Igor Chestin, Director of Russian Office of WWF

— I don’t think that the enlarged uranium production and the international center in Angarsk will pose a threat to the region’s ecology

In late 2006 the Russian Government decided to make Angarsk Electrolytic Chemical Combine an open enterprise and to use it as a basis for an international uranium enrichment center. Director of the Russian Office of WWF, member of Public Chamber of Russia Igor Chestin comments on the project:

I don’t think that the enlargement of the uranium production and the formation of the international uranium enrichment center in Angarsk (Irkutsk region) pose any threat to the ecology of the region. There will be no dangerous nuclear reactions there. The objective fact is that the nonproliferation regime stipulates that the uranium enrichment process should be concentrated in a limited group of countries. In my opinion, this group should consists of the US and Russia, and, perhaps, France. As a matter of principle, I support Russia’s importing the nuclear waste from the reactors built by the Soviet Union in Europe, particularly, in Germany. What can we do? Since we have built the reactors, we must keep the waste in our territory. The question is: should we enlarge this practice?

People in Angarsk are interested in the International Center project as it will give them new jobs. Speaking of the general development of nuclear power engineering in Russia, I hope that nobody in the sphere is ready to economize on safety. In the last years we have acquired serious experience in ensuring NPP safety and nuclear accidents are no longer a matter of concern for us. They don’t happen often nowadays.