Year
2004
Abstract
The Atomflot site is only 20 minutes from the city centre of Murmansk, city of 500 000 inhabitants. Most of the city’s inhabitants live just outside the Atomflot fence. The Atomflot facility is a repair and technical service site that falls under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Transport. The site is also the home harbour of Russia’s seven nuclear powered icebreakers. Atomflot is the origination point for transportation of spent nuclear fuel from the navy and other sites on the Kola Peninsula, and it also serves as a temporary storage site for spent nuclear fuel awaiting transportation by rail to Mayak in Chelyabinsk for further treatment, storage and ultimate disposal. Consequently there are large amounts of nuclear and radioactive material being stored and/or treated at the Atomflot site at any given time. Several projects of international co-operation have been carried out at the Atomflot site in Murmansk. These include physical protection installations, enhanced security measures, new gates and improved access and control systems as well as upgrades of the physical protection aboard the nuclear powered icebreakers owned by Murmansk Shipping Company (MSCo). The projects have been financed by Sweden, the United Kingdom, Norway, and the United States as joint projects or bilaterally with Russia. Following the G8 Global Partnership initiative in 2002, more countries have become involved in contributing to solving the problems left as a legacy of the cold war. The focus for several countries has been the physical protection and safety of former Soviet nuclear power plants and the management of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. The security of nuclear and radioactive material should occupy a prominent position on the agenda, especially when the “new” situation in the world is taken into account. The Swedish Nuclear Power Inspectorate (SKI) has taken the initiative to invite the relevant participants to a meeting in Stockholm, Sweden, February 2004, where an overall strategy for securing the Atomflot site and facilities and objects will be discussed. The results of on-site studies and plans for implementation of upgrades and improvement measures will be presented. Enhanced physical protection measures and a common approach on the part of existing and new donors will lead to an endpoint whereby the safety and security of the Atomflot site is modern and fully up to date.