Radioactivity

(Français) Le retour à l’envoyeur des sables radioactifs

16 Mar 2022

(Français) Le retour à l’envoyeur des sables radioactifs

Only in French.

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Despite the tensions, the current flows

7 Mar 2022

Despite the tensions, the current flows

Ukraine – press release n°5. March 7, 2022 – 4:00 pm

Nuclear power: Slovakian power plants fill their tanks
On March 1, an Ilyushin-76TD of Volga-Dnepr Airlines specialized in the transport of heavy load flew over Poland with NATO authorization to transport new nuclear fuel to Slovakia. It left Domodedovo Airport in Moscow, flew around Ukraine, over Belarus and through Polish airspace to land in Bratislava. According to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) rules, only small urgent packages, such as short-lived radiopharmaceuticals, can be transported by air. The potential crash of an airplane carrying nuclear fuel exposes the population and the environment to considerable risks.

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White flag on nuclear sites

28 Feb 2022

White flag on nuclear sites

Ukraine – press release n°3. February 28, 2022 – 2 pm.

It is the first time in the world that a nuclearized country is subjected to aerial bombardments of such intensity and to the other complexities of a modern war.

Fifteen nuclear reactors are in operation in Ukraine, all of Russian technology. They require Russian spare parts for their maintenance. Ukraine and Russia are obliged to cooperate in order to ensure their proper functioning as much as possible.

Nuclear reactors and waste repositories are not immune to misfiring or sudden loss of power supply, which could endanger the people and environment of continental Europe and the countries bordering the Black Sea.

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The Atom of Discord

25 Feb 2022

The Atom of Discord

Russia is taking over Chernobyl. For ROSATOM, Russia’s national atomic energy company, this is a way of preventing the European Union and the United States from taking control of the nuclear industry in Ukraine (see box below). The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has spent over 700 million euros to build a protective sarcophagus over the Chernobyl No. 4 reactor, which caused the devastating events of 26 April 1986. According to an EBRD press release, this project is meant to act as a “giant cage to contain the monster”, and also as a long-term infrastructure investment to improve nuclear waste management. The sarcophagus was completed in October 2019.

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Sanctions against Russia: will they dare?

24 Feb 2022

Sanctions against Russia: will they dare?

Cancellation of the Franco-Russian contract for the conversion and enrichment of reprocessed uranium (TRU)
Each year, the reprocessing plant of spent fuel at La Hague peninsula in Normandy near Cherbourg produces about 1,000 metric tons of RU (reprocessed uranium) from spent fuel coming from French nuclear power plants. The RU stock is currently about 27,000 tons. The reprocessing of RU to make “new” fuel cannot be done in France. The only plant for converting RU into Enriched Reprocessed Uranium (ERU) is located in Russia. The circular economy of French nuclear power goes through Tomsk in Siberia.

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(Français) Faits d’hiver en Arctique

18 Nov 2021

(Français) Faits d’hiver en Arctique

Only in French.

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(Français) La porcherie de la Hague

9 Nov 2021

Only in French.

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Atomic cargo ship resumes service

3 Nov 2021

Atomic cargo ship resumes service

The Russian nuclear-powered container ship Sevmorput, which lost half of her propeller last year on her way to Antarctica, has just left St Petersburg. She is carrying 1400 tonnes of equipment for the Rooppur nuclear power plant in Bangladesh. The heavy packages will be unloaded in Vladivostok and then transferred to a conventional vessel bound for Bangladesh. The Sevmorput will use the north-east sea route. According to the press release from Atomflot, a subsidiary of Rosatom, “the crew is ready for the task at hand, the technical characteristics of the vessel will allow her to travel the entire route without the help of an icebreaker.” “Timely delivery of equipment and materials for nuclear power plants under construction is crucial for the timely and cost effective accomplishment of our projects.” The St Petersburg-Vladivostok journey is expected to take 25 days.

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(Français) Pékin, le boomerang des sables radioactifs

16 Mar 2021

Only in French.

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Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Nada!

22 Jan 2021

Nagasaki, Hiroshima, Nada!

This Friday 22 January 2021 is a great day. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (1) enters into force.

On 7 July 2017, 122 countries adopted this Treaty. In accordance with its Article 15, it enters into force 90 days after the deposit of the 50th instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession. Honduras was this 50th categorical opponent to atomic weapons. All the nuclear powers have withdrawn from the adoption Conference and some of them, France, the United States of America and the United Kingdom, are openly hostile to it.

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