Environmentalists are alarmed: Depleted uranium from Germany is sent for reprocessing to Russia. Ten years ago, there were protests against it; since then, the uranium remained in Western Europe.
“We thought the train to France, and were astonished to learn that the Transport went to Russia.” So Udo Buchholz in a DW interview, his accidental discovery, which is now in the headlines. In August, the environmental activist, sits for the Green Alternative list (GAL) in the Council of the Westphalian town of Gronau, wrote a letter to the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of economic Affairs; he had to ask the uranium enrichment plant Gronau Urenco. In a response in mid-September, with a special train, which had left the plant by the end of July, had been sent “around 600 tons of UF6 depleted uranium to Russia for re-enrichment”. It was a surprise to Buchholz, because such shipments to Russia have not existed long, and there had been no public information about their recovery.
Depleted uranium: nuclear waste or “material of Value”?
Depleted uranium, or uranium hexafluoride – is-shaped with a colorless powder and radioactive substance, which is produced during the fuel production for nuclear power plants. In Gronau, the company operates Urenco, the German energy company, also the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, a uranium enrichment plant are involved, since 1985. Also, the depleted uranium is stored in containers under the open sky. The further processing of the uranium took over in the mid-1990s, Russia. By 2010, about 30,000 tons had been brought to Russia, estimates Buchholz. Target-processing plants in the Urals and in Siberia were.
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Recycling of nuclear waste – a lucrative business
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Recycling of nuclear waste – a lucrative business
The industry speaks in this context of “nuclear waste”, but of “substance”. This term is used also of the Russian state nuclear Corporation Rosatom. The depleted uranium would be brought to the processing back to Germany, said a spokesman for the company, the Russian media RBC on Wednesday. The North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of economic Affairs did not want to comment on DW-demand and referred to the Federal office of Economics and export control (BAFA). A response from the state on Thursday. Also a request to Urenco remained unanswered.
Protests against uranium transports to Russia
Nuclear opponents in Germany and Russia protested for years against the uranium enrichment in Russia. They criticised the hazards during Transport, because uranium hexafluoride is Heated in gaseous form and can form in case of an accident in connection with water highly toxic hydrofluoric acid.
Also, the storage of uranium in Russia was criticized; it is stored under the open sky, and thus similar to that in Germany. The main allegation is, however, Only a small part of the uranium will be brought to the processing back to Germany. The Rest of the stay, in fact, as nuclear waste in Russia.
Even in the case of the state government’s controversial: The uranium enrichment plant Gronau
“The truth is that uranium from Urenco on the site will remain a Russian company, in addition to nearly a Million tonnes of nuclear waste from its own Russian production,” said Alexandra Korolewa, founder and Director of the Russian environmental organisation Ecodefense, which protested against such shipments, in an interview with DW. “Experience shows that over 90 percent of the uranium remains in Russia.” Because in Russia it was forbidden to import nuclear waste, hiding it behind the concepts of “strategic material” and “processing”, the environmentalist, had requested, under the pressure of Russian authorities in the summer of asylum in Germany.
Who processed uranium reserves nuclear waste
Rashid Alimow of Greenpeace in Russia believes that in this story, money could play a role. “Export to Russia is, in fact, with the aim to avoid costly expenditures for Western European nuclear industry,” he told DW. In the past years, uranium from Gronau to the processing was brought to France. This year, as more and more trains with uranium Gronau left, it was therefore assumed they would go to France and not to a Dutch port, where they are further shipped to Russia, says Udo Buchholz.
The uranium ends after the processing of nuclear waste in Russia, but it is a common practice, says the nuclear opponents. “It is in the scene, the uranium enrichment company Standard, that the plants that enrich the uranium, to keep the garbage,” says Buchholz. The same is true for Gronau, and therefore, the environment calling for guards as he not only stop the transports, but also the closure of the plant.