[CPEO-MEF] United Kingdom Joins Arctic Environmental Cooperation

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

The following release can be viewed online at:
http://www.defenselink.mil/releases/2003/nr20030619-0114.html
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No. 434-03
IMMEDIATE RELEASE  June 19, 2003

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United Kingdom Joins Arctic Environmental Cooperation

Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Installations and Environment
Raymond F. DuBois will represent the United States at the multi-national
principals meeting for the Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation
(AMEC), June 26-27, at the Old Royal Navy College, Greenwich, United
Kingdom. A highlight of the meeting will be the formal induction of the
United Kingdom into the Cooperation, joining current member countries
Norway, Russia, and the United States. A signing ceremony will be held
Thursday, June 26, at 6 p.m. GMT aboard the Russian warship
Neustrashimiy ("Fearless") anchored in the Thames River, near Greenwich.

Joining DuBois at the ceremony will be Ivor Caplin, Esq., United
Kingdom’s Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Ministry of Defence,
who will sign the membership agreement on behalf of the United Kingdom.
Other AMEC principals expected to attend include Gunnar Heloe, State
Secretary of the Ministry of Defence and acting Norwegian principal, and
Maj. Gen. Alevtin Yunak of Russia.

Established in 1996 as a forum to address military-related environmental
concerns in the Arctic, the Cooperation has developed technologies that
minimize radioactive environmental contamination. A key focus for AMEC
is to develop storage and treatment technologies to improve the
decommissioning of Russian nuclear submarines and related facilities, a
process that generates large volumes of solid radioactive waste. Without
proper storage, the waste could release significant amounts of radiation
into the environment.

As part of its work, AMEC developed a 40-ton storage and transport cask
that is used to contain spent nuclear fuel, some of which was previously
stored in an open-air setting. The cask’s success has led to mass
production and use by the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to
store spent nuclear fuel from Russian ballistic missile submarines.
Other AMEC developments include a solid radioactive waste treatment
complex that will significantly improve the safety and security of
Russian decommissioning efforts. All these efforts help to secure
radioactive materials from otherwise unguarded locations and protect the
environment.

Additional information on AMEC may be found at
https://www.denix.osd.mil/denix/Public/Intl/AMEC/amec.html.

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