| MOSCOW. June 4 (Interfax) - Up to $2 billion is needed to clean up areas of Russia that have been contaminated by radiation, Academy of Sciences Vice-President Nikolai Laverov said.
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," Laverov said at an Interfax press conference on Wednesday.
The federal allocations for the clean-up efforts are insufficient. "Just 50 million rubles per year is disbursed," he said. However, $500 million was earmarked from extrabudgetary funds to dismantle the decommissioned nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet, he said.
Chelyabinsk Governor Pyotr Sumin pointed out that the Mayak chemical combine was responsible for 94% of the contamination. Significant investments are required to build a nuclear power plant near Mayak and utilize the radioactive waste, added Sumin.
See also:
Yabloko for Nuclear Safety
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