The Governor of Finnmark, Gunnar Kjønnøy, and Murmansk Governor, Dmitri Dmitrienko, signed the 2010 deal on nuclear safety in Murmansk on Monday, reports the portal of the Governor of Finnmark.
The funding is part of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affair’s Action plan for nuclear safety cooperation with Russia.
Norway has for years provided funding to infrastructure improvements at the large nuclear dump site in Andreeva bay, located on the Kola Peninsula halfway between Murmansk and the border to Norway. More than 20,000 spent nuclear fuel elements from the Soviet Northern fleet’s submarine reactors have been stored in very rundown concrete tanks in Andreeva bay since the early 80ties. Also, large amounts of solid radioactive waste are stored in rusty containers, partly outdoor in the area.
The 2010 funding for Andreeva bay projects will go to improve the internal electricity grid , fire equipment and water supply. And finally, the workers need to eat, so Norwegian money will be earmarked also to construct a cantina.
On Tuesday, the day after the cantina deal is signed in Murmansk, Norway’s Auditor General, Jørgen Kosmo, will meet with Sergey Stepashin, chairman of Russia’s Accounting Chamber and sign a memorandum to continue to follow the Norwegian financed nuclear safety projects in Russia, as reported by BarentsObserver.
