Bellona.org

Our December Nuclear Digest, reported by Bellona’s Environmental Transparency Center, is out now. Here’s a quick taste of three nuclear issues arising in Russia, France and worldwide that our analysts have been discussing. Stay tuned below for the entire digest and a lot more nuclear news.

After a 20-year search, Russian scientists have established the precise location of two sunken vessels laden with solid radioactive waste off the coast of Novaya Zemlya—an event cited widely in Russian media, but largely unsurprising to Bellona’s experts, they write in Bellona’s newest Nuclear Digest.

The discovery came during an expedition of the Akademik Ioffe, a research vessel that regularly conducts surveys of sunken radiation hazards in the Kara and Barents seas in cooperation with the Kurchatov Institute. The mission also unveiled a previously uncharted radioactive waste dump near Techeniye Bay on Novaya Zemlya’s northeast coast.

According to archival data, that site hosts 146 containers of solid radioactive waste from Soviet nuclear subs and nuclear icebreakers that were dumped there in the 1980s. Also scuttled at the location was barge loaded with the reactor compartments of the K-22 Soviet nuclear submarine. Previous expeditions had failed to locate these finds at the coordinates appearing in the Soviet archives.

While Russian media greeted reports of these finds with fanfare, Bellona’s Alexander Nikitin writes that these wrecks and containers have already been documented by numerous Bellona reports—particularly our 1996 report on the Russian Northern Fleet. But because the dumping locations were often recorded by Soviet officials in only an approximate manner, contemporary expeditions, like the one carried out by the Akademik Ioffe, continue to unveil discrepancies between the recorded coordinates the actual locations of the submerged radiation-hazardous finds, Nikitin writes.

Despite the scale of Soviet-era dumping, the Akademik Ioffe expedition noted that the water column surrounding the submerged items it inspected—which also included the sunken K-27 Soviet nuclear submarine—was free of contamination by cesium 137. This, too, says Nikitin, came as no surprise.

“This is hardly a new finding, let alone a sensational one,” Nikitin writes. “Solid radioactive waste submerged at great depths fifty years or more ago is unlikely to be a source of radioactive contamination in the Arctic Ocean’s water column today.”

Reactor turbines traditionally produced by Russia’s Power Machines might get upstaged by turbines made in China at two new reactors under construction at the Leningrad nuclear power plant, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported.

If true, the report could indicate that Rosatom is having a hard time independently supplying its own projects with domestic equipment, Bellona’s Dmitry Gorchakov writes. In general, Rosatom much prefers to use its own equipment—or, prior to the war, that produced in Ukraine.

But recent mishaps arising from Power Machines produced turbines—particularly at the Leningrad and Novovoronezh plants—are making them a little less desirable. In those instances, turbines operating in Rosatom’s flagship VVER-1200 reactors broke down, leading to tedious repairs and persistent delays in bringing the affected reactors online.

It’s already proven that Chinese turbines interface with the Russian VVER-1200. They’ll be used to outfit the reactors at the Tianwan nuclear plant, which Russia and China are jointly building on the VVER-1200 design, Gorchakov writes. So, from a technical standpoint, there’s no special reason not to use Chinese turbines at the Leningrad plant.

Gorchakov also observed, however, that discussions of using Chinese turbines may merely be a bargaining chip mean to spur more domestic production at Power Machines.

Framatome, the French nuclear services company, has announced plans to manufacture, under Russian license, fuel assemblies that can be used in Soviet-built VVER reactors operating in European countries, possibly providing an off-ramp from Russian fuel dependence for some 18 power units in the EU.

The company applied for a permit to produce the hexagonal fuel assemblies used in VVER-1000 models at its site in Lingen, Germany in 2023, but German authorities have thus far been reluctant to license the project given Russia’s involvement in the arrangement. A decision on the matter from the German environmental ministry is expected in days.

Should that decision be a “no,” writes Gorchakov, it’s likely that Framatome will simply move VVER-1000 fuel production to France.

Regardless of how that situation evolves, Framatome executives say the company will move forward with producing fuel assemblies for VVER-440-model reactors, also under license from Russia. They’ll be delivered by at the firm’s Romans-sur-Isère facility in France, starting in 2027, with the aim of fueling Soviet-built reactors in Slovakia and Hungary.

Other European nations operating Soviet reactors include Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Finland, all of which have expressed hopes of diversifying away from Russian fuel producers.

But Gorchakov observed that delivery deadlines of VVER-1000 fuel for Bulgaria and the Czech Republic may already have been missed, or are in danger of being missed, due to the delays in launching production at the Lingen facility. Previous reports suggested that Bulgaria was to receive its first shipments last year, and the Czech Republic sometime this year.  Should that be the case, writes Gorchakov, both plants will have to stick it out a bit long on Russian fuel. For our complete coverage of international nuclear industry issues though December, read the whole digest. Subscribe to our mailing list to stay informed about future issues.

The post Charting more Arctic nuclear wreckage and giving Soviet nuclear fuel a French twist—the new Nuclear Digest is out appeared first on Bellona.org.

Bellona has launched the Oslofjord Kelp Park, a pilot kelp cultivation facility outside Slemmestad, about 30 kilometers southwest of Oslo, aimed at restoring environmental conditions in the heavily stressed Oslofjord.

“We are going to show how we can use nature’s solutions to fix nature’s problems. Great values have been lost here, and the hope is to bring life back to our fjord,” says Bellona chair Frederic Hauge.

Kelp forests serve as natural habitats for fish and other marine life. By cultivating kelp on submerged ropes, the project will absorb excess nutrients, bind carbon, and create new living areas for marine species, using nature-based methods to help rejuvenate the fjord.

The initiative comes after several years of planning and builds on more than a decade of marine restoration and kelp cultivation experience through Ocean Forest, a collaboration between Bellona and seafood company Lerøy. The project is being carried out in cooperation with partners from research, industry, and public administration, including NIVA, VEAS, the City of Oslo’s Agency for Urban Environment, and Asker municipality. The facility is scheduled to begin operations in autumn 2026.

The project is designed as a demonstration and learning facility for low-trophic aquaculture and ecosystem restoration.

“There is a need for concrete measures that can help the Oslofjord ecosystem. By establishing a pilot kelp facility, we can test how natural methods can help clean the water and create better conditions in the fjord,” says project manager and senior bioeconomy advisor at Bellona, Alexander Ugland.

Fieldwork milestones were reached this past autumn, when Bellona’s marine biology team collected locally adapted “mother plants” of sugar kelp in the nearby Drøbaksundet. These were sent to Lerøy’s hatchery outside Bergen, where spores are now being cultivated on ropes for later deployment at the Slemmestad/Vollen site. Using local genetic material helps ensure the kelp is suited to fjord conditions.

“Kelp forests are among the most important ecosystems on the planet,” says Bellona marine biologist Jessica Hough. “The entire plant functions as a habitat for other species.”

Kelp cultivation also acts as a natural treatment system by absorbing nitrogen and phosphorus from the water. While the pilot facility alone will not solve all the fjord’s challenges, Bellona says it is a necessary step toward scaling up nature-based measures.

“Kelp is living biomass with great potential. It binds carbon, absorbs nutrients, and can become an important resource in the green transition,” Ugland says. “We have to start somewhere to show that kelp can be part of the solution.”

Harvested kelp from the project is planned to be used in biogas production combined with carbon capture and storage (Bio-CCS) at the VEAS wastewater treatment facility in Asker, which handles wastewater from much of the Oslo region.

“The Oslofjord Kelp Park is a very exciting and relevant collaboration for VEAS,” says CEO Kjetil Wang-Hansen. “It contributes to cleaning the fjord while exploring how biological resources can deliver additional environmental and climate benefits. That aligns closely with our own goals and shows the value of cross-sector cooperation.”

Lerøy also highlights the long-term industrial potential.

“Kelp cultivation is part of the future of the seafood industry and a strategic focus area for Lerøy,” says CEO Henning Beltestad. “We aim to develop the world’s most efficient and sustainable seafood value chain, with greater diversity and a lower footprint. That is why we are proud to be part of the Oslofjord Kelp Park.”

Bellona has also held public meetings to build local engagement around the project and fjord restoration more broadly.

“The Oslofjord is sick, and if we are going to restore it, we must bring life back and work with nature,” says Oslo’s City Commissioner for Environment and Transport, Marit Vea. “The kelp park is an important measure in itself and can also serve as a starting point for further nature-based restoration projects.”

If the pilot proves successful, Bellona and its partners plan to expand with additional kelp parks in the fjord.

“The goal is to document results on water quality, biodiversity, carbon capture, and local value creation,” says Ugland. “That could open the door to a new green industry in the Oslofjord.”

The post Bellona Launches Oslofjord Kelp Park appeared first on Bellona.org.