Russian Regulators Warn Nuclear Safety Undercut by Economic Crisis

[bananas]

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/dec2008/2008-12-24-02.asp

Russian Regulators Warn Nuclear Safety Undercut by Economic Crisis

MOSCOW, Russia, December 24, 2008 (ENS) - The safety of Russia's nuclear industry is being negatively affected by the country's economic crisis and the situation is expected to to worsen in 2009, according to a newly released annual report by the Russian nuclear regulatory body Rostekhnadzor.

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"Ecodefense urges Russian government to quickly develop and adopt a plan to avoid possible accidents at nuclear facilities resulting from safety staff cuts and the general economic decline. The prevention of nuclear proliferation must be part of this plan," said Vladimir Slivyak, co-chairman for Ecodefense, a Russian nuclear watchdog group established in 1989.

"Otherwise, Russia may return to the dark days of the 1990s when unemployed nuclear scientists and technical specialists were offering services to anyone who able to pay. At the same time there was a developing market for illegal nuclear materials across the country," said Slivyak.

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The deteriorating social and economic situation in Russia is likely to result in significant drop of nuclear safety level at many nuclear facilities. Some nuclear facilities have already seen jobs cut because of reduced national income due to declining oil prices and the global recession.

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One problem with both public health and economic implications is the growing amounts of radioactive waste of various types, including uranium tailings and spent nuclear fuel stored throughout the country.

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[kristopher]

1. Wait a minute...

Are you trying to imply that political/economic instability is a factor at even the "superpower" level. If that's true it means the idea that there can be a "peaceful" spread of nuclear energy without significant accompanying proliferation of nuclear weapons might not be valid, huh?