Decommissioning of nuclear submarines

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Decommissioning of nuclear submarines

At this time, just over 130 nuclear powered submarines have been taken out of service and are laid up. Eighty-eight of them belong to the Northern Fleet; fifty-two still carry nuclear fuel in the reactors.[459] Fifteen reactor compartments have been removed from the hulls and have been prepared for storage. In all probability, around 150 nuclear submarines will be taken out of service with the Russian Navy by the year 2003.[460] Inactive Northern Fleet submarines are laid up at Gremikha, Severodvinsk, Vidyaevo (Olenya Bay, Sayda Bay and the Nerpa yards), Polyarny (Shkval), Sevmorput, Gadzhievo (Ara and Ura Bays) and Zapadnaya Litsa.[461] The dismantling of first and second generation submarines has commenced, whilst the dismantling of third generation vessels is still in the planning stage.[462]

This Hotel class nuclear submarine is moored at the Sevmorput shipyard in Murmansk. Work on decommissioning the vessel had begun, but the spent fuel assemblies had not yet been removed from the reactor at the time that this photograph was taken. Above the reactor compartment may be seen a metallic coloured hut containing the equipment that is used for removing fuel assemblies from the reactor compartment. There are signs all around the quay where the submarine is moored warning of radiation danger, an indication that radiation from the reactor compartment can be measured outside the hull of the submarine.

The reactor compartment from the Alfa class nuclear submarine K-47 has been in Severodvinsk since the 1970s. The fuel elements have been left inside the reactor because the metal coolant has solidified. There are plans to set the reactor afloat and tow it north to Gremikha on the Kola Peninsula for storage.

These six nuclear submarines (five Yankee class and one Charlie class) are laid up at a pier at the naval base Belomorskaya in Severodvinsk awaiting decommissioning. Many of the submarines that are presently laid up are in very poor technical condition. Compressors for pressurised air are mounted in all six of the vessels pictured here. Pressurised air is pumped into the hull to prevent the submarines from sinking at the quay. There are clear signs of air bubbles in the water around the Yankee class submarine moored closest to the pier on the left side, a strong indication that the vessel's hull is not airtight. On the other side of the channel, to the far right of the photograph, the apartment blocks of Severodvinsk may be seen, a town with 210 000 inhabitants.

Footnotes

[459] Komsomolskaya Pravda, June 23, 1995. Return
[460] Krasnaya Zvezda, July 13, 1995. Return
[461] Kværner Moss Technology as., Disposal of Russian Nuclear Submarines, January 19, 1996. Return
[462] Problems of Decommissioning of Nuclear Powered Submarines and Environmental Protection in the Northern areas, Severodvinsk March 15 - 16, 1995. Return

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