포스트소비에트 러시아의 반핵운동: 원자력산업 관련 이슈를 중심으로

Abstract

In the wake of the disastrous Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986, strong anti-nuclear sentiment spread in the Soviet Union, leading to the emergence

of an anti-nuclear movement. As a result, the Russian government was unable

to pursue further development of the nuclear industry in the 1990s. However,

from the beginning of the 2000s, the Russian government, particularly the

Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy, has been vigorously seeking the

commercialization and modernization of the nuclear industry, including the

construction of new nuclear power plants, the importation of spent nuclear

fuel from abroad, and the construction of MOX fuel plants. This raised

strong opposition from the Russian anti-nuclear NGOs, as well as from

ordinary citizens. Against this background, this paper evaluates the achievement and limitations of the anti-nuclear movement in post-Soviet Russia. After

examining the Soviet legacy of the nuclear industry, it explores the range and

issues of the anti-nuclear activities of Russian environmental NGOs.

Consequently, this paper argues that the Russian anti-nuclear movement has

been successful in mobilizing ordinary citizens in regard to some specific

issues, but it has to find out appropriate measures in order to effectively

affect government policies in the future as it is doomed to face an

ever-increasingly authoritarian regime.