Russia will earn money on spent-fuel processing

The delivery of spent nuclear fuel from the Bulgarian Kozloduy nuclear power plant to the factory in the Krasnoyarsk region has been completed, the Russian Ministry for Nuclear Power stated.

We can remember the long debate in the Russian parliament pertaining to the relevancy of passing the law about the spent nuclear fuel. There were so many supporters and protesters of that law. The communists and many others were yelling that Russia would turn into a spent-fuel dump. They were right to a certain extent, but every medal has its backside, and this side was not taken into consideration.

The newly appointed Minister for Nuclear Power, Alexander Rumyantsev was given detailed evidence to prove the advantages of the law. He said only a few of countries control the world market of the spent-fuel processing. The largest of them are Great Britain and France. The annual profit from the spent nuclear fuel processing could be compared with the annual revenues of the Russian budget.

Russia has built a large number of nuclear power plants all over the world, so it was its commitment to take on the liability to process and store the spent nuclear fuel. Rumyantsev also hinted at a big contract with the USA, but it was only words and nothing more. So, today, we find out the spent fuel arrived in Russia from Bulgaria.

There were about 41 tons of that fuel delivered. As the press service of the Russian Ministry for Nuclear Power stated, the Russian Federation has fulfilled its obligations connected with non-proliferation. The cargo was delivered under the international agreement, which was signed by Russia and Bulgaria in 1995. The cost of the contract made up 25.7 million rubles, the contract totally complied with the Russian legislation , including the environmental one. The spent fuel will be processed after the storage and the wastes are returned to Bulgaria. A part of the received funds (25%) will be transferred to the budget of the Krasnoyarsk region for implementing ecological programs.

Dmitry Litvinovich PRAVDA.Ru

On the photo: Alexander Rumyantsev - Russia's Nuclear Power Minister