Greens Say 20,000 T of Nuclear Waste Imported to Russia Illegally

Excerpt from report by Russian Ekho Moskvy radio on 2 August

Environmentalists are saying that tens of thousands of tonnes of nuclear waste from Europe is being stored in our country illegally. Officially, this is presented as an international uranium re- enrichment [Russian: doobogashcheniye] deal. This is all very dangerous for people living in Russia, the leader of the group Ekozashchita [Ecodefence], Vladimir Slivyak, says.

[Passage omitted: Slivyak says nuclear waste poses greater risk for humans and the environment than nuclear power stations]

Environmentalists say 20,000 t of radioactive waste is being stored at three Russian enterprises located in Sverdlovsk, Irkutsk and Tomsk Regions. The Atomic Energy Ministry [as heard; presumably the Federal Agency for Atomic Energy] has not yet commented on this issue.