Russia is planning to build floating and submersible nuclear reactors to power oil drilling platforms which it intends to use to extract the untouched oil and gas reverses of the Arctic.
A floating nuclear power plant is being constructed at the SevMash shipyard in Severodvins located in north-east of Russia.The reactors will provide power to drilling platforms of Gazprom, Russia’s leading oil & gas company. The reactors are described to be capable of storing the nuclear waste on board and would require maintenance once 12 to 14 years.
Environmentalists are up in arms against this move by Russia as such a move could spell doomsday for the pristine and untouched environment of the Arctic region.
Environmental Disaster
Just recently there were calls by environmentalists that the number of tourists visiting Antarctica need to be reduced as the fragile Antarctic ecosystem needed to be protected. Scientists have also raised concerns about the alien or non-native species arriving in Antarctic seas and affecting the balance of the region’s ecosystem. During his research, environmental scientist John Priscu found the adverse effects of the presence of humans, limited to researchers of various countries, on the frozen island.
He says the climate there is actually cooling, but the contamination of the environment with human bacteria and bacteria from other regions of Antarctica is a real concern.
For example, he says, researchers have found seals and penguins infected with bacteria from the sewage at the McMurdo Station research base.
At the nearby Scott Base, seals are infected with canine distemper, a virus passed to them by researchers’ dogs.
It would be foolish to assume that the Arctic, which is already warming up and losing ice at a high rate, would be immune to such adverse impacts due to human presence and potentially high polluting activities such as oil drilling. Both the Arctic and Antarctic remain largely untouched from human presence; if efforts are being made to protect one, why is the other being neglected and exploited?
The North Atlantic nations have been in war of sorts over the issue of rights over the vast oil & gas, and mineral resources of the regions; several missions have been sent to the areas to map the ocean floor for future mining and drilling purposes. Inaction on the part of these countries to preserve the Arctic ecosystem also raises serious questions about their commitment towards protecting its native species like the polar bear.
Russia’s Dark Nuclear Past
Everyone knows about the infamous Chernobyl disaster but Russia’s deeds regarding taking care of the nuclear waste are not that well known. From the 1960s the Russians have sunk submarine laden with missiles and torpedoes and nuclear reactors and other radioactive waste near the Arctic island of Novaya Zemlaya.
Of possibly greater concern is the radioactive waste dumped at sea. Russian authorities told Dr. Hollister that 11,000 to 17,000 waste containers, holding 61,407 curies of radioactivity, were dumped off Novaya Zemlya from 1964 to 1990. In addition, 165,000 cubic meters of liquid waste were dumped in the Barents Sea west of Novaya Zemlaya from 1961 to 1990. For comparison, the Chernobyl accident released about 86,000,000 curies of radioactivity.
Dr. Hollister reckons the amount of nuclear material within some of the Soviet sunken submarines at seven times that in the ill-fated Chernobyl reactor.
The Norwegian environmental group Bellona reported two years ago that some of the nuclear waste dumped in sea is at risk of exploding. The group reported corrosion in the storage tanks which have spent fuel rods inside.
While the Russian point to the benefits of small nuclear plants and fall back on the vast experience of operating nuclear powered ships, there are no guarantees that the nuclear waste generated will not be dumped into the sea, a major concern among environmentalists.
Instead of taking bold decisions to protect the Arctic ecosystem and its native species, the North Atlantic nations have been using their experitse in mapping and claim rights the region. Making plans to exploit the natural reserves of the Arctic while promising to protect the native species only projects the ambiguity of policies of these nations.
Image: ashatsea (Creative Commons)
About Mridul Chadha
