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Risk of nuclear waste contamination in the Arctic

Fontenit, Germain Jean-Benoit LU (2020) SIMV03 20191
Graduate School
Abstract
The Barents Sea has been a highly nuclearized region during the Cold War. Sunk submarines and other nuclear waste have lain down on the seafloor for decades. Since the 1990s, the Norwegian Nuclear Action Plan has developed very specific norwegian-russian cooperation in order to cleanup the Cold War “legacy waste”. The purpose of this master thesis is to analyse the long-range radioactive contamination impacts in the Barents Sea region with the standpoint of norwegian actors. An interdisciplinary approach led by critical geopolitics stance created a conceptual framework structured with Arctic geopolitics, nuclear waste contamination, cooperation, transboundary risk management, risk communication and risk perception and Arctic security... (More)
The Barents Sea has been a highly nuclearized region during the Cold War. Sunk submarines and other nuclear waste have lain down on the seafloor for decades. Since the 1990s, the Norwegian Nuclear Action Plan has developed very specific norwegian-russian cooperation in order to cleanup the Cold War “legacy waste”. The purpose of this master thesis is to analyse the long-range radioactive contamination impacts in the Barents Sea region with the standpoint of norwegian actors. An interdisciplinary approach led by critical geopolitics stance created a conceptual framework structured with Arctic geopolitics, nuclear waste contamination, cooperation, transboundary risk management, risk communication and risk perception and Arctic security issues. The study has been made partly through academic literature and research assessments from Arctic institutes, but also through semi-structured interviewed with Norwegian experts on the issue of “legacy waste”. The main results show ambiguity in the success of the bilateral cooperation in the specific field of nuclear safety and security between Norway and Russia. Despite the success of the cleanup operations over three decades, the recent russian Arctic strategy calls for the increase of nuclear icebreakers fleet and submarines arsenal along their Arctic coastline. There is the paradox. In Norway, according to the interviewed experts, the risk perceptions of nuclear waste contamination are contrasted between the different norwegian lands. There is also a bigger emphasis on the risk from chemical pollutions and heavy metals in the seafood chain. For future research, the geographical scope could be further developed on norwegian northern lands. Indeed, a research on risk perceptions from the local populations would be relevant in this matter. (Less)
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author
Fontenit, Germain Jean-Benoit LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Thinking long-range pollution issues in the Barents Sea region
course
SIMV03 20191
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
nuclear waste contamination, risk perception, Barents Sea, sunk submarines, critical geopolitics, Arctic security issues
language
English
id
9002622
date added to LUP
2020-02-11 12:08:42
date last changed
2020-02-11 12:08:42
@misc{9002622,
  abstract     = {{The Barents Sea has been a highly nuclearized region during the Cold War. Sunk submarines and other nuclear waste have lain down on the seafloor for decades. Since the 1990s, the Norwegian Nuclear Action Plan has developed very specific norwegian-russian cooperation in order to cleanup the Cold War “legacy waste”. The purpose of this master thesis is to analyse the long-range radioactive contamination impacts in the Barents Sea region with the standpoint of norwegian actors. An interdisciplinary approach led by critical geopolitics stance created a conceptual framework structured with Arctic geopolitics, nuclear waste contamination, cooperation, transboundary risk management, risk communication and risk perception and Arctic security issues. The study has been made partly through academic literature and research assessments from Arctic institutes, but also through semi-structured interviewed with Norwegian experts on the issue of “legacy waste”. The main results show ambiguity in the success of the bilateral cooperation in the specific field of nuclear safety and security between Norway and Russia. Despite the success of the cleanup operations over three decades, the recent russian Arctic strategy calls for the increase of nuclear icebreakers fleet and submarines arsenal along their Arctic coastline. There is the paradox. In Norway, according to the interviewed experts, the risk perceptions of nuclear waste contamination are contrasted between the different norwegian lands. There is also a bigger emphasis on the risk from chemical pollutions and heavy metals in the seafood chain. For future research, the geographical scope could be further developed on norwegian northern lands. Indeed, a research on risk perceptions from the local populations would be relevant in this matter.}},
  author       = {{Fontenit, Germain Jean-Benoit}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Risk of nuclear waste contamination in the Arctic}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}