The Russian parliament has approved a law on radioactive waste storage after its first reading in January 2010. The bill requires producers to pay all the costs of new waste they generate.
The amount of Russian radwaste exceeds 540 million m3 of waste at more than 1000 facilities, according to Eugene Tugolukov, chairman of the Russian parliament's committee on natural resources, environment and ecology. The law makes it illegal to import or export radwaste. Spent nuclear fuel is not considered in this bill.
The bill allows the creation of a unified national radwaste management system, said deputy chairman of the same committee Alexander Fokin. In this system, Rosatom will take responsibility for the waste.
The law has outlawed the practice of direct geological injection of liquid waste.
Now the law must be approved by the Council of the Federation and the President.
