports
Bellona Group, April 4, 2002

He criticised heavily the officials who had authorised the import of foreign spent nuclear fuels. "People who want to obtain $20m over 40 years are just swindlers" noted Yavlinsky. He emphasized the danger created by the Russian government by agreeing to store and reprocess foreign spent nuclear fuel. The trains, which bring the fuel, are so heavy that Russia’s worn-out railways may not cope and then serious environmental disasters can happen. Yavlinsky does not trust the companies engaged in nuclear waste shipment and storage: "It is madness to store nuclear waste in the country with our bureaucrats. This represents a gift to all terrorists."

 

Special commission to control imports of spent nuclear fuel The Russian State Duma, Lower House of Parliament, established a special commission to control the Russian nuclear ministry's deals with the foreign owners of the spent nuclear fuel.
Bellona Group, March 22, 2002

 

Russian liberal Yabloko party to hold referendum
Bellona Group, December 10, 2001

 

Russia’s International Nuclear Business and the Future of the Russian
Speech of the Russian State Duma Deputy Sergey Mitrokhin
RANSAC Congressional Seminar
Ministry of Nuclear Power
July 19, 2002

 

Russia's nuclear-waste gambit
By Scott Peterson, Christian Science Monitor, 3 July 2001

The thicket of nettles is chest high as Vladimir Katzenbogen and Nikolai Popov force their way through, searching with Geiger counters and a gamma-ray detector for radioactive hotspots.

 

A Briefing on the Dangers and Benefits of Russia's International Nuclear Cooperation
Russian American Nuclear Security Advisory Council
Congressional Strategic Stability and Security Seminar Series
July 19, 2002

 

Atomic Energy Ministry Has Been Cheating Interview by Natalya Fridman
Moscow News #27, July 17, 2002

Atomic Energy Ministry Has Been Cheating Interview by Natalya Fridman Sergei Mitrokhin (Yabloko faction), deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee on Local Government, comments on the situation.

 

The Risky Business of Waste Diposal. Russia's Nuclear Sewer.
Le Monde diplomatique, February 2002 (Archive)
Since Vladimir Putin became President of Russia, the Kremlin has clashed frequently with a media company that exposed, among other things, the government`s handling of the war in A journalist was sent to prison for four years last year after filming the Russian navy dumping radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan. He, like many other Russians and environmental organisations, opposed the new laws that allow the privately profitable import of foreign nuclear waste. by our special correspondent Nathalie Melis.

 

Waste Storage Case
The Moscow Times, May 22, 2002.
MOSCOW (AP) -- The appeals board of the Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld an earlier decision blocking the import of nuclear waste from Hungary for storage in Russia.

 

While the Radiation Indicator Has Not Gone Too High YABLOKO against life at the nuclear waste dump
Obschaya Gazeta, May 2, 2002
On the 16th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster a protest action against importing nuclear waste into Russia was held in 82 cities of 53 Russian regions. The action was organised by the Russian Democratic Party YABLOKO, different environmental and human rights organizations. According to preliminary estimates, about 30,000 activists participated in the action.

 

Five out of ten prefectures of Moscow administrative districts ban the YABLOKO party from organising pickets by the metro stations on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the disaster at Chernobyl nuclear power station
Rosbalt, April 25, 2002
Five out of ten prefectures of Moscow administrative districts banned the YABLOKO party from organising pickets near metro stations on the occasion of the 16th anniversary of the disaster Chernobyl nuclear power station. However, according to the YABLOKO press service, on April 25 and April 26 the party will distribute leaflets to about 100 metro stations, and on April 26 a meeting will be held at Kaluzhskaya square, Moscow. The leader of YABLOKO Grigory Yavlinsky and well-known environmentalists and human rights activists will speak at the meeting.

 

The YABLOKO Party, Environmenalists and Human Rights Campaigners Hold Meetings against the import of nuclear waste into Russia
RIA "OREANDA", April 27, 2002
Moscow. About 300 people took part in the meeting against the import of spent fuel into Russia. The meeting was held in the centre of Moscow on Kaluga square on the evening of April 26, on the 16th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl NPP. The meeting was organized by the Russian Democratic Party Yabloko with the support of environmental and human rights organizations as part of an All-Russian action that was held in over 50 regions.

 

Concern over nuclear waste rises in Russia
By Sergei Blagov, Asia Times, March 23, 2002
MOSCOW - Russia's dangerous radioactive legacy of the Soviet-era nuclear sector has become a matter of domestic and international concern. While the Russian authorities, notably the Nuclear Power Ministry - or Minatom - argue that the country's nuclear facilities sector is safe, some international environmental organizations, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and parliament deputies are far from convinced.

 

Police Cart Away Nuclear Protesters
Police Cart Away Nuclear Protesters
By Robin Munro Staff Writer, The Moscow Times, April 26, 2002.
Police, Kremlin security officers and plainclothes officers forcefully broke up a peaceful demonstration against nuclear waste imports on Red Square on Thursday, cuffing young protesters in the face before hauling them by their collars to waiting police cars and roughly slamming them in.

 

Moscow Authorities Prohibit Action by the Yabloko Party and Environmentalists
RIA "OREANDA", April 22, 2002
Moscow. April 26 is the 16th anniversary of the accident at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The Russian Democratic Party Yabloko plans to conduct a nationwide action with the support of public organisations.

 

Minatom lobby for spent fuel intensifies
By Igor Kudrik, Bellona Foundation, April 23, 1999
Despite U.S. resistance and Russian laws against radioactive waste imports, Russia's Nuclear Energy Minister shows maniacal persistence soliciting support for the idea

 

Proposal for foreign spent fuel storage in Russia
By Thomas Nilsen, Bellona Foundation, May 30, 1999
A U.S. and German industry group has developed a proposal for shipping foreign spent fuel to Russia for long-term storage. The proceeds of the venture would be a minimum of $4 billion, coming from nations trying to rid themselves of spent nuclear fuel problems. Part of this money will go to help pay Russian pensioners and orphans.

 

Russia: Actions against imported spent fuel
WISE News Communique, November 2, 2001 (Archive)
Bellona Foundation - On 18 October 2001, the Russian State Duma passed an amendment to the Law on Environmental Protection, thereby removing the last roadblocks for massive import of nuclear waste. At the same time the environmental group Ecodefense! reported that railroad wagons, destined for Russia, were being loaded with Bulgarian spent nuclear fuel. By the end of 2002 a steady flow of special trains is supposed to arrive in Siberia.

 

Greenpeace Takes Nuclear Waste Debate to Cour
By Nabi Abdullaev Staff Writer, the Moscow Times, February 21, 2002
State Duma Deputy Sergei Mitrokhin posing at the Krasnoyarsk plant, where a consignment of spent nuclear fuel is being stored.

 

Break-in Highlights Nuclear Security Problems

By Nabi Abdullaev Staff Writer The Moscow Times Monday, February 18, 2002.

Greenpeace activists protesting against the importing of spent nuclear fuel outside the Nuclear Power Ministry in November.

 

Greens outraged as Putin signs nuclear imports law

By Amelia Gentleman,http://www.nci.org, July 12, 2001
Russian environmentalists responded with fury yesterday to President Vladimir Putin's decision to sign legislation allowing spent nuclear fuel to be imported, protesting that it would turn Russia into a dumping ground for the world's nuclear waste.

 

The Yabloko and the Union of Right-Wing Forces faction express their indignation at the decision of the State Duma to create a commission on the problem of imports of nuclear waste exclusively from the deputies supporting this draft
Moscow, October 24, 2001, MK-Novosti

 

Spent nuclear fuel comes to Russia
By Natalya Galimova, Moskovskiy Komsomoletz, October 18, 2001
“The deputies have a chance to prevent Russia from being transformed into an international nuclear dump.” This was the slogan of the press conference organised by representatives of Yabloko, “Russia’s Regions” and representatives of the green movement.

 

Russia moves closer to spent nuclear fuel imports
Reuters, June 29, 2001
Plans to open Russia to imports of spent nuclear fuel got the go-ahead from the upper house of parliament on Friday, paving the way for President Vladimir Putin to enact the bill criticised by environmentalists.

 

Arbat traffic stops for waste debate
By Ana Uzelac,The Moscow Times, June 4, 2001
Nuclear Power Minister Alexander Rumyantsev showed up at a downtown restaurant Sunday for a cup of tea, a slice of cake and a debate with Yabloko head Grigory Yavlinsky on a controversial plan to import spent nuclear fuel. Yavlinsky and Rumyantsev were guests of the "Bender Show" on Ekho Moskvy radio, which is broadcast live from a restaurant on Arbat and named after Ostap Bender, the charming con-man hero of the classic 1920s novel "Twelve Chairs." Cracking jokes and assisting in the writing of a silly poem about nuclear waste, an unrelenting Rumyantsev maintained that earning billions of dollars by importing spent nuclear fuel was the only way for Russia to clean up areas contaminated by nuclear tests and storage leaks.

 

Russia to import nuclear waste
BBC, June 6, 2001
Russia will import, store and reprocess other countries' nuclear waste, following the approval of the third and final reading of a controversial bill by the Russian lower house of parliament. Once passed by the upper house and signed by the president, the bill will earn Russia's Atomic Energy Ministry up to $20bn over a 10-year period...

 

Nuclear commission in land of waste
By Denis Shevchenko, Rossiya, July 12, 2001, p. 2
How can we explain Putin's initiative in the matter of spent nuclear fuel? It may be Putin's way of shifting responsibility to Alferov (Ed.Nobel prize winner, member of the CPRF faction and head of the Duma committee on the import of nuclear waste), an ardent advocate of Russia's participation in spent nuclear fuel reprocessing. The scientist is quite sure that the new law will "help Russia retain and develop its nuclear energy sector and other high-tech industries." From now on, Alferov himself will be responsible forevery deadly container of spent nuclear fuel that enters Russia. And if anything should happen - which God forbid - it will be Alferov's head that rolls. The president will not be involved.

 

Welcoming Nuclear Waste

By Sophia Kornienko, www.tol.cz, June 11, 2001
ST.PETERSBURG, Russia—Russia’s most recent money-making scheme could bring 20,000 tons of nuclear waste into the country over the next two decades. The plan, enabled by a bill recently passed by the state Duma, the lower house of parliament, has been vigorously criticized by economists, ecologists, and doctors. Meanwhile, even western exporters are questioning their counterpart’s venture, saying that the spent fuels may never reach Russia.

 

Wasting Away
By Anna Badkhen, www.tol.cz, June 5, 2001

The Soviets kept a dirty secret about deadly radiation from the villagers of Muslyumovo, and now the Russians want to cover up old waste with new

 

Yabloko and the Union of Right-Wing Forces Unite against Spent Nuclear Fuel
Rossiya, July 9, 2001, p. 3

 

Collection of signatures for referendum against the import of spent nuclear fuel to Russia to begin in autumn
Finmarket agency, July 07, 2001

 

Interview with Grigory Yavlinsky
Marianna Maximovskaya, “Segodnya” programme, TV-6, June 26, 2001

 

Address to the members of the Federation Council on the adoption of the package of laws on the imports of spent nuclear fuel into the Russian Federation
The Yabloko faction
June 14, 2001

 

Address of the Yabloko faction to the top officials and deputies of legislative assemblies of the subjects of the Russian Federation on the adoption of the package of laws to import spent nuclear fuel into the Russian Federation
The Yabloko faction
June 14, 2001

 

Duma approves nuclear fuel imports
The Moscow Times, June 7, 2001, p. 1
The State Duma gave final approval in 20 minutes Wednesday to legislation opening Russia to imports of spent nuclear fuel, a project environmentalists say will turn the country into a nuclear dump.

 

Nuclear Energy Ministry Gets the Green Light
By Ivan Rodin, Nezavisimaya Gazeta, June 7, 2001, p. 3

In yesterday's vote, the Duma approved the Nuclear Energy Ministry's plans to import spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing and temporary storage in return for some money, although no one can say exactly how much. Advocates of the project say that reprocessing the heat rods from nuclear reactors could earn Russia about $20 billion. The money will be made available to Russia over 20 years, but not all of this amount will be spent on environmental programmes. Some money will have to be spent on building the required infrastructure. Again, no one can say exactly how much money will be spent on building reprocessing and storage facilities.

 

Yabloko to initiate referendum on expended nuclear fuel imports
RosBusinessConsulting, June 6, 2001

The Yabloko movement is going to initiate a referendum on the import of expended nuclear fuel to Russia, Yabloko leader Gregory Yavlinsky announced in an interview today after the State Duma approved bills on expended nuclear fuel imports on the third reading...

 

Russian lower house of parliament passes bills to import nuclear waste
Associated Press, June 6, 2001
Russia's lower house of parliament on Wednesday quickly approved a controversial proposal that would permit the import of other countries' nuclear waste for reprocessing.

 

Nuclear Waste: Update
Vremya MN, June 4, 2001, p. 3

The ongoing war over the amendments to the current nuclear energy legislation that would permit the import of spent nuclear fuel into Russia entered another phase yesterday. Yabloko leader Grigory Yavlinsky and Nuclear Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev answered questions posed by pedestrians on Novy Arbat Street.

 

Russians said to oppose waste bill
Associated Press, May 26, 2001
A leading Russian environmentalist said Saturday that legislation to allow the import of nuclear waste could face an uphill battle if lawmakers listen to their constituents.

 

Against Nuclear Waste Imports

The Press-Centr.Ru Information Agency

According to a Press-Centr correspondent, the Sverdlovsk regional branch of Yabloko supported the nation-wide action to collect signatures against the law on the import of nuclear waste to Russia.

 

Yabloko objects to the import of spent nuclear fuel
strana.ru , 20.03.01. 18:42

The Yabloko faction in the State Duma thinks that, if approved, amendments to existing legislation regulating the import, storage and recycling of spent nuclear fuel (SNF) will cause tremendous losses to Russia. The legislature will consider the amendments at the second reading on March 22.

 

Yabloko movement protests import of expended nuclear fuel to Russia

RosBusinessConsulting, January 16, 2001
Regional branches of the Yabloko political movement conducted protest actions against a decision of the State Duma, the lower house of parliament, on uncontrolled imports of expende

 

Russian Lawmakers Likely to Approve Nuclear-Fuel Bill

Jeanne Whalen, Staff Reporter

The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones

Russia reprocesses its own spent nuclear fuel and has a special agreement that allows the import of some spent fuel from the former Soviet republic of Ukraine, scene of the world's worst nuclear accident in 1986 at the Chernobyl power plant. The new bill would allow about 20,000 metric tons to be imported over the next decade, which would give Russia about 10% of the world market, according to the ministry.

 

Russia Debates Proposals to Profit From Nuclear Waste

Jeanne Whalen and Neil King Jr., Staff Reporters of The Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal via Dow Jones

A law to allow nuclear-waste imports would be good news for two competing plans to bring spent fuel into Russia. One plan is backed by the Non-Proliferation Trust, a U.S. organization looking to send as much as 10,000 tons of nuclear waste to Russia for storage. NPT is run by a number of former U.S. intelligence and military officials, including former Central Intelligence Agency and Federal Bureau of Investigation director William Webster.

The other competitor is Russia's own Ministry of Atomic Energy, known as Minatom, which has aggressively lobbied legislators to pass the measure with promises of big budget revenues and stringent safety controls. Unlike the NPT plan, Minatom wants the right to reprocess the fuel so it can be used again in nuclear reactors.

Activists Win Reprieve in Nuclear Fight

Yevgenia Borisova, Staff Writer

Moscow Times, Friday, Mar. 23, 2001. Page 1

Opponents who have been fiercely protesting a plan to import 20,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel to Russia won a reprieve Thursday when the State Duma decided to delay a vote on the bill until at least early April.

Nuclear Bill Debate Heats Up

The Moscow Times, Yevgenia Borisova, Mar. 21, 2001, 1:07 AM Moscow Time

"Some cash will be paid as taxes, some to build new transportation systems, some to build new [reprocessing] facilities and some to maintain them and pay the staff. There will be no cash to spent on ecological programs," he told the "Itogi" program on NTV. But the Nuclear Power Ministry will never be held accountable if it gets its way in opening a special fund in which to place cash from the nuclear program, said Kuznetsov and Deputy Mitrokhin.

Protests Greet Latest Spent Nuclear Fuel Deal

By Charles Digges, Staff writer
St Petersburg Times, No 646, Tuesday, February 20, 2001

Svyatoslav Zabelin, who co-chairs the Moscow-based environmental group Social Ecological Union, agreed. "Both governments - Russia and America - seem intent on turning Russia into the world's radioactive toilet."

Protesters Slam Nuclear Waste Bill

The Associated Press
The Moscow Times, Tuesday, Feb. 20, 2001. Page 3

The bill received tentative approval in December and is scheduled to come up for a second reading this week. The 100 or so environmental activists lined up outside the Duma came from about 20 regions, the rally organizers said. "People's health is more valuable than profit," read one poster. Another read: "Mr. President, show will and courage - stop the insanity of the State Duma, don't allow Russia to be turned into a nuclear waste dump."

Project Director: Vyacheslav Erohin e-mail: admin@yabloko.ru Director: Olga Radayeva, e-mail: english@yabloko.ru

Administrator: Vlad Smirnov, e-mail: vladislav.smirnov@yabloko.ru