News
Publish date: July 1, 1997
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
–The shipbuilding industry’s wish to commission as fast and many vessels they can, neglects the fact that the vessels and subs become accident-prone as a result of this approach, claimed the senior officers of the Northern Fleet at the meeting with Murmansk journalists.
The nuclear-powered cruiser Peter the Great, which recently was incorporated into the Northern Fleet, has half of its mechanisms worn out and passed their operational life-time. The probability of safe operation of the cruiser is close to zero, nevertheless the vessel was pushed into operation by Baltiysky Shipbuilding yard in St. Petersburg. Currently, the vessel is idling on the premises of Severomorsk on the Kola peninsula, being an extra financial burden for the Northern Fleet.
— In the end of December 1996, Severodvinsk yard was celebrating the commission of the new submarine "Tomsk" (Oscar-II class). The submarine is still in Severodvinsk pending its "final exams", in other words the construction of the submarine is still not completed, claimed rear admiral Alexander Smelkov at the meeting.
At the moment of commission of each new submarines, the Naval officers receive a list of additional work "to be completed while in operation" from the yard. This list usually contains work the yard was unable to finish within the frames of their own construction schedule. The work is performed when the sub is on mission, hugely increasing the probability of an accident.
Confronted with a question of what had changed since the Komsomolets accident 8 years ago, the answer was short: "nothing".
Even elementary things like life-jackets, gas masks and air supply masks which has been proved to be inefficient, are still in use on-board submarines. It’s the same situation with the fire extinguish systems and automatic systems for sealing off the compartments in case of an accident.
The only change within the nuclear submarine fleet over the last years, is the lack of funding. And this change does not contribute to the nuclear safety.
Recent attacks on Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant "mark the beginning of a new and gravely dangerous front of the war," the UN atomic agency's director general said last week.
After years of inaction, Germany is working on its Carbon Management Strategy to resolve how CCS can play a role in climate action in industry. At the end of February, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action published first key points and a proposal to amend the law Kohlenstoffdioxid Speicherungsgesetz (KSpG). Bellona Deutschland, who was actively involved in the previous stakeholder dialogue submitted a statement in the association hearing.
In the midst of a global discussion on whether natural gas should be used as a transitional fuel and whether emissions from its extraction, production, transport and use are significantly less than those from other fossil fuels, Russia has developed ambitious plans to increase its own production of liquified natural gas (LNG) in the Arctic – a region with 75% of proven gas reserves in Russia – to raise its share in the international gas trade.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our main focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution risks and climate change.