Russian soldiers to collect waste at nuclear test site on Novaya Zemlya island
94 soldiers from the 12th Main Directorate fly to Novaya Zemlya to collect scrap metal at the nuclear weapons test site.
The reports says nothing about potential radioactivity in the 2,000 tons of scrap metal to be collected and shipped away from Novaya Zemlya this summer. The soldiers, though, have got specialist training before they were flying north this week, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow reports.
All 94 soldiers belongs to the 12th Chief Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. This directorate, unlike others, does not belong to the structure of the General Staff, but is directly under the Ministry of Defense. The 12th Chief Directorate is responsible for safe-keeping, transportation and delivery of nuclear warheads. Also, it is responsible for maintenance of the testing grounds.
At Novaya Zemlya, the soldiers will work from Belushaya Bay, the main military settlement on the archipelago. Not far away is the southern test-range where low- and medium-yield atmospheric and surface nuclear explosions were carried out between 1955 and 1962. Also, two underwater explosion took place in Chernaya Bay. Six underground nuclear tests were carried out in the area after 1963.
Putin’s Year of Ecology
The northern test site is located at the Matochkin Strait dividing the northern and southern islands of Novaya Zemlya where all nuclear bomb tests took place inside mountain tunnels.
From Belushaya Bay, the environmental clean-up team is set to reclaim 11.5 hectares of land, including demolishing 59 buildings, the Ministry of Defense reports.
2017 is by Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the Year of Ecology aimed to attract public attention to environmental issues, conservation of biological diversity and ensure ecological safety.
In March, Putin along with other Ministers visited Franz Josef Land to see how it goes with the clean-up progress of leftover scrap metal from the Cold War’s military activities in the Arctic.
Related stories from around the North:
Canada: Floating nuclear power stations for Arctic?, Radio Canada International
Finland: Delays over safety clearance, building permit for Fennovoima nuclear project in Finland, Yle News
Norway: Norway’s foreign minister to visit Russian nuclear waste dump, The Independent Barents Observer
Russia: Breaking the ice with loads of Russian nuclear waste, The Independent Barents Observer
Sweden: Sweden’s Radiation Safety Authority endorses nuclear waste disposal plan, Radio Sweden
United States: Contaminants in animals provide clues about the health of the North, Alaska Dispatch News
