Environment

(Archive)

Dealing with the many environmental challenges in the NEI region -- both nuclear and non-nuclear -- requires a regional approach. Regional environmental efforts run by the Environmental Protection Agency include a Great Lakes/Baltic Sea fellowship program, several cross-border watershed management projects that bring Baltic and Russian experts together, and a U.S.-Swedish program that provides training in environmental management for military bases in the region. An NEI Task Force oversees a number of nuclear waste management projects in the Russian northwest. Key projects include the Murmansk 80-tonne Cask, which will provide transportation and interim storage for special nuclear fuel from Russian nuclear submarines and icebreakers currently stored aboard barges and service vessels, and a low-level radioactive waste treatment facility in Murmansk. The U.S. and several regional partners are engaged in negotiations to establish a framework agreement covering these and similar projects -- the Multilateral Nuclear Environmental Program for Russia (MNEPR). The U.S. embassy in Copenhagen serves as a hub for environmental activities throughout the NEI region.