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Nuclear processing planned close to World Heritage lake

Activist works to protect Lake Baikal The Dartmouth News

By Laura Bryn Sisson November 2, 2009 The planned construction of a uranium enrichment center only 50 miles from Lake Baikal in Siberia poses an environmental threat to the world’s oldest and deepest lake, according to Marina Rikhvanova, an internationally known environmental activist who co-founded the nonprofit Baikal Environmental Wave………….The Russian government has proposed converting an existing nuclear plant into the world’s first international uranium enrichment center, which would process nuclear waste imported from other countries. Russia is the only country to import nuclear waste, Rikhvanova said.

 

Rikhvanova’s organization has advocated that the government halt construction plans until an independent environmental assessment is carried out………..

Baikal’s designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 was “very important,” Rikhvanova said, because it acknowledges the national and international value of the region.

“Independent public environmental organizations need to be courted to do work to hold government companies accountable,” Rikhvanova said……….

The Russian environmental movement needs international support because Russian NGOs face worsening political conditions, Rikhvanova said in the interview.

Rikhvanova said the plight of Lake Baikal is particularly important because it is a Russian symbol.

“Baikal is also called the sacred sea,” she said. “There are many songs and legends about Baikal. The lives of the people who live there are very connected to nature.”

TheDartmouth.com | Activist works to protect Lake Baikal

November 4, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, environment, Russia | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear secrecy, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium, wastes