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Alexander Zemlianichenko / AP
Malyshev said he was committed to preserving Gosatomnadzor's
independence
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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.
Nuclear safety advocates were caught by surprise in June when Gosatomnadzor's
former chief, Yury Vishnevsky, was sent into retirement and replaced with
Malyshev, then deputy nuclear minister for power plant construction. Vishnevsky
had reached the mandatory retirement age of 60, but most observers expected
the government to extend his term.
Critics of the shake-up, including the liberal Yabloko party, believe
Vishnevsky was dismissed because he was too critical of the Nuclear Power
Ministry. Many accuse the ministry of arranging Malyshev's appointment
in an effort to diminish the independence of the watchdog, which issues
licenses for civilian nuclear facilities and has the power to fine violators.
"The Nuclear Power Ministry has taken down the last barrier to
uncontrolled nuclear expansion in Russia," said Vladimir Chuprov,
a nuclear safety campaigner with Greenpeace. "You can expect that
in the near future objective independent control will disappear, and the
risk of a nuclear accident will sharply rise."
In his first interview since taking the post, Malyshev strongly denied
the charge.
"My position when I worked within the Nuclear Power Ministry was
that the federal agency that regulates nuclear and radiation safety should
be independent. That's the way it is today," he said.
Malyshev said his experience in construction and design gave him the
expertise for the job.
"The word 'safety' has permeated me," he said with a laugh.
During nearly 12 years at Gosatomnadzor, Vishnevsky was cautiously critical
of the Nuclear Power Ministry. In particular, he spoke out against a 2001
law allowing the import of spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing, arguing
that Russia simply was not ready to take on such a risky endeavor.
That issue will be a test of Malyshev's commitment to safety, said Alexander
Nikitin, a St. Petersburg-based expert with the Norwegian environmental
group Bellona. No spent fuel has been imported yet under the new law,
and it will be up to Gosatomnadzor to license such projects.
Malyshev said he would judge each import project individually.
"The environmentalists are always against. Against what? They say
it will just be bad in general. Well, it can't just be bad in general,"
Malyshev said. "You need to look at the law and answer the question:
Is this particular project safe according to these criteria?"
See also:
YABLOKO for Nuclear
Safety
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