The project is developed according to the agreement between the Russian Nuclear Federal Agency and the German Labour Ministry signed in October 2003, the chief engineer Rostislav Rimdenok said to Interfax. The German specialists are installing lifting equipment and testing it with light and heavy reactor compartments in various situations.

According to Rimdenok, Germany is delivering to Nerpa shipyard equipment for the effective submarine dismantling and the complete facility for long-term storage of reactor compartments. He added that nine submarines and 48 reactor compartments are stored today in Sayda bay. More than half of them is filled with solid radioactive waste. The lack of space for more reactor compartments can seriously hinder the whole process of the nuclear submarine dismantling process.

The date of start-up of the first part of the reactor storage facility is postponed from September until November 18. Such a decision was made at the meeting of the managing Russian-German Committee in August, Interfax reported. The initial agreement stipulated September 2005 as the completion date for the first part of the facility in Sayda bay. However, after geological research on the site, it turned out that the site is more complicated and therefore demands more work and money, Interfax reported referring to the source at the Nerpa shipyard. The first part of the facility should accommodate from 30 to 40 reactor compartments. The whole facility, which is to enter service in 2008, should contain 120 compartments as well as the waste from the nuclear service ships.