During 1997, there was only one shipment of spent fuel from Severodvinsk (performed in May). That shipment was delayed for almost two months, due to malfunctions on both the train and the PMs in Severodvinsk.

According to Kuratov, Severodvinsk generates four shipments of spent fuel a year. In case no shipment is performed this year, no more retired nuclear subs will be admitted to Severodvinsk, as these would only add to the number of subs with the reactor cores intact. This, in turn, will slow down the scrapping operations and will lead to reduction of the amount of work at Severodvinsk yards, hence to the increase of social tension among the employees.