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Mr Zolotkov’s warning attracts attention in Murmansk, where he is seen as an authority on this matter.
Not only is he a former crew member of both nuclear-powered ice breakers and service ships unloading spent nuclear fuel from submarines, he is also a former member of Russia’s parliament, the Duma, during Soviet times.
He has long worked for the radiation safety department at Murmansk Shipping Company, which operates both nuclear-powered ships and nuclear storage facilities.
But most importantly, Mr Zolotkov was among those who first raised the alarm back in the 1990s and he has been campaigning for a solution ever since.
Last week there was a breakthrough – the first public hearing of its kind, held in a former Communist Party building in the centre of Murmansk.
More than a decade of campaigning has resulted in an action plan for dealing with the nuclear waste mountain at Andreeva Bay, so at last the people of Murmansk have been told face-to-face what they have known for years.
“All installations are degrading and in poor condition and pollution levels are increasing, not decreasing,” a SevRao official says