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Thomas Nilsen (born 29 August 1968) is a Norwegian journalist who has extensively covered oil drilling in the Arctic region.[1] He was editor of the BarentsObserver, a Norwegian Arctic online newspaper based in Kirkenes, for six years before he was sacked in 2015.[2][3] Norway’s public service broadcaster, NRK, claim Nilsen was sacked at the behest of the Russian intelligence service, the FSB.[1][4]
Nilsen studied at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology[5] in Trondheim, Norway.
He has been an environmental campaigner and guide for adventure tours.[6]
He worked for 12 years for the Bellona Foundation's Russian study group, focusing on nuclear safety issues and other environmental challenges in northern areas including the Arctic.[5] In 1996 he cowrote The Russian Northern Fleet: Sources of Radioactive Contamination with Igor Kudrik and Alexander Nikitin, a report on the environmental hazards of disused and decaying nuclear-powered submarines of the Russian Navy's Northern Fleet.[7]
Beginning in 2003,[5] Nilsen worked for thirteen years for the Norwegian Barents Secretariat (NBS), a "local government body that promotes good relations with Russia in a region where the two nations cooperate and compete over fishing, oil and military strategy".[1] From 2003 to 2009 he was its information officer and deputy head. From 2009 to 2015 he was editor of the BarentsObserver, a Norwegian Arctic online newspaper based in Kirkenes, published by NBS. Kirkenes is in the extreme northeastern part of Norway, on the edge of a vast bay connected to the Barents Sea, near the Russian–Norwegian border. The town is about 400 kilometres (250 mi) north of the Arctic Circle. According to the BBC it is a "tiny bubble of cross-border friendship in a Nato country".[6]
In 2014 Mikhail Noskov, the Russian consul-general (Russian government representative in Norway) who was also based in Kirkenes, criticised Nilsen’s writing and warned that it might damage relations between Russia and Norway.[1][8] On 28 September 2015 Nilsen was sacked from his position as editor.[2][3] Norway’s public service broadcaster, NRK, has claimed he was sacked at the behest of the Russian intelligence service, the FSB.[1][4]
- Sources to Radioactive Contamination in Murmansk and Arkhangel'sk Counties. Bellona report, vol. 1. Oslo: Bellona Foundation, 1994. OCLC 37825869. By Nilsen and Nils Bohmer. English-language text.
- Reprocessing Plants in Siberia. Bellona working paper, no. 4. Oslo: Bellona, 1995. OCLC 35845759. By Nilsen and Nils Bohmer. Also available in Norwegian and Russian-language text.
- Zapadnaya Litsa. Bellona working paper, no. 5. Oslo: Bellona, 1995. OCLC 35847896. By Nilsen, Igor Kudrik and Alexander Nikitin. Also available in Norwegian and Russian-language text.
- The Russian Northern Fleet: Sources of Radioactive Contamination. By Nilsen, Igor Kudrik and Alexander Nikitin.[n 1]
- Den Russiske Nordflaten: Kilder til Radioaktiv Forurensning. Oslo: Bellona, 1996. ISBN 9788202162122.
- The Russian Northern Fleet: Sources of Radioactive Contamination. Oslo; Washington, D.C.: Bellona, 1996. OCLC 35747733.
- Den Russiske Nordflåten: Kilder til Radioaktiv Forurensning. Bellona Rapport, 1996 nr. 2. Oslo J.W. Cappelen; Bellona, 1996. ISBN 9788202162122.
- La Flotte Russe du Nord: les Sources de la Pollution Radioactive. Rapport Bellona, Tome 2, 1996. Geneva: Georg Editeur, 1998. ISBN 9782825705889.
- The full text of the report can be read here at the St. Petersburg Open Network, and a version in PDF format can be read here at the International Atomic Energy Agency site.
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