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Bellona nuclear digest. May 2024
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
News
Publish date: December 17, 1999
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
The PM-80 storage barge for submarine spent nuclear fuel caught fire. Four cabins were destroyed. The fire was caused by an electric short circuit. The barge (Project 326) is based at Primorye in the Russian Far East and belongs to the Russian Pacific Fleet.
The information about the incident was reported by the local daily Vladivostok with a reference to unofficial sources in the Pacific Fleet. PM-80 was built in 1964 and has been taken out of service. The barge had reportedly around 100 spent fuel assemblies onboard. The fire was put out by the crew and led to no casualties.
The Russian Navy has eight Project-326 barges split evenly between the Northern and Pacific Fleet. Each barge is capable of holding 80 containers for a total of 560 spent fuel assemblies. The barges are also outfitted with three storage tanks for liquid radioactive waste. The total volume is 230 cubic meters. The average age of the barges is more than 30 years.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
But it’s unlikely to impact emissions from shipping along the Northern Sea Route.
In this news digest, we monitor events that impact the environment in the Russian Arctic. Our focus lies in identifying the factors that contribute to pollution and climate change.
The following op-ed, written by Bellona’s Charles Digges, originally appeared in The Moscow Times. In recent months, the Russian nuclear in...