Russia’s state atomic energy corporation Rosatom reaffirms its commitments to care for the common home for all- the planet while celebrating the World Environment Day this year.
Nuclear energy is a reliable source of low-carbon electricity, which makes a huge contribution to protecting the planet from the climate change, and is one of the global partnership tools to preserve, protect and restore the Earth’s ecosystem. Rosatom is the largest producer of low-carbon electricity in Russia.According to experts, the operation of all nuclear power units of Russian design in the world prevents the emission of about 210 million tons of CO2 per year, including 107 million tons of CO2 in Russia (the assessment was made using the 2018 world power generation statistics by source type). In nuclear energy there are no direct emissions of chemically hazardous substances that destroy the ozone layer and contribute to the greenhouse effect.
In 2019 the share of Rosatom pollutant emissions in Russia was only 0.1%. 45 organisations and enterprises within the Russian nuclear industry have environment management systems certified according to the international standard ISO 14001. There are control laboratories, which conduct regular measurements and sampling, at all Russian nuclear power plants. Nuclear industry organizations constantly monitor the level of radionuclides in locally produced agricultural food products, in wild food (berries, mushrooms, etc.) and in the feed growing in the observation zone, as well as in fish, water and NPPs` cooling ponds silt.
Minimizing negative environmental impact is an important priority for Rosatom. To achieve this goal the enterprises of Rosatom work on multiple fronts, including conducting industrial environmental control, monitoring the level of pollutant emissions in the atmosphere and compliance with environmental regulations; improving the state of the sanitary protection zone; maintaining and cleaning dust and gas treatment facilities, filters and drains. The total environmental costs of Rosatom enterprises in 2019 was 363.7 million USD. There was a 9.7% decrease in the cost of energy consumption relative to the base year of 2015. Gross greenhouse gas emissions by the organizations under Rosatom in 2019 decreased by 6.4%. Compared to 2018 wastewater discharge decreased by 762.1 million cubic meters.
In 2019 the Regulation of the system to account for greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the activities of organizations of the State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom was approved.
Rosatom thinks that it is impossible to solve the main challenge of humanity of our time –global warming – without nuclear energy, which is a source of clean energy. Therefore, it may replace fossil fuels and work effectively in tandem with renewable sources. – Press release
