A vessel belonging to the environmental organization Greenpeace will arrive in St. Petersburg on Wednesday as part of an anti-nuclear tour in protest against the import of French spent nuclear fuel to Russia, Greenpeace Russia's press service said.

The Esperanza will open its doors to the people of St Petersburg from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (1300-1700 GMT). Visitors can go on free excursions leading them to the deck, the captain's bridge and the cargo hold. They will also learn all about the vessel's history, expeditions and campaigns.

On Thursday at 11:00 a news conference will be held on the boat about the import of depleted uranium to Russia.

Environmental activists gathered on the docks in St. Petersburg on Tuesday in protest against the arrival of Russian cargo ship Kapitan Kuroptev, carrying 650 tons of depleted uranium from the French company AREVA.

According to Greenpeace, 23,540 tons of depleted uranium have been imported to Russia since 2006. The uranium is sent to east Siberia for enrichment, after which it is supposed to be returned to France, although Greenpeace says most of it is simply "dumped in open air dumpsites in Siberia."

According to international standards, uranium hexafluoride is not considered nuclear waste, because it can be transformed into fuel for nuclear power stations.

A week ago, French Greenpeace activists tore up rail tracks near the Tricastin Nuclear Power Center in southeastern France to stop a shipment of nuclear waste to Russia, saying Russia's state-controlled civilian nuclear energy corporation Rosatom was carrying out a "hidden trade in nuclear waste."

"If it is a valuable fuel, why does France's Areva part with it so easily?" said Vladimir Chuprov, the energy program director of Greenpeace Russia.

"And what need does Rosatom have for it, when it already has stored up hundreds of thousands tons of such uranium tails, even though there is no special technology or financial resources for nuclear waste recycling in Russia?"

In response to Greenpeace's accusations, Rosatom said the protesters were "drawing attention to an issue that doesn't exist," referring to the contracts on uranium deliveries that expire in 2010.

"Rosatom did in fact drop its contract with Urenco, a European consortium which supplies equipment to enrich uranium for the nuclear industry, in 2010, but the agreements on shipping nuclear waste from France's Areva are still in effect. Areva is determined to stick to contract terms that it says expire in 2014," Chuprov told RIA Novosti in telephone interview on Tuesday.

Chuprov said Greenpeace sent a request to Areva's CEO Anne Lauvergeon a month ago asking the company to cancel its contract with Russia, but has not received a reply.

The French government set up a special ministerial commission after a documentary on nuclear waste shipments to Russia was shown in France in October 2009. The commission's report is due to be completed in April or May.