Prohibiting Nuclear Pollution

The Arctic is home to the world’s two major nuclear powers – the United States and Russia – neither of whom has a strong history of best practices in the region with regards to nuclear disposal. It is essential that the Arctic is made a nuclear “no dump” zone, with strict and readily enforceable penalties for a violating nation, perhaps through an escrow account. As the Soviet submarine and icebreaking fleet ages, this becomes increasingly important – indeed, the Soviets are currently capable of projecting only one submarine at a time at sea. The Soviets might request financial assistance to better dispose of nuclear waste. United States vessels should be subject to the same standards as Russian vessels. An independent non-governmental monitoring organization should be given full access to nuclear ships in order to assure that best practices are followed.