Kara Balta mill to process uranium-containing waste material from BNFL Springfields (UK) The German company RWE Nukem GmbH has contracted the Kara Balta uranium mill to process 1750 tonnes of uranium-bearing material. The material contains natural uranium at a concentration of 3%. According to a Nukem speaker, the material originates from the decommissioning of a non-specified "West-European facility", not from Nukem's own operations. The residual material that will be left over from the uranium extraction will remain in Kyrgyzstan. (AKIPress Feb. 24, 2004, RIAN Feb. 25, 2004, NUKEM Feb. 27, 2004)
On Feb. 26, 2004, Kyrgyzstan Prime Minister Nikolai Tanayev said the Kyrgyz government objects to bringing uranium waste from abroad into the country. "The government disapproves of the project. It will not allow the country to be turned into a uranium waste dump," Tanayev said. "First and foremost, Kyrgyzstan must solve the problem of uranium tailing storage facilities." On Feb. 25, 2004, a number of non-governmental organizations made a joint statement opposing the waste import. (Interfax Feb. 26, 2004)
An expert commission, composed of specialists, government members, and parliamentarians, has supported the processing of nuclear wastes from Germany at Kyrgyzstan's Kara-Balta mining combine. The Kara-Balta mining combine and the German company RWE NUKEM GmbH in 2003 concluded a contract under which 1,700 used graphite crucibles containing no more than 5% of uranium would be processed and stored in Kyrgyzstan. (Interfax Jul. 13, 2004)
According to an article in New Scientist (Sep. 25, 2004), the material in question comprises 1800 tons of radioactive material currently stored in 10,600 drums at the BNFL Springfields nuclear fuel plant near Preston in north-west England. The Kara-Balta mill - said to be one of the few plants capable of separating the uranium from the graphite - will recover 90 tons of reactor-grade uranium from the material, while the remaining 1710 tons will be disposed of in Kyrgyzstan. (The Guardian, The Independent, AKIPress Sep. 23, 2004) However, the Kyrgyz authorities have not agreed to the import of the uranium waste and have not even received a license application for it. (IRIN Sep. 23, 2004) The Kyrgyz government now has prohibited the import of the waste material in question. (AKIPress Sep. 29, 2004) |