State Duma open to nuclear security cooperation with Kyiv, Brussels
MOSCOW. April 15 (Interfax) - The State Duma is ready to contribute to the provision of security at Ukrainian nuclear sites.
"We are open to cooperation with the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada and parliaments of European Union member states in the provision of nuclear security both in Ukraine and in Europe as a whole," the State Duma said in a statement 'On the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl tragedy and the provision of nuclear security in contemporary Europe' released on Friday.
The State Duma noted that "due to the irresponsible attitude of the Ukrainian administration, which had refused to cooperate with Russia, recent years witnessed significant deterioration of nuclear security in Ukraine and Europe as a whole."
There is a serious threat of "nuclear accidents and large-scale radiation contamination not only in Ukraine and neighboring countries but also in the whole of Europe," the State Duma said.
The document listed the violations that might have the most severe consequences, among them "violations of technological requirements in the operation of nuclear power plants, which might lead to accidents and escalate the danger upon the end of warranty periods in the use of Russian-made nuclear reactors."
Besides, Ukrainian nuclear power plants are shifting to the use of unauthorized nuclear fuel made in the U.S., because of which Russia will be unable to guarantee security at Ukrainian nuclear sites, the statement said. "Despite the repeated appeals of the European Union after the shutdown of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 2000, a permanent 'sarcophagus' has yet to be built above the blown-up reactor and the shut-down nuclear reactors have yet to be decommissioned," the State Duma said.
What is more, the service life of 13 out of 15 reactor units in Ukraine has either expired or will expire in the upcoming years. Under these circumstances, the Ukrainian government is violating international norms and IAEA security requirements and decides to extend the service life of some nuclear power plants by ten years without coordinating this move with the designer, state corporation Rosatom, and confirming the availability of funds, the statement said. The deputies are particularly concerned about the creation of a European nuclear waste storage site in the Chernobyl zone.
The State Duma called the attention of Ukrainian and European politicians to the danger of uncontrolled spread of spent nuclear material stored in Chernobyl in Europe and the entire world against the backdrop of the ongoing internal Ukrainian conflict, the absence of political and economic stability and the presence of armed groups uncontrolled by the authorities, including those classified as terrorist. "The threat of terrorist acts at Ukrainian power plants is a source of profound concern," the document said.
The State Duma called on the Ukrainian authorities to honor all international obligations in the field of nuclear security and asked parliaments and citizens of EU member states and the international public "to avoid political motivations in the assessment of nuclear security in Ukraine, to do everything to protect the population of European states from the threat of man-made catastrophes at Ukrainian nuclear power plants and to prevent the appearance of a source of uncontrolled proliferation of nuclear and radioactive material in the center of Europe."