(per)25 April was the 20th anniversary of the Chernobyl reactor catastrophe. The grounds around the former nuclear power station in the Ukraine are still highly radioactive. “This place will be uninhabitable not only for decades, but for millennia,” Vladimir Kuznetsov said last week in his lecture at the university of Zurich. However, the Russian nuclear expert spoke only briefly about the “biggest accident in the nuclear industry” at the event organised by the Military Academy at ETH (MILAK), the University of Zurich, and the Green Cross. Fifty-year-old Kuznetsov was senior security specialist for nuclear installations in the former Soviet Union and worked until shortly before the accident as chief engineer at Chernobyl. In the early 1990s, he sought to shut down 10 installations; as a result, the Atomic Ministry pressured him into resigning. Today, he is Director of the Nuclear and Radiation Safety Programme of the Russian Green Cross.

11 reactors still operating

Kuznetsov’s lecture revolved much more around the present status of Russian nuclear installations. Eleven reactors of the RBMK type are still operational in Russia, and Kuznetsov stressed that this continues to pose a huge risk. These reactors have been constructed in the same way as the unfortunate Chernobyl facility and may not be safely operable even after renovation – and they are indeed past their prime. The hull of these reactors is thin, providing the environment with almost no protection from radioactivity in the event of an incident. Moreover, RBMK reactors are equipped with only one cooling circuit. “This means that everything in a reactor like this is radioactive.” The reason these reactors were built at all is obvious: they were the cheapest way to produce power.

There were certainly early warning signs leading up to the Chernobyl disaster. In 1973, near Leningrad, the first RBMK reactor was put into operation for civilian use. No sooner was it up and running than a serious accident took place. “That was an omen of things to come.” During rehabilitation of the Leningrad installation, experts found 370 holes and tears in the cooling circuit.

A mountain of spent fuel rods

Incidents also regularly happen in other nuclear power stations in Russia. In 1992 there were reports of 200, and 40 in 2005. The disparity in figures has to do with a change in the reporting system, the specialist noted, and not with better security at the facilities. The biggest accident took place in 1993 in Tomsk, where an area with a radius of 15 kilometres was irradiated.

Spent fuel rods, too, present a major problem for the Russians. Every year the mountain of spent fuel rods from consumed nuclear fuel grows another 850 tonnes. But according to Kuznetsov, storage capacity will be exhausted in five, maybe seven, years, and Russia lacks money for more storage.

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Nuclear expert Vladimir Kuznetsov (r.) and his interpreter Stephan Robinson of the Green Cross explain the risks of Russian nuclear installations. large

The nuclear fleet is a time bomb

The risks also include the nuclear installations for research, as well as nuclear ships and submarines in the Russian civilian and naval fleets. Since the first nuclear submarine put out to sea, there have been 26 official and 19 unofficial accidents, and 405 seamen have lost their lives. Five submarines have sunk, the most famous of these being the Kursk. The Russian said it was the only one that was hoisted up. The other four are still lying deep beneath the sea. And all of them represent radioactive material.

Closefisted government

“As of today, the government has come forward with only 12.5 percent of the money they promised for radiation safety,” Kuznetsov pointed out. In the 1990s, the State went so far as to make the individual regions responsible for radiation safety. This was tantamount to a declaration of bankruptcy when it came to nuclear safety issues because there simply was not enough money for the proper storage of radioactive waste. Nevertheless, the federal nuclear agency “Rosatom” still entertains plans for expanding their nuclear energy programme. They intend to raise its market share in the power sector to one-quarter. “It’s doubtful, though, whether they’ll implement these plans,” Kuznetsov said. “Since Chernobyl, only three new reactors have been put into operation.”