Russian Decommissioned Nuclear Submarines Still Pose Threat To Seas

[GACarlson@aol.com]

[Full story appears at http://www.russiajournal.com/rj12/10-dec.htm]

Decommissioned Nuclear Submarines Still Pose Threat To Seas

Despite some efforts to curb dumping nuclear waste into the sea, Russia
still has no real handle on the problem of its leaking and dangerous nuclear
fleet.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Navy inherited more than 
100 rundown nuclear submarines that had served 20 to 30 years and needed to 
be scrapped. Scrapping a nuclear submarine involves the removal of used 
nuclear fuel and the disengagement of the reactor unit from the hull.

One night in May 1997, a model 670 nuclear submarine scheduled to be scrapped 
sank in its harbor. The Pacific Fleet had already decommissioned the 
submarine, which served in the 1970s, and 20 men of the Kamchatka Fleet who 
were maintaining it at the time drowned. The submarine's nuclear reactor was 
deactivated and all dangerous components removed, but the Defense Ministry 
still declared an emergency situation. Luckily, when navy raised the 
submarine six months later, it found no increase in radioactivity in the 
harbor, according to Pacific Fleet command. Accidents like this are common in 
Kamchatka, and despite the apparent harmlessness of this one, there is no 
guarantee that a similar but disastrous accident will not occur anywhere 
decommissioned Russian nuclear submarines are stationed.
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