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Environmental activists from across Russia gathered outside the State Duma on Monday to protest a bill that would allow the government to import nuclear waste forprofit.
The bill would allow Russia to accept spent nuclear fuel from other countries for processing or storage. Proponents argue that it would allow Russia to earn billions of dollars.
Opponents argue that the risk of contamination is made even higher by Russia's spotty nuclear safety record.
The bill "can only be described as a national humiliation," said Igor Artemyev, a member of the Duma's liberal Yabloko faction, which organized the rally. "The country will be turned into the world's nuclear waste dump," Artemyev told a news conference.
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."
See the original at
http://www.themoscowtimes.ru/stories/2001/02/20/011.html
See also:
Nuclear
waste bill section of the web-site
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