Russia stops its nuclear dumping
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.MOSCOW (Reuter) - Russia announced yesterday it would not ditch more nuclear waste in the Sea of Japan, but said it might be forced to resume dumping unless it could build a new processing plant within 18 months.
'The Prime Minister (Viktor Chernomyrdin) has decided to suspend the second dumping of waste. A second dumping will not take place in the near future,' the Ecology Minister, Viktor Danilov- Danilyan, told a news conference after a cabinet meeting.
The first dumping of low- level liquid nuclear waste last weekend provoked outrage from Japan, South Korea, the United States and international environmentalists. Some 900 cubic metres (32,000 cubic feet) of waste from scrapped nuclear-powered submarines were poured into the sea.
Mr Danilov-Danilyan said the Prime Minister would soon order a feasibility study into the construction of a plant in Russia's Far East to process the waste, costing about 10bn roubles ( pounds 5.7m), and he appealed for foreign help.
If the factory were built quickly, it might be possible to avoid ditching more waste, the Ecology Minister said.
Despite the howls of protest Moscow initially said it would go ahead with a plan to dump a second load of 800 cubic metres (28,000 cubic feet) in the next few days. Russia has said it does not have the capacity on land and the amount stored on floating tankers is growing as submarines and other atomic- powered navy vessels are decommissioned.
Japan welcomed Russia's change of heart and said it was ready to discuss helping with the bill for safely disposing of the country's huge radioactive rubbish heaps.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments