Despite the opposition of most of its people, Russia is trying to amend its environmental laws in order to import spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste from other nations.
According to a report by the Environment News Service, the State Duma and the Federation Council want to change Article 50 (3) of the Law On Protection of the Environment in order to store and bury radioactive materials from other countries in exchange for hard cash.
As a first step, the Ministry of Atomic Energy, working with the American Non-Proliferation Trust, have been working on a protocol that paves the way for the construction of a 6,000 ton spent fuel storage facility.
The idea of accepting foreign nuclear waste first surfaced in late August, when V. Ivanov, Russia's minister of atomic energy, made the proposal at a cabinet meeting. He suggested that the money received would allow Russia to consolidate its budget and improve social and environmental conditions.
Detractors of the plan dispute this, however, saying that any money generated by the program will simply be used to build more treatment plants, as well as to boost Russia's atomic industry.
Most Russians oppose the idea, unsurprising given the fact that their country already has the highest radioactive contamination rate in the world. A number of environmental groups are protesting to the government.
