The Russian government has come up with a plan to build as many as 38 new nuclear reactors by 2020, disregarding concerns that the nation could be setting itself up for a repeat of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Russian enviros are particularly disturbed that the Ministry of Atomic Energy plans to help pay for the nuclear power plants by increasing imports of nuclear waste into the country for reprocessing. Still, it’s highly unlikely that Russia will come up with the $32 billion that would be necessary to proceed with its construction plans. In other news of environmental troubles in Russia, enviros are waging an international campaign to shut down a big pulp-and-paper mill that is polluting Lake Baikal, which contains one-fifth of the fresh water on the planet.
