Russia at Forefront of Arctic Land-Grab

520 SIDELINES NEWS decade’s bioethicsissues. address before turningtonext has more pressing concerns to sabotaged equipment,NASA products, going intospace. see stemcells, andotherbiomed Space Stationfrom 2011 could research ontheInternational N. Engl.J. Med [email protected], BBC, EurekAlert, Sources: The Scientist, of SouthKorea. twelfth-century thecoast boatoff ancient potteryshipwrecked ina led archaeologists toahoard of plate stucktoitssuckers has An octopusfound withaporcelain Tentacle treasure ZOO NEWS begins. stories for ‘science’ silly season summer’s appeared, story first where the Medicine, Journal of New England abetted by the doctors Andso, baffled”. “left Rhode Islandnursing homehas who can“predict death”ata If you believe thenews, thecat Oscar, thecatofdoom OVERHYPED helping totestoutamodernreplica. their rightbigtoeandwouldn’t mind looking for peoplewhohave lost museums inCairo andLondon. She’s toes, madeofwood andleather, from who isstudyingancientEgyptianbig of theUniversity ofManchester, UK, Biomedical egyptologistJacky Finch “ ON THERECORD SCORECARD 700 years. medicine by asmuch back prosthetic we willhave pushed they were functional bc between 1000and600 The toesdatefrom , soifwe canprove astronauts andlost With charges ofdrunken Everything elseatNASA include privately funded NASA’s decisionto Stem cells ontheISS . ”

S. MILNE/AP South Carolina. power reactors and inNorth into fuelfor saletocommercial weapons-grade plutonium plant willconvert surplus, Site inSouthCarolina. The facility attheSavannah River mixed-oxide fuel-fabrication began onaUS$4.8billion nuclear warheads. controversial facility torecycle construction ofa is starting The ofEnergy USDepartment worries which permission, some involved doing research would on floor ocean the need to control water above but seabed, the anyone as much as25%of world’s the oil reserves. vary, but some suggest that contains Arctic the ous Estimates mineraland fossil-fuel reserves. square kilometres and, with it, the rights to copi- to its claims. Russia hopes to claim 1.2million asacontinental itwhich sees extension, iskey to extend its territory. TheLomonosov Ridge, similar to that of Russian land, it may able be continental isgeologically ocean shelfunderthe If Moscow can prove that structure the of the continental margin than this. extends farther tinental Shelf that physical their sion on Limits the of Con- the the United Nations Commis- countriesthis, must prove to from To coastline. their increase economic zone that extends 200nautical miles (UNCLOS) Lawthe of allows Sea the states an Greenland) are preparing also claims. Unitedthe States and Denmark (on of behalf underneath the North Pole. Canada, Norway, nium capsule with aRussian on flag the seabed vast chunk by sending amission to drop atita- national to claim scrum Arctic the seabed. their research may jeopardized be by the inter- Marine scientists are voicing concerns that Arctic land-grab Russia atforefrontof New life for nuclearwarheads Last week, RussiaLast highlighted its claims to a A successful claim would not allow nations The 1982United Nations Convention on Supporters claim thatthe Supporters On 1August,work finally to fulfilitsdisarmament sitting intheUSstockpile, of highlyenrichedplutonium way todisposeof34tonnes mixed-oxide fuelasthebest has touted department nuclear security. it willimprove thenation’s cost andquestionwhether Congress, balkatitsenormous some key members of safely. Butsceptics, including dangerous weapons material facility willhelptodisposeof little free in space left “There could bevery the Arctic Ocean.” Since the1990s, in geological and polar research. “Access is changes it may lead to research restrictions.” research to it maychanges lead countries concerned. political Andifthe climate that through goes various organizations inthe terms of getting and permission documentation in regulated more be will research mean ably Polar Research Secretariat, agrees. “It willprob- little Arctic Ocean.” inthe free spaceleft atlooked maps show which very there could be of Research USArctic the Commission. “We’ve already aproblem,” says Mead Treadwell, chair foot of continental the measure- slope. These rock at asits 1%asthick least distance from the claimed can be ifit floor issedimentary The sea slope. that of foot the beyond out extend land slope’ and how far sediments derived from the off acountry’s coastfallsaway ina‘continental where continental the todetermine used shelf be on structure the floor. of sea the data These can lieof underwater the land the and data seismic lect bathymetric data that accurately describe phy Centre inSouthampton. Kingdom’s United the at Oceanogra- National Lindsay Parson, UNCLOS the leads who Group worked hard so on strategic asnow,” policy says Anders Karlqvist, director of Swedish the To prove claims, their countries needto col- NATURE geologists run-up to inthe many plenty of work for marine some sions of May 2009.“I’ve never countries’ for deadline submis- of thecommercial French actually asmallerversion Massachusetts. University inCambridge, proliferation atHarvard expert to Matthew Bunn,anon- old commercial fuel,according mixed-oxide fuelmadefrom of European reactors runon light-water reactors. Dozens be burnedinconventional with uranium sothatitcan technique blendsplutonium agreement withRussia.The But contest the isproviding The USplantdesignis | Vol 448 | 2 August2007 NATURE|Vol 448|2 August 2007 NEWS

the Arctic Ocean between Rus- Bering Agreed borders sia and Canada. Russia claims Sea Unsettled borders this ridge is an extension of its 200-nautical-mile Siberian shelf, but this is hotly line (from coast) contested by Canada and oth- US Russian claimed ers. On 29 July, Russia sent two CANADA territory mini-submarines, Mir-1 and Mir-2 to a depth of 1.3 kilome- Arctic tres in the first-ever Arctic test dives to gather data to boost its Ocean e g id claims. The subs are part of an R ov expedition to the North Pole s no mo involving a 100-strong team of Lo RUSSIA North Russian scientists aboard the Pole Academician Fedorov, the flag- ship vessel of the Federal Serv- ice for Hydrometeorology and GREENLAND Environment Monitoring. (Denmark) Barents Meanwhile, Canadian Prime Sea NORWAY Minister Stephen Harper has announced plans to spend around Can$7 billion (US$6.5 ments require input from geologists and ocea- billion) on up to eight new reinforced Arctic nographic experts. If there is no sedimentary patrol vessels. “Canada has a choice when it rock, a country is only entitled to claim an addi- comes to defending our sovereignty in the Arc- tional 60 nautical miles out. tic; either we use it or we lose it,” Harper said. Satellite sensing is useless for imaging the “And make no mistake, this government intends seabed because of the overlying water, and to use it. Because Canada’s Arctic is central to our Arctic research is further complicated by sea identity as a northern nation. It is part of our his- ice. Even when data can be gleaned by research tory and it represents the tremendous potential ships, interpretation is tricky. “In many cir- of our future.” Canada is claiming 1.75 million cumstances around the world when the ocean square kilometres of the Arctic seabed. basins form and these ridges get stranded out The Arctic is not the only contentious sea- in the middle of the ocean, it’s not easy to say bed. Countries around the world, including whether there’s a greater attachment at one end New Zealand, Brazil and Ireland, have already of the ridge or the other,” notes Parson. submitted claims to the United Nations. Parson In 2001, Russia became the first country to is involved in the United Kingdom’s four claims make a submission to the United Nations. It was — one, which concerns the Bay of Biscay, will told to supply more information, in particular be submitted by the end of August. ■ about the Lomonosov Ridge, which runs under Daniel Cressey

Melox reprocessing facility But the Russians have backed storage, Secretary of Energy at Marcoule. Engineers have away from the plan in recent Samuel Bodman told Congress. modified the design slightly to years, Kimball says. Bunn disagrees, in part handle weaponized plutonium The US plant has also been because the department will alloys, and they have beset by policy reviews, a be storing other plutonium reduced shielding because lengthy licensing process and anyway. “The cost of having a weapons-grade isotopes are congressional opposition. It few extra bunkers is actually less radioactive than spent is now more than a decade very modest,” he says. commercial fuel. behind schedule, and Which side Congress will The programme gained construction costs have take remains to be seen. The political momentum in part ballooned by nearly 400% Senate is proposing roughly because Russia was planning to since 2002. $390 million for construction build a sister facility to convert Nevertheless, department in fiscal year 2008, but House an equal amount of its own officials stand by the appropriators want to give plutonium surplus, according programme. In addition to it just $168 million. A final to Daryl Kimball, executive fulfilling their disarmament compromise is expected to be director of the Arms Control obligations, the plan will reached later this autumn. ■ Association in Washington DC. be cheaper than long-term Geoff Brumfiel

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