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G-8 Nations Tout Progress on WMD Work in Russia By Chris Schneidmiller, Global Security Newswire MOSCOW — The number of Russian submarines carrying nuclear fuel continues to dwindle as a multinational effort presses forward to deny terrorists access to former Soviet weapons of mass destruction, representatives from several countries said yesterday (see GSN, May 16). The Group of Eight industrial powers agreed in 2002 to raise up to $20 billion over 10 years for disarmament work, beginning in Russia. A number of other countries have since pledged their support for the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. The project had four main goals: increasing security of nuclear and radiological materials, chemical weapons disposal, securing alternative employment for former weapons scientists, and dismantling nuclear-powered submarines. “We know terrorists have done some serious damage without [weapons of mass destruction] and we don’t want to think about what they would do with them,” said Allan Poole, senior coordinator for the Global Partnership Program in the Canadian Foreign Ministry. Poole and other speakers addressed their countries’ spending and collaboration on the project, but did not address concerns regarding the seemingly slow overall rate of spending, on the second day of a two-day conference here. The first-time event, “Towards a Russian National Dialogue on Nuclear Nonproliferation, Global Partnership and Threat Reduction, was organized by Green Cross, the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency and the Public Chamber of the Russian Federation, and featured government officials from several nations, along with representatives of various nongovernmental agencies. Elimination of decommissioned submarines — and securing the highly enriched uranium fuel that once powered them — was a central topic yesterday. Russia has designated 197 submarines for dismantlement. Work is finished or under way on 159 of the vessels. Canada has allocated $150 million toward the project, largely focusing on Russia’s Arctic Fleet. It plans to support transportation of 11 submarines for disposal, and to pay for the dismantling of 12 submarines carrying 24 nuclear reactors. “This is probably the most successful part of the Global Partnership program for Canada, just because we’re ready to move so quickly on that,” Poole said. “The end is in sight as far as the Arctic fleet is concerned.” The United Kingdom to date has supported the dismantlement of three nuclear submarines, while Norway is funding its fourth dismantlement, officials said. The focus has been on vessels in northwest Russia, possibly at the expense of deteriorating submarines in the country’s Far East fleet, forum participants said. “There are a lot more attack subs waiting for dismantlement in the Far East,” said Paul Walker, director of the Legacy Program at Global Green USA. Matt Taylor, general director of the Global Nuclear Disarmament Fund, asked Rosatom deputy chief Viktor Kovalenko about Japanese media reports of severe environmental damage caused by contamination from two submarines in the Pacific Ocean. “I wouldn’t say catastrophe. All submarines are kept in appropriate ways to promote environmental safety,” Kovalenko replied. “The best way would be to eliminate those submarines. If we find assistance … we will be able to address this situation much faster.” Poole said Canada plans to look into dismantlement of Russian submarines in the Pacific Ocean with Japan, South Korea and Australia. Joined inextricably with submarine dismantlement is safe storage and reprocessing of fuel removed from those vessels. The United Kingdom is pursuing several efforts, said David Randall Thomas, senior program manager for Northwest Russian Projects at the British Trade and Industry Department. The Andreeva Bay site alone stores 21,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies in poor conditions, Thomas said. The British government plans to place a temporary cover over one building and to build a decontamination facility while the fuel waits to be moved to the Mayak site for reprocessing. The United Kingdom’s annual contribution of 32.5 million pounds also funded construction of a facility due to open in fall for storage of spent nuclear fuel from Russian ice breakers. France is also conducting similar work with Russian submarines and related facilities, including remediation of the former Gremikha naval site, said Denis Flory, nuclear counselor for the French Embassy in Moscow. It expects to spend 750 million Euros over 10 years. Several countries are working to rid Russia of hundreds of radioisotope thermoelectric generators — vulnerable sources of radiation that are used to power light houses and other equipment. The United States spent $490 million in fiscal 2005 and has allocated $590 million in this fiscal year for its various Global Partnerships programs, said Mark Whitney, executive director of the Energy Department’s Moscow office. Through fiscal 2005, the United States had provided security upgrades for 47 nuclear warhead sites and 26 atomic materials sites, and equipped 78 border crossings with equipment for the detection of smuggled nuclear or radiological material. Further upgrades should be completed by the end of 2008, Whitney said. The next five years are to be spent transitioning sites in Russia to sustainability, and after 2013 they would be operated solely by Moscow. “We only have a little over two years left and we have a lot of work to do, but we have a schedule and we have commitments from the U.S. and Russian governments and we plan to get this done,” Whitney said. Some projects will continue past 2008. The United States has passed the halfway mark in plans to buy 500 metric tons of downblended highly enriched uranium for U.S. nuclear power reactors (see GSN, June 29). The 13-year-old program is scheduled for completion in 2013. The final three Russian nuclear reactors that produce weapon-grade plutonium are due to be closed by 2010, replaced by fossil fuel plants for production of heat and electricity (see GSN, June 26). The United States also continues to support repatriation of Russian highly enriched uranium fuel from foreign research reactors. The effort has collected 130 kilograms to date in nine shipments and ultimately would collect material from 20 reactors in 17 nations, Whitney said (see GSN, May 30). Whitney and other speakers acknowledged challenges in their projects and the sensitive relationship with Russian officials reluctant to provide full access to nuclear and other sites. Canada has contributed $65 million to a U.S.-Russian program to eliminate nearly 70 metric tons of highly enriched uranium. The program has been delayed by questions of liability for U.S. contractors working on the Russian site, forcing Ottawa to roll the money over from year to year. “I would have to say on this we are disappointed, because we reprofile money because every year we can’t spend it,” Poole said. The liability issue is said to have been resolved, but Russia and the United States have not signed a formal agreement (see GSN, Nov. 9, 2005). Verifying the maintenance of security upgrades remains a concern for Washington. That might have to be done through use of cameras or third parties trusted by the Russians, Whitney said.
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