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(unofficial translation from Russian)
Ecodefense
PRESS-RELEASE
Moscow, February 16, 2005
Environmentalists revealed inter-governmental protocol on exporting
Hungarian high-level radioactive waste to Russia for reprocessing and
dumping. They held meeting with Hungarian ambassador to Russia to deliver
mass petition against waste export.
Today, Hungarian prime-minister Ferenc Gyurcsany is visiting Russia for the
first time as a head of European Union' member-state. On that occasion,
Russian environmental group Ecodefense held a meeting in Moscow with Ferenc
Kontra, Hungarian ambassador, and his secretary for foreign politics Gyorgy
Galicza. Activists delivered to Hungarian authorities a mass petition
addressed to prime-minister Gyurcsany, demanding to cancel high-level
radioactive waste exports to Russia. Petition is signed by 5,000 Russian
citizens living in places affected by nuclear waste reprocessing. F.Kontra
promised to deliver petition to prime-minister and brief him on the problem.
Ecodefense obtained previously unpublished 2004 protocol on high-level
radioactive waste (or spent nuclear fuel) exports that is part of
inter-governmental agreement between USSR and Hungary of 1966. This document
is regulating the procedure of Hungarian spent fuel export to Russia for
storage and reprocessing; chapter 4 of the protocol offers an opportunity to
leave all kinds of radioactive waste resulting from reprocessing to be
dumped in Russia. That is absolutely unique because Russian government never
officially offered a dumping of radioactive waste on constant basis to any
other country.
In 2003, Russian and Hungarian nuclear industries started discussion over
new contract to transport 1500 ton of spent nuclear fuel to "Mayak" ($400
per kilo, whole deal costs $600 million). Presently, this deal is delayed
under public pressure. In 2002, Russian Supreme Court ruled that last
shipment of spent nuclear fuel from Hungary occurred in 1998 was illegal
under current legislation. In 1996, Finland stopped shipments of spent
nuclear fuel to "Mayak" on environmental ground. In 2001, after Russian
authorities approved new legislation allowing nuclear industry to import
spent nuclear fuel, Germany and USA also rejected Russian proposal on
importing foreign high-level radioactive waste. According to the public poll
conducted by ROMIR (Gallup group), nearly 92% of Russians opposed to spent
fuel import.
In 20th century, spent nuclear fuel from Hungarian nuclear plant Paks was
repeatedly transported to Soviet Union, and later Russia, for reprocessing
and extraction of plutonium. Radioactive waste of reprocessing was partly
dumped into open lakes and rivers near "Mayak" through the last 25 years -
that caused wide-spread environmental catastrophe. Reprocessing' waste which
still stored at this facility have total radioactivity over 1 billion Ci -
an equivalent to 20 Chernobyl radioactive releases. So far, nuclear industry
was not able to develop safe technology for utilization of that waste.
"Sending nuclear waste to Russia would effectively mean that opinion of 92%
of Russians ignored. Ecodefense urges Hungarian prime-minister, as a head of
European Union' member-state, to respect basic democracy principles, human
rights and public opinion of Russians", said Vladimir Slivyak of Ecodefense,
Russian environmental group that campaigning against nuclear waste import to
Russia for the last 8 years.
"Solving problem of own waste at the cost of lives of Russian people is
cynical policy which, we hope, will be avoided by new Hungarian government
as it was avoided by other EU states earlier. Russian-Hungarian protocol on
nuclear waste must be cancelled", he added. |
