Bellona nuclear digest. July 2024
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
News
Publish date: February 19, 1997
Written by: Igor Kudrik
News
K-192 is outfitted with two reactors. The core of the starboard reactor partly melted down during an accident in the Norwegian Sea on June 25 1989. Today a part of the fuel is stuck in the reactor, making removal difficult with standard equipment. After the accident the sub was stationed at the Ara-guba Naval base on the Kola Peninsula, until it was transferred to the Naval repair yard in Polayrny in 1994. At that time the vessel needed permanent technical surveillance to be kept afloat.
At a conference on sumbarine decommissioning, held in Severodvinsk in March 1995, the K-192 was named as one of the Naval objects which required special technology to be defuelled. At present the Naval specialists claim that the levels of radiation onboard the submarine has decreased. Adding further viability to the K-192 operation, is also the fact that current regulations allow for up to 50 damaged fuel rods to be left in the reactors of decommissioned first generation submarines. The average Russian submarine reactor contains up to 252 fuel assemblies.
To perform the operation the Northern Fleet planned to use servicing boat PM-12 (project 2020, Malina class), stationed at Naval repair yard Nerpa. The technical condition of PM-12 is highly unsatisfactory. In fact, in 1993 the Russian nuclear control authorities (Gosatomnadzor) prohibited use of PM-12 in refuelling operations, in accordance with the safety regulations. Nevertheless, the Northern Fleet continues to use the boat actively.
K-5 decomissioned whithout incident
In the end of November 1996 the Naval Yard in Polyarny defuelled the 37 years old K-5 submarine (November class). This was the second nuclear-powered submarine built in the USSR. K-5 has been laid-up for more than 12 years, awaiting its turn to be scrapped. No incidents were reported during the defuelling operation.
A survey of events in the field of nuclear and radiation safety relating to Russia and Ukraine.
Transport on the Northern Sea Route is not sustainable, and Kirkenes must not become a potential hub for transport along the Siberian coast. Bellona believes this is an important message Norway should deliver in connection with the Prime Minister's visit to China. In an open letter to Jonas Gahr Støre, Bellona asks the Prime Minister to make it clear that the Chinese must stop shipping traffic through the Northeast Passage.
The International Atomic Energy Agency has published a new report on its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security during the conflict in Ukraine, with the agency’s director-general warning that the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station remains “precarious and very fragile.”
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.