To return to the main
Northern Fleet entry, see the Northern Fleet
file.
: Two kilometers north of Murmansk http://www.msco.ru
The Murmansk Shipping Company (MSC) is a private
enterprise that was formerly state owned. Since 1998, it has been controlled by the LUKoil company, which
as of 20 October 2000 owned 55% of MSC's shares. MSC is subject to state policies
promulgated by the Ministry of Transportation.[1,2] Atomflot icebreakers are
owned by the Russian Federation and are operated by MSC.[3]
More than 1000 tons[1] of 20-90% enriched
uranium-235 icebreaker fuel, with an average enrichment level of 60%.[2]
Fresh fuel for Russia's nuclear icebreaker fleet,
operated by the Murmansk Shipping Company (MSC), arrives from Elektrostal
at Atomflot by rail, at which point the fuel moves immediately to the service
ship Imandra. The fresh fuel is located in two storage compartments
within the hull of the ship, while spent fuel is stored in a separate area
on board the ship. Atomflot has a two-kilometer perimeter.
Russian Navy patrol boats guard the northern and western water perimeters.
A double fence system with intrusion detection systems and manned guard
towers protects the eastern perimeter. The southern perimeter has
an administration building and fencing with intrusion detection systems.
Ministry of Interior (MVD) guards man the land perimeters, including the
one pedestrian access point within the administration building.
In July 1996, the United States and Russia began
to work on strengthening MPC&A at Atomflot, specifically on the service
ship Imandra. In August 1996, efforts to improve security
at Atomflot became multinational, when the United States, Russia, Norway,
and Sweden entered into a cooperative agreement to enhance the security
of nuclear materials there. A team composed primarily of US and Russian
experts, but also including Norwegian and Swedish specialists, conducted
a vulnerability assessment at Atomflot in September 1996. The results
of the analysis, obtained by using the Analytic System and Software for
Evaluating Safeguards and Security (ASSESS) software, comprised the basis
for determining enhancement needs. While US efforts have focused
on security of the fresh icebreaker fuel aboard the Imandra,
the Norwegian and Swedish programs have sought to protect Russia's icebreaker
fleet, service ships, and nuclear materials against sabotage.[1]
The Russian firm Escort Center has served as general contractor for the
US enhancements, working closely with the Kurchatov Institute and MSC.
System enhancements include access control systems, intrustion detection
systems with alarm control display, computerized material accounting, video
assessment systems, and radio communications. In addition, the enhancements
integrated the Imandra's physical protection systems with those
of the port. Experts from MSC, Atomflot, and MVD will revise the
MPC&A operational procedures as well.[2] US MPC&A upgrades were
expected to be completed by 20 September 1999.[3] (For details on these
activities, please see the 1997
and 1998
DOE MPC&A Task Force reports.)
In December 1998, because MSC could not afford repairs
or nuclear fuel for the icebreakers, Lukoil, the second largest oil company
in Russia, bought MSC, thereby assuming responsibility for the operation
of seven nuclear-powered icebreakers and one nuclear-powered transport
ship. At the time of the purchase, only three icebreakers were reportedly
in operation: the Sovetskiy Soyuz, the
Taymyr, and the Arktika.[1]
As of April 2000, six icebreakers were reported to be functioning, including
the Rossiya (see 4/5/2000 item, below).[2]
Atomflot also serves five service ships used for storing fresh fuel, spent
fuel, and liquid and solid radioactive waste:
Lepse,
Lotta,
Imandra,
Volodarskiy,
and Serebryanka. (Please see the Service
Ships Table for more information.) The facility consists of workshops,
equipment for processing liquid and solid waste, and ship repair warehouses.[3,4]
In addition to icebreaker refueling and maintenance,
Atomflot workers process up to 1,000 cubic meters of liquid radioactive
waste a year. The Russian Navy's Northern Fleet also processes low-level
waste here. A joint Russian-US-Norwegian project to enhance and expand
the capacity of the waste processing facility has been underway since 1994.
The capacity of the facility is expected to reach 5,000 cubic meters of
liquid radioactive waste per year. The total cost of the project,
including construction of a storage facility for the resulting solid radioactive
waste, is estimated at $2.9 million. The Russian government was scheduled
to allocate three billion rubles in 1996 for the enhancement of the processing
capacity of the facility, but construction of the storage for solid waste
will be postponed due to the high cost.[3,4] From May 1996 to May 1997,
the Finnish Foreign Ministry provided $700,000 to the Finnish company IVO
Power Engineering for a waste processing project. The year-long project,
which used the mobile Finnish liquid waste processing facility, Nures,
completed processing of 300 cubic meters of waste from the Atomflot icebreakers.[5]
This section is no longer being updated. For major recent developments, see the
General Naval Developments file.
8/28/2003:
ATOMFLOT OFFICIAL ARRESTED FOR NUCLEAR MATERIALS TRAFFICKING
Russian authorities have arrested Alexander Tyulyakov, Atomflot deputy
director for administrative issues, for attempting to sell radioactive
materials. The arrest was first made public on 28 August 2003 by the Murmansk
newspaper Nord-Vest Kuryer, and announced internationally four days later
by the Norwegian environmental organization Bellona Foundation.[1,2,3]
The arrest that took place in late August 2003 resulted from a joint undercover
operation conducted by Murmansk police and the local branch of the Federal
Security Service (FSB). Secret agents acting as potential buyers contacted
Tyulyakov after receiving a tip-off that he was trying to sell radioactive
materials.[1,2,4,5] The details of the arrest remain uncertain. Novyye
izvestiya reported that Tyulyakov was apprehended with a container
holding uranium and radium, which he wanted to sell for $50,000, whereas on
October 20 Nezavisimaya gazeta reported that analysis of the
material in his briefcase revealed that he was carrying nearly one kilogram of
uranium-235.[6,7] Referring to an analysis by the Kola Science Center of the
Russian Academy of Sciences (Apatity, Murmansk Oblast), Kommersant
reported that Tyulyakov tried to sell 1.1 kg of a radioactive powder, which he
stored in a sealed lead capsule placed in a special container. The level of
radioactivity at 10 cm from the container was more than five times higher than
allowable levels but at a meter was within the normal range.[8]
During a search of Tyulyakov’s apartment, garage, and car, law enforcement
officials found ammunition for small arms and an additional amount of
radioactive material[4,5,9,10] While Izvestiya specified that the 1.1 kg
seized by authorities was a mixture of uranium-235, uranium-238, and radium,[5]
London's
The Guardian cited Andrey Petrukhin, head of the Murmansk police
investigating unit, as saying: "The only thing I can say is that this stuff
contains uranium-235, uranium-238, radium, and also products of their
decomposition" and concluded that "the fact that the radioactive materials were
found along with their waste products suggests that the box contained spent
fuel."[8] The October 20 Nezavisimaya gazeta report said that the
material in the garage was nearly two kilograms of “uranium-238, radium, and
products of their decomposition.”[7]
According to Kommersant, experts have established that the object, which
contained the radioactive substance, was not manufactured in Murmansk Oblast and
was, most probably, extracted from some complex apparatus. A source told
Kommersant and Izvestiya that the government price for this
substance, which is not for private sale, is about $80 per kg, while Tyulyakov
intended to sell it for $55,000.[8,9] It is unclear where Tyulyakov obtained the
radioactive materials – from Atomflot or from somewhere else. Both newspapers
state that Atomflot does not store this type of radioactive substance [4,9], and
Atomflot Director Aleksandr Sinyayev was reportedly furious over media
allegations that the materials originated at Atomflot, saying that the
enterprise "had nothing to do with Tyulyakov’s dirty activities" and that those
making such insinuations could be brought to court.[5] Sergey Zhavoronkov,
former Murmansk Shipping Company chief radiologist who is now head of the
local branch of Bellona, told news reporters that the substance could have been
stolen from a non-nuclear enterprise that uses devices with radioactive
substances.[8,9]
Some of Tyulyakov’s colleagues indicated that the deputy
director’s lifestyle had raised suspicions that he had been involved in illegal
activities for some time. The administrative oversight manager, who was involved
in purchasing gasoline, oil-fuel, and other supplies for Atomflot, as well as
selling scrap metal, 50-some year old Tyulyakov had a luxurious summer home, a
spacious apartment in a respectable area of Murmansk, and an expensive foreign
car despite a low official salary.[1,2,5,9]
Tyulyakov’s arrest was not immediately revealed,
leading to a host of rumors in Murmansk, from speculation that Tyulyakov had
been arrested for embezzlement to accounts that he had attempted to sell nuclear
fuel assemblies or that a former Murmansk Oblast gubernatorial candidate had
been caught trying to purchase radioactive materials from him.[1,2]
Kommersant explains that law enforcement agencies delayed giving details on
the arrest for fear of inciting panic in Murmansk, and instead waited for the
test results.[4] The authorities also wanted to find Tyulyakov’s real clients.
Some reports suggested that these clients were weapons traffickers who had
received an order for a radioactive substance from a buyer in the Baltics.[1,2,4]
It also appears that there may have been an interagency squabble between the
police and FSB: the secret service was not happy that the police quickly
informed the press of the arrest.[9]
In late September 2003, Tyulyakov was officially charged with illegal storage of
weapons and explosives, and illegal handling of radioactive materials in
accordance with Articles 220 and 222 of the Russian Criminal Code.[4,9,11]
6/10/2003: ATOMFLOT TEMPORARY SPENT
FUEL STORAGE SITE BUILT
According to a 10 June 2003
Interfax report, construction
of a temporary spent fuel storage facility at Atomflot has been completed. The
site will be commissioned in September 2003, after a final inspection has been
undertaken by a government commission, which has yet to be formed. The facility, which was built with funds from the
AMEC program, is designed to temporarily store spent fuel in 19 reinforced concrete containers. (For more information on this subject see
the 3/6/2003 and 9/25/2002 entries, below.)
["V Murmanskoy oblasti postroyena nakopitelnaya
ploshchadka dlya vremennogo khraneniya OYaT," Interfax, 10 June 2003.] {Entered
8/14/2003 AV}
5/26/2003: INCREASED TECHNICAL SECURITY MEASURES ON NEW ICEBREAKER
IA Regnum reported on 26 May 2003 that representatives from the
Ministry of
Economic Development and Trade, Minatom, the
Russian Shipbuilding Agency, and the
directors of numerous Russian shipyards, design bureaus, and Atomflot agreed to
change reactor system maintenance procedures for the icebreaker 50 let Pobedy.
This change is intended to minimize the risk of accidents. The icebreaker
will meet all international quality as well as security requirements and is
scheduled to enter service in 2005.
5/7/2003: ATOMFLOT TO CONTINUE
OPERATION OF ARKTIKA
On 7 May 2003, ITAR-TASS reported that a
Gosatomnadzor commission has
approved the continued operation
of the icebreaker Arktika. The vessel's nuclear reactor has
already been in service for 140,000 hours, which exceeds its designed service life
by 50%. However, specialists from R&D institutions, design bureaus, and the
Murmansk Shipping Company believe that the reactor can be used for 175,000 hours
safely. The
commission was satisfied with the condition of the Arktika reactor
system. Therefore, Gosatomnadzor is scheduled to issue Atomflot a license for the continued
operation of the Arktika in the near future. [For more information on
Arktika's reactor, see the 5/22/2000 entry in this section.]
3/6/2003: TEMPORARY SPENT FUEL
STORAGE SITE TO ENTER SERVICE IN JUNE 2003
On 6 March 2003, Interfax
reported that a temporary site for storing spent nuclear fuel will be put into
service in early June 2003. The spent fuel will be kept in 19 sealed, reinforced concrete containers.
Site construction is being performed by the Murmanskmorstroy
trust within the framework of the Arctic Military Environment Cooperation (AMEC)
program. (For earlier items on this subject, see the 9/25/2002 entry below.)
1/5/2003: LIQUID RADIOACTIVE WASTE
TREATMENT PLANT TEST PUT OFF
Testing of a modernized liquid
radioactive waste (LRW) treatment plant at Atomflot has been put off for an indefinite
period because of
technical faults during initial tests, Interfax reported on 5 January 2003. As Atomflot Director Andrey Sinyayev stated, the
official plant opening was on 20
June 2001. However, it could not begin full-scale operation because of numerous malfunctions.
The matter of complex testing will be discussed after the malfunctions
in one of the plant's units are eliminated, probably by the end of January.[1] However,
as of December 2002,
Minatom had not allotted
the additional 9 million rubles (nearly $283,000 as of
December 2002) needed to complete the testing.[2] The Norwegian government has not
yet decided whether to resume financing start-up costs. This issue will be
decided after the initial test results.[1]
Funds to modernize the Russian unit were
provided through the Murmansk Initiative (for more information see
the 6/20/2001 entry, below). The contract for the
modernization work was signed in December 1994. The total expenses amounted to
some $4.6 billion. The chief designer was St. Petersburg's
VNIPIET. The
processing capacity of the unit before modernization was
1,500-2,000 cubic meters per year. The unit is expected to process 5,000 cubic
meters of LRW after the modernization, resolving the problem of LRW stored on the Kola Peninsula
within five years. The modernized unit is to process LRW from both icebreakers
and Northern Fleet vessels. According to Atomflot specialists, about 8,000 cubic
meters of liquid and 14,000 cubic meters of solid radioactive waste are stored
in the coastal zone of the Barents Sea.[1,2]
12/5/2002: GREAT BRITAIN APPROPRIATES
ABOUT $1.1 MILLION FOR YAMAL AND
ARKTIKA
On 5 December 2002, the Regnum
information agency reported that the United Kingdom had decided to appropriate
£700,000 (about
$1.1 million as of 5 December 2002) in the form of a grant to equip two
icebreakers, Yamal
and Arktika,
with a new physical protection system in 2003. The funds will be allotted from
a special British government fund as a part of the British assistance program for
the handling of nuclear materials in the
former Soviet Union. The physical
protection system includes hidden and open
surveillance devices, spatial control sensors, and other devices to prevent
strangers from entering the vessel and restrict access to certain places on
board the icebreakers.
In 1999, physical protection systems were
installed on the icebreaker Sovetskiy Soyuz and the
floating technical facility Imandra, and, in 2001,
on the nuclear-powered transport vessel Sevmorput. The next vessels
scheduled to receive
the system will be the icebreakers
Taymur
and Vaygach.
This project is chiefly financed by the United Kingdom, Sweden,
Norway, and the United States. Substantial funds have also been allotted by the Russian Ministry of
Transportation.
9/25/2002: ATOMFLOT SPENT FUEL
STORAGE
DISCUSSED
At a meeting between Murmansk Governor Yuriy Yevdokimov and
State
Secretary of the Norwegian Defense Ministry
Gunnar Heloe on 25 September 2002, Yevdokimov brought the need to complete
a
temporary spent fuel storage site at Atomflot this year
to the Norwegian's attention. The site is needed to facilitate the transport
and processing of spent fuel from nuclear submarines and the civilian nuclear fleet. The use of the site would
significantly speed up the removal of spent nuclear fuel from the region.
9/25/2002: ARGUMENT OVER OWNERSHIP OF MURMANSK
SHIPPING COMPANY
LUKOIL has requested the initiation of a
criminal case against former LUKOIL-Arktik-Tanker (LAT) Director Nikolay
Kulikov, according to a report in Vedomosti on 25 September 2002. LUKOIL
says that Kulikov did not turn
over complete financial documents to the company's new management.
The conflict between Kulikov and the new
Murmansk Shipping Company manager began over the ownership of 70% of MSC shares. According to one of Kulikov's
supporters, LUKOIL bought a controlling
interest in MSC in October 1998 with $15 million in credit from two foreign banks
using four MSC ships as collateral. Later, those vessels
became the property of the banks. However, others report that the controlling
interest in MSC was bought for $30 million, the credit was completely paid off, and
the tankers
were returned to LAT.
9/23/2002: LEPSE AGREEMENT SIGNED
On 23 September 2002, the final framework agreement was signed to release funds
and to start working on the service ship
Lepse. For more information, please see the
9/23/2002 entry in the
Russia: Naval Foreign Assistance Developments
file.
9/10/2002: RUSSIA MAY LOSE NUCLEAR
ICEBREAKER FLEET
On 10 September 2002, Izvestiya reported that Russia may soon be left without
a nuclear-powered icebreaker fleet. Despite several government programs aimed at
developing the nuclear icebreaker fleet, it has gradually decayed. As of September 2002, Russia had
seven nuclear
icebreakers. Two of them
(Lenin and Sibir) have nearly completed their service lives, while
two others (Vaygach and
Taymyr)
are low-powered and mainly used for navigation on northern rivers. The service
lives of the other three icebreakers are scheduled to expire in 2003-2004.
According to First Deputy Minister of
Transportation Vyacheslav Ruksha, the cost of building a new
icebreaker is about $250 million. Russia, which has been unable to finish building
the 50-let
Pobedy icebreaker begun more than 10 years ago, does not have this kind of
funding. 50-let Pobedy, now 80% complete, may be cut up for scrap metal if construction is not completed by 2005. On 3 September 2002, the Ministry of
Transportation adopted a decision on the preparation of a new contract for the completion of construction of
the icebreaker. The icebreaker project will cost an additional 2.5 billion rubles (about $79
million as of 17 September 2002), including
820 million rubles (about $26 million as of 17 September 2002) required in 2003. In the opinion of icebreaker builders
in St. Petersburg, the ship could be completed within three years if enough
funds are received.
In the meantime, Rossiya
and Taymyr may well be laid up in 2003 due to a lack of funds and the
expiration of their reactors' service lives (the steam-generating units have
service lives of 100,000
hours). However, their service lives could be extended to 150,000 hours.
As a test, the service life of the
Arktika was extended in 2000 [for further information on plans to extend
icebreaker service lives see the 3/13/2002 entry, below]. According to the
Afrikantov Experimental Machine Building
Design Bureau in Nizhniy Novgorod, reactor service life could be extended to 175,000 hours,
or even to 200,000 hours if the experiment with Arktika is successful.
However, some scientists, such as Ilya
Vaysmanch, the chief specialist at the Central Scientific and
Research Institute of Shipbuilding Technology, disagree.
If Russia is to realize plans to explore
oil deposits in
the north, it reportedly needs to build 18 icebreaker platforms, 10 icebreakers (including
three nuclear vessels) and no less than 60 ships for the engineering fleet. But the Russian
icebreaker fleet can only break even if the freight traffic on the northern
seaway is more than 4-5 million tons a year. At present, transit via this route
totals under 2 million tons
a year, as compared to 7 million tons during the Soviet period.[1,2,3]
8/5/2002: FIRST-GENERATION SUBMARINE DEFUELED
AT SEVMORPORT
On
5 August 2002, Bellona reported that the service ship
Imandra
had started unloading spent nuclear fuel from an Echo II first-generation
nuclear-powered submarine
at
Sevmorput Shipyard in Murmansk. The submarine, K-128/62, was
commissioned in 1966 and taken out from operation in 1994. In 1989, the
submarine's starboard
reactor had its usage limited to 70% power. The last refueling
of the submarine's reactors was performed at Sevmorput
in 1982.
3/27/2002: SOVETSKIY SOYUZ ICEBREAKER
SUPPLIES ELECTRICITY TO SHORE
On 27
March 2002, the Sovetskiy Soyuz icebreaker, moored in the Murmansk port,
tested its ability to provide the shore with electricity produced by the
ship's power plant. The amount of electricity supplied was enough to provide power
for the whole port infrastructure, including the port's cranes. This is the first time
that an icebreaker has supplied power to the shore. The experiment was conducted
by Atomflot in order to find ways to minimize the cost of servicing the
loss-making icebreaker fleet. There are plans for three icebreakers to
occasionally supply power to the shore.
3/13/2002: SERVICE LIFE OF NUCLEAR
ICEBREAKER POWER PLANTS TO BE EXTENDED
On 13 February
2002, the Ministry of Transportation of the Russian Federation told Interfax that in
2002 it would extend the service lives of six nuclear icebreakers. In 2003, the power
reactors on these icebreakers will have worked 100,000 hours and should be replaced. Modernization of the reactors will allow
their service lives to be increased by another 50,000 hours and thus postpone retirement of the
icebreakers until 2006-2008. There are 1.5 billion rubles (over $48.5 million as
of 13 February 2002) allocated for this purpose in the federal budget.
11/26/2001: RUSSIAN ICEBREAKERS SEVERELY
UNDERFUNDED
On 26 November 2001, Director of the Union of Russian Shipowners Kazimir
Myatskyavichus told Interfax that the Russian fleet of
nuclear icebreakers needs over 1 billion rubles (over $33.6 million as of 26
November 2001) a year for maintenance, including 600
million rubles (over $20 million as of 26 November 2001) to cover current
expenses. According to Myatskyavichus, the Russian government allocated 420
million rubles (about $14 million as of 26 November 2001) for the icebreaker
fleet's needs in 2001; the projected government budget for 2002 provides the
same amount of money.
7/11/2001: ATOMFLOT READY TO ACCEPT FOREIGN SPENT FUEL
On 11 July 2001, the Rosbalt information agency reported
that Atomflot Director Aleksandr Sinyayev had expressed his confidence in
Atomflot's ability to become a transfer point for imported spent nuclear fuel.
According to Sinyayev, foreign spent nuclear fuel will probably be delivered
to Russia by sea, and Atomflot has the necessary facilities and experience to
unload spent nuclear fuel off ships and load it onto special trains that will
transport it further. A contract to perform this task would improve Atomflot's financial
situation. The company had accumulated large debts as of July 2001.
7/5/2001: ATOMFLOT FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES
On 5 July 2001, the Rosbalt information agency reported that Atomflot owed
over 50 million rubles (over $1.7 million as of 5 July 2001) to various
government budgets and extrabudgetary funds.[1] In 2000 Atomflot received just
211 million rubles (almost
$7.4 million as of 31 December 2000) from the state, which covered only
24% of its needs. The rest of the money needed for operations was provided by MSC.[2]
In 2001 the state plans to allocate 380 million rubles (over $13.3 million as
of 1 January 2001) to fund icebreakers; most of the money will be used on ship
repairs.[3] Due to underfunding, MSC has proposed the privatization of Atomflot, but the Atomflot trade union sent a letter to President Putin asking
him to prevent the transfer of the
enterprise to MSC.[1]
6/29/2001: ATOMFLOT ELECTRICITY MAY BE CUT OFF
On 29 June 2001, the Rosbalt information agency reported that Kolenergo, the
Kola Peninsula regional electricity provider, intends to limit or even cut off
the supply of electricity to its debtors, including Atomflot. Atomflot owes
Kolenergo over 1.7 million rubles (over $59,000 as of 29 June 2001).
6/27/2001: IMANDRA ABOUT TO START DEFUELING NUCLEAR
SUBMARINE
On 27 June 2001, Interfax reported that
the Imandra
service ship would start defueling a project 645 (NATO name
'Echo II') nuclear submarine within the next few days. The Imandra
was designed to defuel nuclear-powered icebreakers. If defueling
the Echo II is successful, the service ship will be used to defuel other first-generation nuclear submarines. There are about 30 decommissioned first-generation
submarines in the Northern Fleet. (The Imandra has already defueled a
second-generation Victor II-class nuclear submarine; for more information see
the 12/99 entry in this section.)
6/20/2001: LIQUID RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
FACILITY OPERATIONAL
On 20 June 2001, a liquid radioactive waste
processing facility at Atomflot began test operations. The facility has the
capacity to
process all of the liquid radioactive waste that has accumulated in Murmansk Oblast nuclear
facilities as a result of nuclear submarine dismantlement.[1] It is expected
to process 5,000m3 of liquid radioactive waste annually. The project,
called the Murmansk Initiative, started in December 1994 and cost $4.5
million.[2] It was completed jointly by the US Environmental
Protection Agency, Brookhaven
National Laboratory, the
Norwegian
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Russian Ministry
of Atomic Energy, additional Russian agencies, and scientists from all
three countries. The
facility was granted
permission for one year of experimental operation.[1] (For
information on a similar facility at Zvezdochka, see the
10/19/2000
entry in the Zvezdochka section.)
5/23/2001: INTERIM SPENT FUEL STORAGE SITE TO BE
BUILT AT ATOMFLOT
On 23 May 2001, the Rosbalt information agency reported that
construction of an interim spent nuclear submarine fuel storage site at Atomflot
should be completed in
September 2001. Its projected capacity is 19 containers, each of which can hold 40t of
spent fuel each.[1]
According to Nuklid Deputy Director Lev Chernenko, the project will cost 15 million
rubles (over $500,000 as of 23 May 2001).[2] The money will come from the
AMEC
program and the federal program Nuclear and Radiation Safety in Russia 2000-2006.
According to the Murmansk Oblast Committee on Conversion and Nuclear and Radiation Safety, the storage containers passed all
the necessary tests and have been examined by US and Norwegian experts.[3] Radio Rossii reported that the Murmansk city administration opposed building
this storage site near the city. A city official was quoted as saying that the
Murmansk administration had not received an official evaluation of
potential dangers posed by the storage site. He was
also upset because public opinion had not been taken into
consideration when the decision to build the facility was made.[2] By the end of
2001, two more interim storage sites with a capacity of 30
containers each will start operations: one at Zvezdochka
in Severodvinsk and one at Zvezda
in the Russian Far East.[1]
.
5/15/2001: NUCLEAR ICEBREAKER REACTORS BEING
UPGRADED
On 15 May 2001, Vsevolod Peresypkin, General Director
of Central Fleet Research Institute in St. Petersburg, said at a meeting
of the Russian Ministry of Transportation that the upgrading of seven icebreakers' nuclear
reactors had started. According to Peresypkin, the
upgrades will increase the reactors' service life to 150,000 hours, allowing the icebreakers to stay in service
until 2010-15.[1] On 4 May
2001, Severo-Zapadnoye veshchaniye reported that the Russian Ministry
of River Transportation and MSC had decided to repair the steam generator of
the nuclear
icebreaker Sibir and put the ship back into service. It had been
decommissioned in 1993 due to defects in its steam generator. Experts have expressed conflicting opinions as to whether it
is safe to cut out the old steam generator, which is directly connected to the
ship's nuclear reactor.[2]
5/11/2001: LEPSE VILLAGE OPENS
On 11 May 2001, the Bellona Foundation reported that
construction of the Lepse Village has been completed and the Lepse
crew has moved into this new housing complex.[1] The Lepse's fire alarm and radiation control and safety systems
have been duplicated and installed in one of the buildings. They will allow the crew to monitor the
ship's radiation levels without
being exposed to the high levels of radiation on board.[2] The staff will
inspect the ship according to a
preset schedule. MSC Chief Radiologist Sergey Zhavoronkin says that this will reduce
radiation exposure by 50%.[3] The project cost NKr920,000 (over $100,000
as of 11 May 2001) and was
financed solely by the Bellona Foundation.[2] (For information on earlier developments,
see the 5/25/2000 entry in this section.)
3/23/2001: MSC TO PROCESS 3,000M3 OF LIQUID
RADIOACTIVE WASTE ANNUALLY
On 14 March 2001, a newly modernized liquid radioactive
waste processing facility at MSC was inspected by a state examining commission
and approved for experimental operation.[1,2] This facility is a
joint Norwegian-Russian-US project that costs $5 million. It
has the capacity to process 3,000m3 of liquid radioactive waste a
year. At this rate all liquid radioactive waste currently in storage can be processed in a five-year period.[2,3] As of March 2001, about 8,000m3 of liquid
radioactive waste were stored on the Kola Peninsula.[2]
2/14/2001: IMANDRA DEFUELS NUCLEAR SUBMARINE REACTORS
According to a 14 February
2001 report in Polyarnaya pravda, the service ship Imandra has
been defueling decommissioned nuclear submarines, 80 of which have
accumulated at Northern Fleet bases. The first reactor was successfully
defueled in late 1999 at Nerpa. In 2000, Imandra
defueled another two submarines at Polyarnyy. Three submarines,
two in Polyarnyy and one in Sevmorput, are scheduled to be defueled in 2001.
According to Atomflot technical director Stanislav Golovinskiy, the defueling helps Imandra make money. Thus, in 2000, Imandra earned
17 million rubles (about $593,000 as of 14 February 2001), which allowed the
service ship to turn a profit. Imandra is able to service four
submarines a year and may begin defueling reactors
from first-generation decommissioned submarines in Gremikha.
2/12/2001: LENIN ICEBREAKER TO BECOME A
MUSEUM
On 12 February 2001, SeverInform reported that the Lenin icebreaker
is undergoing preparation for conversion into a historical museum on the Russian
nuclear fleet and Arctic exploration. The
conversion will cost an estimated 90 million rubles (over $3 million as
of 12 February 2001). Financing will be shared by the Russian government,
Murmansk Oblast and city administrations, the Murmansk Commercial Port, and other
regional companies.
2/10/2001: RUSSIA ALLOCATES 420 MILLION RUBLES TO ICEBREAKER FLEET
The 2001 federal budget allocates 420
million rubles (more than $14.5 million as of 10 February) in subsidies to the
Murmansk
Shipping Company to compensate for reduced rates paid by certain companies, like some Krasnoyarsk kray logging companies.
2/5/2001: GREENPEACE AGAINST SHIPPING RADIOACTIVE WASTE VIA
NORTHERN SEA ROUTE
The Norwegian branch of Greenpeace and Norway's Ministry of the Environment
have spoken out against plans to transport radioactive waste from Europe to Japan
on the Northern Sea Route, reported Virtualnyy Peterburg on 5 February 2001.
They also requested that Murmansk Shipping Company (MSC) provide comprehensive information on
the safety
of such
transports. According to
MSC press service head Vladimir Blinov, the company
received a request from the Japanese company Marubeni to study the technical
aspects of radioactive waste transportation. Only the technical, not the judicial and political
aspects of the problem were discussed. Many
Russian experts think that the transportation of radioactive waste by the Northern
Sea Route is less dangerous than by southern sea routes along the
African coast or via ground transport.
1/11/2001: CERTIFICATION OF
ATOMFLOT LIQUID RADIOACTIVE WASTE TREATMENT PLANT DELAYED
Certification of a treatment plant at Atomflot for liquid radioactive waste
has been delayed due to technical
problems and a lack of funds to fix them. Estimates of the cost of the project
to date range from $4 million to $5
million. To complete the plant around $180,000 is needed, while only $40,000 is currently available. The
Norwegian environmental group Bellona cites sources at
MSC as saying that Norway and the United States (the project financers) have not been asked to provide
additional funds. In 2000, the plant was financed from the Russian
budget. Officials suggest the plant will go on line in
three months, whereas others suggest the end of 2001 is a more realistic
estimate.
1/10/2001: NORWAY'S GAO CRITICIZES ATOMFLOT LRW STORAGE AND PROCESSING
FACILITY PROJECT
For more information, see the 1/10/2001
entry in the Foreign
Assistance Developments section.
1/4/2001: RUSSIA'S BUDGET ALLOCATES FUNDS TO
COMPLETE 50 LET POBEDY ICEBREAKER
Russia's 2000 budget allocates 200
million rubles (about $7 million as of 4 January 2001) to complete the 50 Let Pobedy icebreaker
under construction at the Baltic
Shipyard. Murmansk Oblast Economic Department Head Vladimir
Dovgan predicted that exploitation of Arctic oil and gas deposits will
increase freight traffic on the Northern Sea route, leading MSC to require
this new icebreaker. Currently Russia's nuclear
icebreaker fleet has six active vessels, two of which sit idle due
to lack of nuclear fuel.
11/17/2000: MOBILE MODULAR LIQUID RADWASTE FACILITY TO GO ON LINE BY THE
END OF 2000
According to the Murmansk Oblast administration,
a new mobile modular facility for processing liquid radioactive
waste (LRW) will become operational at Atomflot by the end of December 2000. The
new facility, which can treat 5,000 cubic meters of LRW annually, will cover almost
50% of the Russian Navy's needs.
11/14/2000: MSC PARTICIPATES IN UNLOADING AND
TRANSPORTING SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL FROM NORTHERN FLEET SUBMARINES
MSC has signed a contract with the Northern Fleet to
provide assistance in
unloading spent nuclear fuel from the reactors of submarines
that are to be dismantled, and in transporting the spent fuel to the reprocessing
facility at Mayak. The nuclear fuel support vessel Imandra and
tanker Serebryanka will be used for these purposes. (Two submarines have
already been defueled by the Imandra.)
11/2/2000: MURMANSK SHIPPING COMPANY MAY GET A
COMPETITOR
Because of an ongoing conflict between the Murmansk
Shipping Company and its main customer, Norilsk Nickel, regarding
transportation rates, on 2 November 2001 Norilsk Nickel management asked the
Russian government to create a second state shipping company in the Arctic in
order to create competition for MSC.[1] Krasnoyarsk Kray
Governor Aleksandr Lebed
suggested the alternative of using the resources of Norilsk Nickel and the Yenisey
River Shipping Company to create a new shipping company.[2]
10/25/2000: SERVICE
LIFE EXTENSION CONSIDERED FOR NUCLEAR ICEBREAKERS
In light of an expected increase in the flow of goods
along the Arctic sea route and the aging of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet,
the Ministry of Transportation, Ministry of Atomic Energy, and Ministry of Science
and Technology have been researching the possibility of extending the
icebreakers' service lives, which are due to expire in three to seven years.[1]
The Severo-Zapad association believes that the
icebreakers should serve up to 10 years more than originally planned.[2]
10/20/2000: ICEBREAKER RATES TO BE
DETERMINED BY FEDERAL AUTHORITIES
In October 2000, the Russian government adopted a
decree that takes away MSC's power to establish transportation rates and transfers
it to federal authorities. From now on, icebreaker rates will be determined by
the Ministry of Transportation in cooperation with the Ministries of Finance
and Economic Development. MSC may still to able to influence rate levels because the
state owes the company $41.5 million in subsidies for deliveries to the Far
North, and the company may demand payment of
this debt or the imposition of special surcharges on top of regular icebreaker
rates.
6/2000: ATOMFLOT
LIQUID RADWASTE FACILITY TO BE COMPLETED IN FALL 2000
As part of the federal program entitled Handling,
Processing, and Storage of Radioactive Waste and Spent Nuclear Materials
from 1996 to 2005, Russia plans to complete construction of the Landysh
Liquid Radioactive Waste Treatment Plant at Bolshoy
Kamen and a radioactive
waste processing facility at Atomflot in the fall of
2000.
Unlike the Landysh plant, which uses an evaporation and bituminization method
developed by US scientists, the Atomflot facility will apply a new method--developed by the All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Chemical
Technology--based on the multi-stage selective absorption of cesium
and strontium. The method also involves the break-down of organic
substances, electrodialysis, and the cementing of resulting solid wastes.
According to an article in Zelenyy mir, the new Russian method consumes
100 times less energy
than the US method and costs seven times less, or $4 million.
The Russian method can process up to 5,000 cubic meters of low-level radioactive
waste per year, whereas the US technology can handle up to 7,000
cubic meters per year.
5/25/2000: BELLONA'S LEPSE
VILLAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION
The Norwegian environmental organization Bellona
Foundation is aiding the Murmansk Shipping Company
(MSC) in the construction of the Lepse Village complex near the
Atomflot
dock where the Lepse
is moored. The complex will house Lepse personnel and monitoring
equipment, such as radiation sensor controls, fire alarms, and bilge water
level monitors. Bellona and MSC began the Lepse complex project
several years ago in order to minimize the radiation exposure of Lepse
staff. The Village complex will allow staff to monitor the Lepse remotely,
visiting the vessel just once every four hours. Bellona is donating 12 mobile homes,
worth 1 million Norwegian kroner
($109,500 as of 25 May 2000), which will be arranged
into four three-story buildings. Private companies from various countries
and Bellona itself are funding other set-up costs. A special federal commission
deemed the donated homes "technical aid;" this status allowed the project
to avoid paying customs tax. Norway and France
have already agreed to assist with the Lepse Village. Other countries
are awaiting the conclusion of bilateral agreements with Russia to avoid
liability for potential accidents at Atomflot. For more information
on foreign assistance and liability issues, see the Foreign
Assistance Developments file.[1] According to Bellona, as of
27 August 2000, the first mobile home had been shipped. Bellona anticipates
the opening of the complex on 1 October 2000.[2]
5/22/2000: ARKTIKA'S
SERVICE LIFE PROLONGED TO 175,000 HOURS
On 17 May 2000 a conference took place onboard the
icebreaker Arktika with participants
from all agencies that deal with the design and operation of nuclear icebreakers.
The conference participants agreed to prolong the Arktika's service
life by 75,000 hours, to a total of 175,000 hours.[1,2] The Arktika has already worked
for 142,000 hours; prior practice limited service time to 100,000 hours. Vyacheslav Ruksha, general director of the
Murmansk
Shipping Company, said that the service time for other nuclear icebreakers
will be extended as well, allowing the icebreaker fleet to operate until
2012. The Arktika conference participants have not excluded
the possibility of extending the service life of icebreakers to 200,000
hours.[1] On 27 December 1999 the Ministries of Transportation,
Atomic
Energy, and Science
agreed to extend the service life of icebreakers from 100,000 to 150,000
hours.[3]
4/5/2000: ROSSIYA
ICEBREAKER IN NEED OF REPAIR
On 22 March 2000, the Rossiya returned to
Murmansk, its home port, after a three-month tour in the Arctic.[1] While
Sevmorput
experts report that the icebreaker is in satisfactory condition, they say
that expensive repairs are needed to maintain its condition. However,
it will only receive minor repairs before heading out to sea on 20 April
2000. It has not even been painted in the past few years, due to
a shortage of money. For more information on the financial state of Russian
icebreakers, see the 4/6/2000
entry under civilian developments.[2]
2/2000: SEREBRYANKA TANKER ARRIVES IN MURMANSK
WITH LIQUID RADIOACTIVE WASTE
The Serebryanka
tanker, operated by Murmansk
Shipping Company (MSC), arrived in Murmansk during the week of 21 February
2000 with 560 cubic meters of liquid radioactive waste (LRW) collected
at a Northern Fleet base. The LRW will
be treated at a processing facility owned by a nuclear icebreaker base,
Atomflot.
The Northern Fleet does not have its own LRW processing facilities; the
fleet shipped 770 cubic meters of LRW from its bases to Atomflot in 1999.
In 2000 MSC is expected to sign a contract with the navy to process an
additional 600-800 cubic meters of LRW.
12/99: IMANDRA
DEFUELS VICTOR II SUB, FUEL SENT TO MAYAK FOR REPROCESSING
The nuclear fuel support ship Imandra
successfully defueled the Victor II class nuclear submarine K-476
at the Nerpa shipyard. This is the
first time a civilian support ship defueled a nuclear submarine.
Between 26 November and 4 December 1999, the Imandra, which is part
of the Atomflot fleet operated by Murmansk Shipping Company (MSC), transferred
the fuel to the Lotta.[1]The
Lotta then loaded the fuel onto a train bound for the Mayak
Production Association for reprocessing. Approximately 500 fuel
assemblies were removed from K-476's two reactors. The spent fuel is expected
to arrive at Mayak in January 2000.[2] The spent fuel reprocessing is being
financed through Minatom out of the federal budget. Minatom and the
Ministry of Transportation have approved a plan for Imandra to de-fuel
and reprocess the spent fuel from several nuclear submarines in 2000.[3]
8/26/99: US SPECIALISTS VISIT ATOMFLOT FACILITY
US specialists [most likely from the US Department of Energy] have arrived
at the Atomflot facility in Murmansk to inspect the security systems there,
Vecherniy
Murmansk reported on 26 August 1999. The Atomflot facility, which
has received security upgrades as part of the US Department of Energy's
MPC&A program, stores nuclear materials, including HEU fuel for nuclear
icebreakers and submarines. The US specialists will pay special attention
to the physical protection systems at the facility, including the television
monitoring system, which keeps track of personnel entering and leaving
the facility. The article pointed out that the need to ensure that the
security systems are functioning was demonstrated by the July
1999 incident in which two Atomflot employees working on the service
ship Imandra stole californium-252 and attempted to sell it in St.
Petersburg.
7/13/99: AUTHORITIES
ARREST FIVE FOR TRYING TO SELL STOLEN RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL
In St. Petersburg on 13 July 1999, the Northwest
Regional Administration for Combating Organized Crime and the St. Petersburg
Administration of the Federal Security Service (FSB) arrested five men
who tried to sell 5g of californium-252 for $50,000 and about 17kg of mercury
for $11,000.[1,2,3,4,5,6] A year after a St. Petersburg based criminal
group approached 50 year-old Senior Machinist and Decontamination Specialist
Yevgeniy Balanin in Murmansk about helping them procure californium-252,
Balanin took advantage of his responsibility for removing spent nuclear
components from the nuclear-powered icebreaker Rossiya. In
September 1998, he shipped an empty container to the Atomflot storage facility,
and carried 5g of californium-252 off the Rossiya.[1,2,7]
Balanin and his accomplice, 43 year-old Nikolay Yefimovich, a radiation
control technician aboard the service ship Imandra, packed the californium-252
inside a container filled with paraffin which they then placed within a
canister of water.[1] Although the initial $100,000 offer from the
criminal group fell through, Balanin and Yefimovich headed to St. Petersburg
with the californium-252 and the mercury,[1,2,3] which also came directly
from the icebreaker,[6] in search of another buyer in July 1999.
Authorities there arrested the two men and three others, including Balanin's
25 year-old son.[1,2,3]
Californium-252 is not weapons-usable, but it is
a strong neutron emitter and is used to start up nuclear reactors. It can
also be used to poison or murder because of the high penetrating capability
of neutron radiation (three to 10 times more dangerous than gamma radiation).[1,5]
Although Balanin and Yefimovich handled the material carefully, reports
indicated that it nevertheless emitted radiation 350 times higher than
the maximum permissible level.[1] Californium-252, produced at the
All-Russian
Scientific and Research Institute of Atomic Reactors (SRIAR) in Dmitrovgrad,
is usually stored on board the Imandra in containers weighing 200kg
. The material is transferred onto the icebreaker in a bucket-sized
container, which can be carried by one person. Once spent, the californium-252
is transferred from the icebreaker to the Atomflot storage facility.[5]
Authorities sent the confiscated californium-252 to the V.G.
Khlopin Radium Institute Scientific Production Association for evaluation.[1]
The crime of stealing radioactive materials falls under Article 221, Part
2 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code and is punishable by five to
10 years in prison.[1,2,3,4]
Since 1996, the United States and Russia, as part
of the US Department of Energy's MPC&A Task Force program, have cooperated
on upgrading physical protection of the icebreaker fleet's fresh fuel (HEU)
stored on board the Imandra, the ship on which Yefimovich worked.(For
more information on the upgrades, please see the US DOE MPC&A program
reports from 1997
and 1998
in the full-text document section.) A source at the Murmansk Shipping
Company stated that it has accounted for all the material aboard Imandra.[5]
Although the theft from the Rossiya involved non-weapons-usable
material, it nonetheless validates the insider theory, which posits that
an employee working with the material, such as Balanin, may be best positioned
and more likely to divert that material. (For further information about
the Imandra and the Rossiya please see the Civilian-Use
Naval Reactors section.)
4/12/99: GERMAN TOURIST DETAINED
IN MURMANSK
Murmansk Oblast Federal Security Service officers detained Thomas Schmidt,
a German tourist, for photographing the Atomflot repair enterprise in Murmansk
and trying to find out how to gain access to the facility. Although
Schmidt took pictures of restricted enterprises, approaches to them, and
warships, further investigation determined that the photographs did not
constitute state secrets. Authorities ultimately expelled Schmidt
from Murmansk Oblast and confiscated his camera and film.
12/98: LUKOIL BUYS
MURMANSK SHIPPING COMPANY
Lukoil, the second largest oil company in Russia,
bought the Murmansk Shipping Company (MSC), and has therefore assumed responsibility
for the operation of Russia's seven nuclear-powered icebreakers and one
nuclear-powered transport ship. Lukoil plans to use the icebreakers
for gas and oil exploitation in the Barents Sea. Vyacheslav Ruksha,
the new director of MSC, stresses the importance of maintaining the civilian
nuclear fleet for these purposes. At the time of the purchase, only
three icebreakers were in operation: the Sovetskiy Soyuz, the Taymyr,
and the Arktika. MSC could not afford repairs or the purchase
of nuclear fuel for the reactors of the other icebreakers, which are laid
up at Atomflot.
4/16/98: COMMISSIONING OF LIQUID WASTE
PROCESSING FACILITY POSTPONED
Several problems have postponed the commissioning of the liquid waste processing
facility at Atomflot to October 1998. These problems include concerns
about tax exemption status for US funds transferred into Russia, increases
in the cost of the project by $750,000, and organizational problems.
According to the Norwegian Foreign Minister, only Norway has reached an
agreement with Russia on tax exemption status for the funding of this project.
As part of a trilateral cooperation project involving Russia, Norway, and
the United States, the facility is being expanded to handle a capacity
of 5,000 cubic meters of liquid radioactive waste per year. Originally,
the commissioning was scheduled for the end of 1997, and then extended
to 1 April 1998.
2/98: MURMANSK SHIPPING COMPANY
CITES LOSSES IN PROPOSAL TO DROP ICEBREAKERS
Murmansk Shipping Company (MSCo) officials announced
their decision to get rid of the fleet of nuclear icebreakers at the annual
MSCo meeting in Moscow in early February 1998. MSCo blames the operation
of the nuclear-powered icebreakers for part of the losses they suffered
in 1997. Because all nuclear-powered vessels are federal property,
their operating expenses are supposed to be covered by the federal government.
However, in 1997 the state paid only a small part of the total expenses
incurred during the operation of the icebreakers. MSCo officials
are considering various options for what to do with the fleet. According
to Vyacheslav Ruksha, director of MSCo's nuclear fleet, one option is to
establish an Arctic Icebreaker Company as either a completely or partially
independent venture. Discussions about the possibility of a split
between MSCo and the nuclear fleet have continued with no resolution since
1993.
4/4/97: NUCLEAR WASTE ON BOARD LEPSE
During the last 30 years, several metric tons of uranium and its decay
products have accumulated on the Lepse. Since Mayak, the sole
spent fuel reprocessing plant in Russia, turned down the nuclear waste
onboard the Lepse in the 1980s, the storage compartment was cemented
and the ship was transformed into a "floating sarcophagus." According
to Vyacheslav Ruksha, Director of Atomflot, the problem could possibly
be solved by the construction of a temporary storage facility and the development
of proper technology for unloading the nuclear waste. The Lepse
continues
to be an enormous threat not only to Murmansk, but neighboring states such
as Norway. Norway and France had succeeded in securing $11 million
dollars from the European Parliament for the purpose of dealing with this
problem, but the process was stopped by the arrest of retired naval officer
Aleksandr Nikitin, accused of providing classified information to the Norwegian
environmental organization Bellona. The waste cannot be reprocessed because
the vitrification furnace at Mayak has been shut down, having outlived
its lifespan. Yevgeniy Ryzhkov, head of Mayak’s public relations
center, has pointed out that due to the lack of funding the construction
of two new electric vitrification furnaces--units No. 3 and No. 4--have
not been completed as planned.
11/25/96: PLAN TO REMOVE SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL FROM LEPSE APPROVED
The European Commission (EC) Advisory Committee approved a four-year project
to remove spent nuclear fuel from the Murmansk Shipping Company service
ship, Lepse. The company SGN created the plan, working under
contract with the EC. The plan proposes the transportation of about
600 spent fuel elements to Mayak for reprocessing. The plan may be
delayed because Russian officials say that there are no available storage
facilities for the material, and no spent fuel will be extracted until
it can either be stored in Murmansk, or safely transported to Mayak.
SGN proposed that Russia use TK-18 fuel storage casks to transport the
fuel to Mayak. However, the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy uses
the TK-18 containers exclusively to store nuclear submarine spent fuel.
The fuel in the Lepse came from civilian icebreakers, and Minatom
will not permit its containers to be used to transport civilian spent nuclear
fuel. Dual-purpose containers, designed for storage and transport,
are another option for the project. The Lepse project will
receive funds from abroad. France promises $2 million, the EC's TACIS
program will provide $4 million, and Norway will contribute about $5 million.
The project aims to remove the 750,000 Ci worth of spent fuel from the
Lepse
before an accident occurs, which would contaminate the Barents Sea and
Arctic Ocean. Extraction of the spent fuel requires the development
of special equipment because of the poor condition of the vessel.
Rust and rupturing of the vessel have created a precarious situation, and
direct extraction is impossible and unsafe.
5/20/96: SERVICE VESSEL HAS DANGEROUS LEVELS OF SPENT FUEL
Atomflot's service ship Lepse holds 643 spent fuel assemblies from
decommissioned Soviet icebreakers. According to officials of the
Murmansk Shipping Company, 430 of the spent assemblies are OK-900 type
assemblies, most of which were brought aboard the Lepse after the
1966 loss of coolant accident on the Lenin icebreaker. The
other 213 assemblies are of the earlier OK-150 design. The accident
aboard the Lenin caused the spent fuel to swell, preventing it from
fitting into Lepse's vertical storage tubes. Nonetheless,
Lepse
workers pounded the fuel into the tubes, damaging many assemblies with
sledgehammers. The damaged assemblies were placed in the hold and
plugged with concrete. The current dose rate at the edge of the plug
is estimated at 25 to 50 millisieverts (mSv) per hour. Under the
plug, the dose rate is 2 Sv per hour. Five to ten percent of the
spent fuel is reported to have broken or stripped cladding. According
to Russian officials, new TK-12 casks are needed, at an estimated cost
of $500,000 per cask, with each holding 21 spent fuel assemblies.
Removing the entire inventory of spent fuel from Lepse will cost
a total of $175 million.
5/6/96: SPENT FUEL DELIVERED TO MAYAK FROM ICEBREAKER FLEET
After a three year delay, spent fuel from the Russian icebreaker fleet
is now being transported from the Atomflot base to the RT-1 reprocessing
plant at Mayak.
Spent fuel is discharged on the average every 3-4 years from seven icebreakers
operating in the Arctic Ocean. Spent fuel is stored on the Imandra
and Lotta Atomflot service ships, which together hold nearly 6,500
assemblies, equivalent to about 25 cores. Spent fuel is water-cooled
and thereafter removed from the ships and transported to RT-1 by rail.
The transport ceased in 1994 due to the lack of funds. In 1994, when
the shortage of storage capacity on the service ships in Murmansk threatened
to disable the icebreaker fleet, the transport resumed with 5 metric tons
heavy metal (HM) of spent fuel removed to Mayak. By May 1996, 1 MTHM
more was delivered. Deliveries have been limited by transportation
problems, including the lack of train cars capable of holding TUK-18 casks
filled with spent icebreaker fuel and withstanding 40-ton loads.
Moreover, Mayak has been raising prices of reprocessing fuel to "Western
levels" considered to be about $ 1,500/kgHM.
12/5/95: BELLONA DISCOVERS FUEL ELEMENTS ON A CARGO SHIP
Representatives of a Norwegian environmental firm Bellona discovered 624
nuclear fuel elements at the cargo ship Lepse in Murmansk. Reportedly,
these elements were unloaded from the nuclear ship Lenin and later
bituminized. Russians charged the firm with revealing Russian national
secrets.
7/6/95: NORWAY AND THE UNITED STATES ASSIST IN WASTE PROCESSING
Atomflot has successfully completed an agreement with Norway and the United
States on conducting a joint project on processing liquid radioactive
waste. It hopes to soon find similar ways to handle solid radioactive waste.
Atomflot expects to send a third train-load of solid radioactive waste
to Mayak for reprocessing.
Last updated 20 April 2005
The development section in this file is no longer being updated. For major
recent developments, see the
General Naval Developments
file.
For related archived developments,
see the
Northern Fleet Developments file and archived
development sections under individual facility files.
Comments or questions? Contact Cristina Chuen at MIIS
CNS: Cristina.ChuenATmiis.edu
This material is produced independently for NTI
by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the
Monterey Institute of International Studies and
does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has
not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers,
employees, agents. Copyright © 2003 by MIIS.
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