The Russian Northern Fleet

Contents: Radioactive waste Spent nuclear fuel Decommissioning of nuclear powered submarines The intermediate solution Accidents Economical problems The bases and shipyards of the Northern Fleet

The Northern Fleet has five bases at the Kola penninsula, from Zapadnaya Litsa in the west to Gremikha in the east (see map). Both operational and decommissioned submarines are moored at the various bases. There are also several temporary storage facilities for radioactive waste and spent fuel at these bases. Altogether 100.000 people are living in closed cities in connection with the bases.

Radioactive waste

There is a minimum of 21.000 m³ of radioactive waste and at least 7.500 m³ of liquid radioactive waste at the naval bases and shipyards. All the facilities are filed up and a number of them are in a very poor condition. There is no regional storage facility for radioactive waste.

Spent nuclear fuel

The Northern Fleet's largest temporary storage facility for spent nuclear fuel is situated in Zapadnaya Litsa in the Andreeva Bay, about 40 km from the Norwegian border. Approximately 21 000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies are stored here, corresponding to 90 nuclear reactors. The fuel assemblies are temorary stored in three concrete tanks (also in very poor condition). Fuel assemblies are also stored in rusty containers in open air without any form of protection from runoff. There is also a smaller storage facility for spent nuclear fuel in Gremikha.

The spent nuclear fuel is supposed to be sent to the Mayak reprocessing plant in Siberia. At the reprocessing plants the un-used uranium is separeted and reused. The plant has since the start of the operation contaminated large areas due to accidents and releases.

In the past there have been large problems with transporting the spent nuclear fuel to Mayak. This is due to economical and technical difficulties.

Decommissioning of nuclear powered submarines

A Yankee class submarine is dismantled in Severodvinsk

Until now over 130 of a total of 247 nuclear submarines in the Russian Navy are taken out of operation. Approximately 150 nuclear submarines will be withdrawn from service by the year 2000 in compliance with the START-II Treaty and agening

of the submarines. At the moment there are 88 laid-up submarines at the Northern Fleets bases, of which 52 submarines still contain nuclear fuel in their reactors.

For the time being, only two submarines have been completely dismantled; the rest are in a temporary storage. The dismantling of the submarines and reactors will most likely be undertaken both at the repair/maintenance yard in Severodvinsk and at the Nerpa shipyard which is located at the outer reaches of the Murmansk Fjord.

Severodvinsk was founded in 1936 by decree of Joseph Stalin. The city has a population of 240 000 and is closed to all foreigners. Two submarine yards are located there, one for the building of nuclear submarines, and another for repair and refuelling operations.

The task of removing spent fuel from the submarines is carried out very near apartment buildings, much closer than official Russian procedures permit. Over 40% of all radioactive fuel (in volume) generated by the Russian fleet comes from the shipyards in Severodvinsk.

There are also numerous inoperational submarines moored at the pier. Air must be continually pumped into them to prevent them from sinking. These vessels have been cut into two pieces to permit removal of the missile section in compliance with the provisions of the START-II Treaty. Thereafter they are loosely reassembled while still containing their reactors and fuel.

The intermediate solution

To solve the acute problems with storage of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel, there should be buildt a regional storage, which could store the waste and nuclear fuel safely in the next 50 years. This would improve the situation untill Russia by itself is ready to implement the final solutions on these problems.

The propals that exist on the final solutions for the waste problems include the building of repositories whereby the waste is buried deep into the permafrost at Novaya Zemlya. There are also plans to build a facility on the Kola Peninsula.

Accidents

From 1961 until the present, there have been many accidents involving nuclear submarines of the Northern Fleet. Most of these happened while the submarine was on patrol, although some also occurred during refuelling or repair operations. Three nuclear submarines belonging to the Northern Fleet have sunk. There has been loss of coolant accidents in 10 submarines and four serious fires on board these vessels in which human life has been lost.

Economical problems

In the last years the Northern Fleet has experienced huge economical problems. In 1994, only 35 % of the allocated funds were transferred to the Northern Fleet in real terms. Even if most of the money transferred went to saleries and welfare benefits, it's not unusal that payment of saleries is 3 to 4 months delayed. Resources for maintaining submarines and storage facilities have been sharply cut back. On two occasions, unpaid electricity bills resulted in the shut off of power at a shipyard and a naval base.