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Putin Signs laws on Importing, Processing of Nuclear Waste
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a package of laws permitting the import of spent nuclear fuel for disposal and storage.
Under the laws, Russia may import up to 20,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel for disposal and temporary storage in the next 10 years.
For that, Russia is expected to receive more than 20 billion US dollars, most of which will be spent on special environmental programs.
Putin also signed a decree to set up a special committee to grant exclusive consents to import programs.
The committee, headed by Zhores Alfyorov, a well-known Russian physicist and Nobel Prize Winner, will present annual reports to the president and the parliament.
The twenty-member commission will include five representatives of the president, five from the federation Council, five from the Duma and five from the Russian government.
Russian Nuclear Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev said the signing of the laws would help develop the country's nuclear industry and open up the way for Russia to enter the world market of nuclear waste processing.
However, he said Russia would start importing nuclear fuel only after several years.
"We have already contacted this matter with our foreign counterparts, but there are so far no potential clients in view. This is a very long process and it will be drawn out for several years" the minister told a Wednesday press conference.
According to Rumyantsev, there is a total of 200,000 tons of used nuclear fuel in the world, and Russia hopes to import around 10 percent of this amount.
The State Duma on June 6 approved at the third and final reading the controversial laws, which are strongly opposed by many environmentalists and Duma's right-wing factions.
Grigory Yavlinsky, leader of the right-wing Yabloko party, said Wednesday the signing of the laws was a political mistake, which " harms Russia's national interests and will have dire consequences for its future generations."
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