Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation


Todd Margrave served as the Assistant Navy Program Manager for Headquarters, Naval Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFACHQ) during the formation of AMEC in 1997-1998.

The primary goal of the AMEC Program is to advance US national security interests through the environmentally safe, accountable reduction of Russian naval nuclear forces in Northwest Russia, constructive engagement between US, Norwegian and Russian military forces and the advancement of sustainable military use of the Arctic region.

The Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation Program  began as a Norwegian initiative to combine the efforts of the United States, Norway, and Russia to address environmental problems in the Arctic region associated with Russian nuclear submarine decommissioning. The program officially started on 26 September 1996. AMEC priorities include: 1) development of containers and storage pads for interim storage and transportation of spent nuclear fuel, 2) development of mobile technology for treatment of liquid radioactive waste at remote sites, 3) implementation of technologies to reduce solid radioactive waste volumes and temporarily store solid waste, 4) cooperation in radiation monitoring and environmental safety, and 5) implementation of clean-up technologies.


  • Declaration on Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation Between Russia, U.S.A and Norway Signed Today in Bergen, Norway (1996): The Russian, American and Norwegian ministers of defence signed a Declaration on Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation in Bergen, Norway in September 1996. The Declaration establishes a framework for further cooperation between Russia, U.S.A. and Norway to solve environmental problems caused by military activities.


  • The Russian Northern Fleet: Sources of Radioactive Contamination (1996): The report gives a thorough overview of the sources of potential releases of radioactivity which could harm the public health and the environment. The problems of nuclear waste and disused nuclear submarines is a product of the arms race and the cold war. Russia continues to build new nuclear submarines, but there are very few provisions being made to properly store old nuclear submarines and develop sufficient storage facilities for spent nuclear fuel and other radadioactive waste.


  • Military Nuclear Waste and International Cooperation in Northwest Russia (2001): Disarmament and naval force reductions in the Russian Federation have created new security policy challenges. In northwest Russia, these challenges stem from the scores of nuclear-powered submarines that have been decommissioned and the large quantities of fissile material and radioactive waste that are generated as a result. The report discusses the activities of several international assistance programmes, examines some of their limitations, and indicates obstacles to their expansion, but it is not meant to be an evaluation of their effectiveness or efficiency. (See Chapter 3.4 - ARCTIC MILITARY ENVIRONMENTAL COOPERATION PROGRAMME)


  • The Arctic Nuclear Challenge (2001): This is the third Bellona report on potential sources of radioactive contamination of the Arctic. While the two former reports (1994 and 1996) mainly focused on identifying the sources, this report also presents solutions to secure spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste. In support of the ongoing efforts to safely secure this waste, this report describes various new projects proposed by Bellona in order to solve the problems of further radioactive contamination and the ensuing adverse health effects to the people living in the Arctic areas.


  • United Kingdom Joins Arctic Environmental Cooperation (2003): At a ceremony aboard a Russian warship anchored in the Thames June 27, the United Kingdom will formally join the Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation (AMEC), which currently comprises Russia, Norway and the United States.


  • U.S. Participation in the Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation Program Needs Better Justification (2004): In a 1999 program plan to the Congress, DOD stated that AMEC projects would support the goals of the CTR program. However, we found that only one of eight AMEC projects designed to support CTR’s objective of dismantling Russia’s ballistic missile nuclear submarines has done so. This project involved development of a prototype 40-metric ton container to store and transport spent (used) nuclear fuel from Russia’s dismantled submarines. Despite AMEC’s limited contribution to CTR, DOD officials, including CTR representatives, said that most of the projects can be used to support dismantlement of other types of Russian nuclear submarines. In addition, U.S. and foreign officials cited other benefits of U.S. participation in AMEC, including promoting U.S. foreign policy objectives, particularly with Norway, and facilitating military-to-military cooperation with Russia.

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