The Future of Russia's Plutonium Cities

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

“…Minatom is also responsible for designing, building, maintaining and dismantling both nuclear weapons and nuclear reactors, as well as maintaining Russia's formerly closed nuclear cities, and their inhabitants (Khripunov 1999;Bukharin, 1997a;Weiner, 2002). Despite the severe financial constraints of the 1990s, Minatom opted to vastly expand its nuclear production and processing activities, aided in part by international funds earmarked for nuclear safety, clean-up and non-proliferation initiatives (Webster, 2002).…”

“…In sum: while international aid and regulatory efforts have demonstrably reduced the immediate risk of contamination resulting from a Chernobyl'-type explosion the flawed nuclear facilities in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, they have unwittingly permitted the proliferation of these unsound facilities, and with the additional wastes they produce, exacerbated the longer-term environmental security risks associated with the improper disposal of these wastes (Wilson and Whittington, 1996;Bukharin, 1997a). Not only have these risks been given longer time horizons, there is a question of donor proximity and security risk: while it would seem that the risk of nuclear disaster for Central and Eastern European populations may have declined, the risk of contamination to communities in the Russian heartland have increased.…”