The Corrupted Nuclear Industry Is Mortally Dangerous for Russia

Declaration of non-governmental organizations concerning the arrest of the former Atomic Energy Minister Adamov

On May 2, 2005 in Switzerland the former Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Evgeny Adamov was detained on suspicion of diverting money intended to improve Russian nuclear security. The former minister is accused of embezzlement of several million dollars of American taxpayers' money.

Actually, corruption, embezzlement and misappropriation in the nuclear industry are much more serious.

From 1998-2000 Minatom (the Russian Atomic Energy Ministry) received as international assistance more than $270 million for a waste management program – funds that, according to the Russian Court of Auditors, “were not registered and reported”. As officials from the General Prosecutor’s Office reported in 1998, the top management of the largest nuclear industry plant, Mayak, used forged documents to smuggle radioactive materials. Thefts of high tech equipment became an ordinary practice at national nuclear power plants: in 2002 alone at the Leningrad NPP the theft of hundreds of water flow meters and machinations with servo-motors were exposed. This is just one aspect of the problem.

Most accidents at nuclear plants are caused by human error. When the attention of nuclear industry workers, irrespective of their position and status, is focused on commercial machinations, while neglecting safety of the country, which causes threat of new accidents similar to the one in Chernobyl.
Therefore we, Russian non-governmental organizations, call on President Putin and Prime Minister Fradkov to urgently reconsider the energy strategy of the country, to reject plans to construct new nuclear reactors and other dangerous projects, proposed by the head of Rosatom (construction of floating NPPs, plants for reprocessing irradiated nuclear fuel, construction of international radioactive waste repositories).
Today in Russia, it is possible to produce 30% of the total energy requirements of the country using technically and economically available renewable energy sources (while the share of nuclear energy in the total energy balance is less than 4%!). The potential of energy saving in the total energy balance is at least 40%. Expenditures to develop these environmentally friendly energy sources will be considerably less than expenditures for nuclear industry development. At the same time, available uranium stocks for the thermal nuclear energy industry are exhaustible, as oil and gas are.

We call on the top authorities of the country to show their political will in order to create conditions for investing scientific, labour and financial resources in energy saving and development of renewable energy sources.

V.A. Chouprov, Greenpeace Russia Energy Department Coordinator
A.V. Yablokov, President of the Centre for Ecological Policy of Russia
M.A. Piskunov, Board Chair of the Center for Assistance to Citizen Initiatives, Dmitrovgrad.
A.M. Vinogradov, Chair of the Balakovo Division of the All-Russian Environmental Protection Society
N.I. Mironova, Chair of the NGO “Movement for Nuclear Safety”, Chelyabinsk
S.I. Zabelin, Co-Chair of the Council of the International Social-Ecological Union
A.V. Toropov, Siberian Environmental Agency, Tomsk
L.V. Popova, Director of the Centre for Nuclear Ecology and Energy Policy, Co-chair of the Council of the International Social-Ecological Union
A.A. Talevlin, Vice-President of the Chelyabinsk NGO “Pravosoznaniye”
E. Murzakhanov, Board Chair of Tomsk Environmental Student Inspection (TESI), Tomsk
V.Slivyak, Ecodefense
M.P. Rikhvanova, Co-Chair of Baikal Environmental Wave, Irkutsk
V.S. Vedenkov, Chair of the Krasnoyarsk Division of the Movement “For Human Rights”
B.V. Nekrasov, Siberian Environmental Alliance, Tomsk
V.T. Semyashkina, Save Pechora Committee, The Republic of Komi
N.V. Kalinina, Board Chair of the Amur Ecological Club “Ulukitkan”, Blagoveschensk
G.B. Anosova, Director of the Baikal Centre for Public Environmental Assessment
A.V. Lebedev, the Bureau for Regional Outreach Campaigns (BROC), Vladivostok
P.E. Osipov, Director of the Amur Regional NGO “AmurSEU”
I. Shaidullin, Board Chair of the NGO “Chisty Gorod”, the Republic of Tatarstan
A.S. Gorelik, Public Committee of Human Rights Protection, Krasnoyarsk
O.L. Podborskaya, Coordinator of the Coalition “Zhivoe Pravo”, Krasnoyarsk
A.A. Babiy, the International Society “Memorial”, Krasnoyarsk
S.G. Shapkhaev, Buryat Regional Baikal Association
S.V. Pogozhev, “Respectable Citizens’ Society”, Krasnoyarsk
A.A. Polkovnikov, “The Union of the Unemployed in the Krasnoyarsk Krai”, Krasnoyarsk
O.V. Khristolyubova, Regional Rights Protection Committee, Krasnoyarsk
D.A. Puntus, All-Russian Society “Znaniye”, Krasnoyarsk
O.V. Bodrov, Board Chair of Zeleny Mir, Sosnovy Bor – Saint Petersburg
N.A. Zubov, Executive Director of the NGO “Krasnoyarsk Regional Ecological Union”, Krasnoyarsk
O.G. Likhtina, Chair of the Non-Governmental Rights Protection Organization, Krasnoyarsk
E.V. Spirin, Chair of the Sosnovoborsk Representative Office of the NGO “Krasnoyarsk Regional Environmental Union”, Sosnovoborsk
L.Ya. Zubova, Chair of the NGO “Academy of Russian Medicine”, Krasnoyarsk
D.N. Levashov, Deputy Chair of the Regional Environmental NGO SPES (Social Legal Ecological Community), Nizhny Novgorod Region, Dzerzhinsk
V.I. Dmitrieva, ISAR, Far East
A. Kozlovich, Ariston, Karelia
M.A. Shingarkin, Public Foundation “Grazhdanin”
E. Kruglikova, Apatity Ecological Centre “Gea”, Murmansk Region
A.P. Laletin, “Siberia Forest’s Friends”
O.A. Chernyagina, President of the Kamchatka League of Independent Experts
N.L. Kutepova, the Ozersk Social Ecological NGO “Planeta Nadezhd” (Planet of Hopes), Chelyabinsk Region
T.I. Savchenko, Magadansky Environmental Centre
O.Ya. Moskvina, “SoDeistvie tw”, Magadan
G. Smirnov, Chukotka Ecological Association “Kaira-Club”
A.E. Kaplin, President of Volga interregional public foundation of collaboration
R.G. Miniahmetov, Director of Institute of social ecology and sustainable development
I.B. Shafrutdinova, Chairman of Council of Ulianovsk regional branch of Allrussian movement “Green Planet”
V.V. Zaharov, Chairman of “Russian Green Movement”
Y.A. Fedorin, Chairman of Council of “Green Wave” movement, Chelyabinsk
F.G. Kobzhasarova, “Fatiha” movement, Chelyabinsk
A.V. Zimenko, Biodiversity conservation center
A. Arbachakov, AIST, Mezhdurechensk