Economic and technical analysis of the Russian nuclear power sector

Threat level green: Conceding ecology for security in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union

“…Most notably, none of the aid was contingent on commitments from the governments of Eastern Europe to either shut down the most dangerous reactors, or even reduce demand on the existing power stations by developing viable alternatives, despite earlier widespread expectations that the most outdated Soviet reactors would be decommissioned (Boyle, 1992;Herttrich et al, 1994;Reisman et al, 1996;Van Oudenaren, 2001). This policy resulted in environmental appeasement in that, in exchange for allowing international efforts to mitigate the regional and global environmental risk, the nuclear industries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union were given free reign to continue, and even expand nuclear production based upon the same RBMK and VVER technology, leading to perverse incentives to continue ecologically unsound practices.…”