The bill was passed in its first reading by the lower house of parliament in January and is set for its crucial second reading this month. Lawmakers say it will ban the storage of nuclear waste above ground.

The bill is "horrifying" and "only protects the interests of the state nuclear agency Rosatom," Vladimir Slivyak, the founder of campaigning group Ecodefence, argued at a news conference.

Slivyak said the bill allows liquid nuclear waste to be pumped underground, the construction of radioactive waste dumps even if there is objection from local people, and the use of taxpayers' money on nuclear waste programmes.

"This law is unbalanced. It protects the industry a lot but doesn't protect the people at all," said biologist and environmentalist Alexei Yablokov, who along with Slivyak took part in a parliamentary working group on the bill.

Underground storage facilities for liquid nuclear waste are located close to large cities such as Tomsk in western Siberia and risk contaminating drinking water, Yablokov said, citing independent experts.

Russian lawmakers said in a note to the bill that it "fully complies" with the UN Convention on the safety of spent fuel management and radioactive waste management, which has been ratified by Russia.

"The current version is irresponsible from an environmental point of view," said Vladimir Milov, a former deputy energy minister who has become an opposition politician.

"If the bill is passed in this version, we will refer the matter to the Constitutional Court to annul it," Milov said.

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