| MOSCOW, April 18. Russia's nuclear power industry
has sufficient raw materials until at least 2030. 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. Existing production of nuclear power will enable
Russia to provide for consumption of Russian energy until 2010.
Solonin also said that Russia possessed 'significant scientific
potential in nuclear power.'
At the same time, he said that the Russian nuclear power industry
faced a
number of serious environmental problems. In particular, the
country has
accumulated a significant amount of radioactive waste. According
to the
Ministry for Nuclear Power Energy, about 500 million cubic
meters of
liquid
and 177 million tonnes of solid
radioactive waste are stored at more than 300 points across
Russia.
Solonin
said that it would be necessary to eliminate the incompletely
financed
federal programme 'Nuclear and Radioactive Security in Russia,'
to resolve
the environmental problems related to nuclear power and at
the same time
legally regulate the issue of individual responsibility for
radioactive
contamination of the
environment.'
See also:
YABLOKO
Against Nuclear Waste Imports into Russia
|
