(March 18, 1994) The representatives of the Finnish center for radiation and nuclear safety (STUK) came back from a visit to one of the biggest reprocessing facilities in the world, Mayak. A Finnish state-owned company, Imatron Voima OY (IVO) has shipped it's spent nuclear fuel, i.e. high level wastes, to Mayak 11 times. The last one of the transports took place last November (see related story WISE NC 404.3995).
(408.4039) WISE-Helsinki - According to the report of STUK the reprocessing plant is functioning well, the equipment is modern, the levels of contamination inside the plant are "not more than in western facilities", and the staff is sufficiently educated. Experts and environmentalist of the Chelyabinsk region have told (and are telling) totally different stories.
The report of STUK is solely based on interviews with the Mayak management and therefore its reliability should be questioned. Environmentalists in Finland are claiming that the closed city of Chelyabinsk-65, and the Mayak facilities should be opened for international, independent researchers.
Among other astonishing "facts" the STUK representatives told as a press conference, was a statement of Jukka Laaksonen, Chief of the Finnish Nuclear Safety Department. He claimed reprocessing of spent fuel is an ecologically more reasonable way to get uranium for the RBMK's than mining it, as mining causes plenty of low and intermediate level radioactive waste. (According to the studies of independent researchers reprocessing causes radioactive wastes 160 - 190 times the original amount.)
Environmentalists have suspected the Mayak reprocessing facilities to be extremely dangerous and pointed out the fact that when transporting radwaste long distances also the risks increase, let alone if the waste is reprocessed.
The Mayak facilities are located in South-Urals, in Russia, in the secret and closed city of Chelyabinsk-65, a city of 83.000 inhabitants. The secret city is located some 100 kilometers from the city of Chelyabinsk. The Chelyabinsk region is widely known as "the most radioactively polluted area in the world".
Source and Contact: Tove Selin, WISE-Helsinki. Mechelinikatu 36, 00260 Helsinki, Finland. Tel: + 358 0 406 889; Fax: + 358 0 446 668.