Russian Authorities Block Radioactive Material Sale

Russian authorities have arrested the deputy director of Atomflot, which operates and repairs Russian nuclear-powered icebreaking ships, for possessing about 2 kilograms of radioactive material, the London Guardian reported today (see GSN, June 18).

Alexander Tyuliakov was arrested after he attempted to sell undercover police a suitcase containing the material, which is believed to have included a small amount of uranium 235, according to the Guardian.  It is still unknown if Tyuliakov obtained the material from Atomflot or through contacts in the Russian nuclear industry (Nick Walsh, London Guardian, Oct. 1).

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U.S. Energy Department Seeks Authority to Reclassify Nuclear Waste

The U.S. Energy Department is seeking permission from Congress to redefine some stockpiles of nuclear waste as low-level waste to allow it to be left in place or be sent to low-level material storage sites, the New York Times reported today (see GSN, Aug. 15).

Energy officials have said they previously believed they had discretion in classifying nuclear waste as either high-level or low-level material.  A federal judge in Idaho ruled in July, however, that the department’s plan for treating waste there violated laws requiring that high-level waste be buried underground.  The department is currently building an underground repository for high-level waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

In August, the Energy Department asked congressional leaders for the authority to decide what constituted nuclear waste, according to the Times.  Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee spokeswoman Marnie Funk said yesterday that the committee’s Republican majority would not approve the department’s language.

Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.), the top Democrat on the committee, said that “if the DOE has the authority to change the classification of the waste at will, that pretty much undercuts any congressional control of the issue” (Matthew Wald, New York Times, Oct. 1).

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