More than any other industry both in Russia and worldwide, the nuclear industry senses the heightened interest of both the public and ecology specialists in ensuring environmental security. We often encounter harsh and not always constructive criticism. In this regard, this is an extremely appropriate time for an objective and open discussion of our achievements and unresolved problems.

The activities of our enterprises have traditionally been associated exclusively with radiation effects on people and nature. It should be noted that protecting people and the natural environment against radiation associated with the use of nuclear power is not a new task but rather an inalienable aspect of the activities of nuclear power enterprises over the course of many decades. Scientists and specialists from the State Research Center—Institute of Biophysics, the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Agricultural Radiology of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, and the Medical Radiological Research Center of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences (RAMS) have made a significant contribution to ensuring radiation safety and resolving problems associated with radioecology and radiation medicine. We note that further steps toward strengthening the regulation of human radiation exposure limits must be weighed carefully. Furthermore, we believe that environmental security issues must be addressed comprehensively and systematically, taking into account all risk factors to which people today are subjected.

The task of ensuring environmental security has two limiting conditions. On the one hand, we, like all other industries, have limited resources. On the other hand, legislatively enhanced environmental limitations could lead to calls to halt the operation of certain facilities.

Developing and implementing effective and practical environmental security solutions is a complex task. However, accomplishing this task is essential