By IPS Correspondents
MOSCOW, Oct 2 1995 (IPS)

After four years of struggle between Russia’s new nuclear inspectorate — Gosatomnadzor (GAN) — and the Russian Defence Ministry, the military appears to have won the day.

In future GAN will no longer have access to military nuclear sites dealing with nuclear weapons or nuclear — powered naval shipping. The Defence Ministry has been made officially responsible for ensuring safety at these sites — a responsibility they have been exercising unofficially for over a year.

In 1991 Russian president Boris Yeltsin made GAN responsible for the safety of all nuclear enterprises and organisations, including those of the Russian Defence Ministry.

Its very first inspections showed that serious and dangerous situations had developed at various military sites, especially those in the Arctic dealing with the construction and repair of nuclear submarines.

Particular problems mentioned in GAN’s latest report (as yet unpublished) include the recycling and disposal of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste, as well as the dismantling and disposal of decommissioned nuclear-powered ships and submarines.

GAN was especially alarmed at the stockpiling of spent nuclear fuel by Russia’s Northern and Pacific Fleets, as well as the lack of dependable containers for transporting this fuel to the Mayak reprocessing plant in the Urals.

In 1994 GAN had issued a damning report on conditions at nuclear submarine facilities in the Arctic after an inspection of the facility in 1993. This, however, resulted in the Defence Ministry’s refusing GAN entry to any other military facilities despite specific government instructions that it should co-operate with the inspectorate.

Yeltsin finally caved in to military pressure while he was in hospital last July and issued Decree No 350 relieving GAN of any responsibility for monitoring safety during the development, production, testing, maintenance, storage and disposal of nuclear weapons and military — related nuclear power units.

However, the struggle between the military and the inspectorate continued behind the scenes, according to a source close to GAN. Now, however, GAN head Yuri Vishnevsky has admitted defeat.

He believes the military prepared the document in great haste to take advantage of Yeltsin’s illness. He is concerned that GAN’s powers may be eroded further even with respect to civilian sites.

“The decree, which cancels all previous orders, does not include any definition of GAN’s present responsibility and there are fears that it could be interpreted as effectively depriving the agency of all its legitimate functions,” says a GAN official.

To make matters worse the weakening of GAN has come at a time when other legislation has increased the nuclear risks in Russia. Under another recent government decree Russia is now to accept for recycling the radioactive wastes from foreign nuclear power facilities.

Previously the USSR (Russia) had accepted only the wastes of Soviet — made facilities, but the decree opens the doors to all wastes.

The document assigns the recycling to the mining and chemical combine in Krasnoyarsk Territory. The aim is to bring in foreign currency to pay for completion of the RT-2 reprocessing plant, under construction since 1984 but mothballed after Chernobyl. The work was resumed in 1992 but two billion dollars is needed for completion.

Environmental groups such as the Socio-Ecological Union (SEU), say the additional reprocessing will generate appreciable volumes of liquid radioactive wastes.

“Accepting for recycling the radioactive wastes from foreign nuclear power facilities is certain to have a very negative effect on the ecology,” says Dr Sviateslav Zabelin of the SEU.

The Cabinet’s decision states that the wastes would be solidified and returned to the supplier country, but this will be possible only after 20 years when radiation levels and heat emissions have diminished.

There are fears that this may not be done at all. At present liquid wastes at Krasnoyarsk are injected directly into underground wells and this may also be the preferred solution to those generated from contract reprocessing, especially if there is hard currency to be earned by keeping the wastes.

“However there is evidence that these underground wastes may already be leaking into the Yenisei river,” points out Zabelin.

On site disposal of these wastes is made even more likely because of problems over waste transportation. There are growing difficulties in moving Russia’s own wastes because of environmental fears.

Previously spent fuel was transported via 20 Russian territories and regions. So far 11 regions have banned such transportation. In fact only Murmansk has explicitly given permission and that is because the fuel is being moved out of the territory.

Although GAN has only recently been officially deprived of its authority over defence ministry sites, the inspectorate met with difficulties last year, as its 1994 activities report shows.

It notes that the Defence Ministry has refused to cooperate with GAN and other ministries to formulate a procedure for the licensing of submarine and ship nuclear power plants.

“As a result”, says the report, “Naval sites are not subject to any government supervision”. On the basis of some inspections made in 1993 it mentions “major flaws in the management and maintenance of nuclear and radiation safety regimes at Navy sites”.

These include lack of staff on nuclear vessels, poor operating procedures, lack of maintenance and inadequate monitoring.

GAN notes that in 1994 it undertook 16,850 inspections which resulted in the disclosure of 38,5 99 cases of safety violation and the temporary closure of 160 units and devices.

Legal charges were brought in 13 cases. Just as GAN was learning to fly, it seems, its wings have been clipped.

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