atw - International Journal for Nuclear Power | 05.2019

atw Vol. 64 (2019) | Issue 5 ı May
A World’s Dilemma ‘Upon Which
the Sun Never Sets’: The Nuclear Waste
Management Strategy: Russia
Part 2
Mark Callis Sanders and Charlotta E. Sanders
4 Eurasia
4.1 Russian Federation or
Российская Федерация
(Russia)
4.1.1 Historical Overview & Law
Russia’s 1
economy and government
financial structure is over reliant on
the monies it obtains through its oil
and natural gas production. Swings
in global commodity prices have
been known to create unrealistic and
unsustainable economic bubbles in
the Russian economy, which then lead
to severe economic downturns. In
1954, Russia developed and operated
the world’s first nuclear power plant.
By the mid-1980s, the Union of Soviet
Socialist Republic (USSR) had an
expanding civilian nuclear power
program, when the world’s worst
nuclear accident occurred in 1986 at
Chernobyl. 2
Throughout the 1990’s,
Russia’s economy experienced a
steady downward trajectory, resulting
in a tightening of funding available
for its nuclear power programs.
Toward the end of the 1990’s,
Russia began to export its reactors to
Iran, China and India, which saw the
revival of its domestic nuclear power
program [27]. Russia is expanding its
civilian nuclear power program
having in 2014 initiated the “Development
of the Russian Nuclear Power
Generation Complex” policy which
provides for the country to construct
and/or commission at “least 10 new
nuclear power units [through] 2020” 3
[28].
It is now just over a hundred years
since the Russian revolution, which
resulted in the overthrow of Tsar
Nikolai II. From this period of history,
Russia has travelled through various
| | Nuclear power in Russia: electricity generation.
political systems, but with each
focused on one dynamic: centralized
state power and control. In June of
1941, the USSR was attacked by Nazi
Germany in Hitler’s quest for ‘lebensraum’
and Russia entered into an
alliance with both major allied
powers, the United Kingdom in the
summer of 1941, and later with the
United States (US) following its entry
into the war. However, following the
conclusion of World War II, and with
Soviet dominance of Eastern Europe,
these previous allies entered into a
stalemate of attrition as each side
sought for geopolitical influence in
various corners of the globe. 4
Democracy came to Russia in the
early 1990’s as the USSR splintered
into Russia and 14 other independent
republics. President Boris Yeltsin’s
term as president (1991-99), was a
bitter time of corruption and economic
stagnation/decline for the
Russian people. To overcome these
economic hardships, the Russian
people sought new leadership electing
President Vladimir Putin. Under
Putin, Russia’s foreign policy has been
marked by aggression towards its
neighbors, as it seeks to regain its
former influence.
4.1.2 Government & Legislative
Regime
A study of Russian culture provides an
insight into the abrupt changes of
Russia’s political systems during the
course of history as one charts the
exodus of its cultural riches from 1917
through “the catastrophic losses due
to Nazi atrocities during World War
II,” and during the past couple of
decades, “the diffusion and disbandment
of Soviet collections” [29].
Though the pendulum of Russia’s
political system appears to have
violent swings throughout its long
history, it is a zeal for centralized
power and control, by the State, that
affords the Russian political system
and cultural heritage with a continuity
of stability.
Russia is considered a “ democracy,”
with “democratically” elected members
of government. However, given
State control of the media and
elections, Russian democracy may
generally not be viewed in a similar
vein of ‘democracy’ as applied in the
US or Western Europe. That being
said, given Russians’ experiences
throughout its Tsarist and Communist
history, Russian democracy today is
certainly democratic in comparison to
those standards.
The Russian federal government
retains and exercises exclusive
powers. Its executive branch of
government is led by the prime
minister. The Constitution of the
Russian Federation and the federal
constitutional law “On the Government
of the Russian Federation” establishes
the mechanisms for the
Federal government to legislate by
way of acts. The executive must
exercise power in a manner which is
not in contrast to the con stitution or
267
DECOMMISSIONING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT
1 Throughout the paper, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) or The Soviet Union is used interchangeable with the word Russia dependent
on the historical point of reference being discussed.
2 The world’s worst nuclear disaster occurred on 25–26 April 1986 near the now-abandoned town of Pripyat, located in the Ukrainian Soviet
Socialist Republic, now the Ukraine.
3 Resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 516-12.
4 This period of world history is referred to as the Cold War, lasting from 1947-1991.
Decommissioning and Waste Management
A World’s Dilemma ‘Upon Which the Sun Never Sets’: The Nuclear Waste Management Strategy: Russia Part 2 ı Mark Callis Sanders and Charlotta E. Sanders