To go to the main
Northern Fleet entry, see the Northern Fleet Overview
file.
Severodvinsk
Developments
Sevmash
Developments
Onega
Zvezdochka
Developments
Located on the White Sea with a population of 210,000,
Severodvinsk serves as the home of the Russian State Center for Atomic
Shipbuilding (GRTsAS). GRTsAS consists of Russia's two largest shipyards:
the Northern Machine-Building Enterprise (better known as
Sevmash) and Zvezdochka.[1] Together these shipyards
cover an area of 15 square kilometers. The Severodvinsk shipyards
hold overall responsibility for the design, construction, testing, repair,
and decommissioning of nuclear-powered ships. The Sevmash yard has
been designated by the Russian Navy as the sole nuclear submarine construction
facility, whereas Zvezdochka is responsible for nuclear submarine maintenance
and dismantlement. There are about 12,530 cubic meters of solid radioactive
waste stored at four facilities located at these shipyards, one of which
is located outside of the city of Severodvinsk.[2]
4/19/2003: NEW CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL TO INCLUDE SHIPYARD DIRECTORS
The mayor of Severodvinsk has introduced a new council of chairmen, which is
composed of the directors of the Sevmash, Zvezdochka,
Arktika, and Polyarnaya Zvezda Shipyards as well as the commander of the Belomorsk
Naval
Base along with a number of other enterprise directors. The council is
purely consultative.[1,2]
3/19/2003: SEVERODVINSK COURT CONVICTS 11 FOR 2001 NUCLEAR SUBMARINE
RUDDER BLADE THEFT
On 19 March 2003 the Severodvinsk city court convicted 11 members of a
criminal group of stealing a nuclear submarine rudder blade from the
Sevmashpredpriyatiya military wharf on 16 July 2001. Businessman Aleksandr
Stepochkin, who has a prior record of extortion, and Aleksey Menshikov, an
employee of the wharf, were sentenced to six years in jail for organizing the
theft, while the others received from three to five years for their complicity
in the crime. Court documents indicate that the two ringleaders bribed the
director of the wharf's railroad depot and two of its drivers, along with
security guards and loaders at the plant. Together, on 16 July 2001, they used
two trucks to remove "nonferrous scrap metal," which was actually a rudder blade
made from a titanium alloy and valued at 4,616,000 rubles. The metal was sold
for sold for approximately 300,000 rubles. Neither the purchases nor the rudder
blade itself had been found as of 20 March 2003.[1,2,3] Each accomplice
reportedly received between 6,000 and 12,000 rubles for their part in the
plan.[3]
1/31/2003: SEVMASH ACCOUNTS FOR MAJOR SHARE OF CITY'S TAX INCOME
According to Konoshskiy kuryer, Sevmash, with 27,000 employees,
accounts for one-third of Severodvinsk's tax income. Other businesses have a
total of 33,000 employees, and pay just 10% of the city's taxes. These
businesses deprive the city of 200-250 million rubles (about $7.1-8.8 million as
of 21 January 2003) per year in taxes, states the paper. [However, the source
does not provide any further information on how this estimate was reached, or
the salaries paid and profitability of other Severodvinsk companies.]
7/7/2001: SEVERODVINSK WILL NOT ACCEPT MORE
DECOMMISSIONED SUBMARINES
On 7 July 2001, Izvestiya Peterburg reported
that the Arkhangelsk Oblast Environmental Protection Committee had prohibited the
military from towing any additional decommissioned nuclear submarines to Severodvinsk because
in July
2001 there were already 15 such vessels awaiting dismantlement in Severodvinsk military ports.
7/3/2001: CONFERENCE ON SUBMARINE
DISMANTLEMENT AND RELATED ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS OPENS IN SEVERODVINSK
On 3 July 2001, the six-day conference "Environmental
Problems of Nuclear Submarine Dismantlement" opened in Severodvinsk. Participants
included officials from Minatom
and the Russian Shipbuilding
Agency, experts from research centers and design bureaus, foreign scientists and officials, and
representatives of environmental
organizations.[1] Viktor Akhunov, the head of the Minatom
Directorate for the Environment and Nuclear Facility Decommissioning, said at the seminar that all decommissioned nuclear submarines could be dismantled
by 2007.[2] The conference participants outlined the major tasks in the
dismantlement process: creating a transport system and long-term reactor
storage sites; manufacturing special transport ships for containers with
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel; upgrading existing storage sites
and constructing new ones; manufacturing containers for radioactive waste; developing technologies for dealing with toxic waste produced in the dismantlement
process; providing dosimeter and environmental monitoring devices; strengthening the legal
framework surrounding nuclear submarine dismantlement; retraining retired
military staff from dismantled submarines; and improving public information regarding dismantlement issues.[3]
5/22/2001: INFORMATION ON QUANTITY OF SOLID RADIOACTIVE WASTE AND
SPENT FUEL IN SEVERODVINSK DEEMED SECRET
According to a 22 May 2001 article in Delovoy Peterburg, the Russian
Shipbuilding Agency has issued an order that prohibits
Sevmash and Zvezdochka
from providing the mass media
with information on how much solid radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel is
stored at the two facilities.
5/15/2001: SEVERODVINSK TO GET RADIATION
SAFETY CONTROL OFFICE
According to Andrey Mikhaylov, a journalist with
Severodvinsk's Severnyy rabochiy newspaper, an announcement
regarding the establishment of a SevRAO
office in Severodvinsk was made during a
meeting of a Russian-Norwegian group dedicated to preventing radioactive
contamination of the Arctic, reported Rosbalt on 15 May 2001. The Severodvinsk office is
expected to open by the end of 2001.
3/13/2001: FLOATING
NUCLEAR POWER PLANT PLANNED FOR SEVERODVINSK
For more information, see the 3/13/2001
entry in the Civilian Naval
Developments file.
2/1/2001: NUCLEAR SUBMARINE DISMANTLEMENT IN ARKHANGELSK OBLAST
UNSATISFACTORY
On 1 February 2001, Rosbalt information agency reported that the
Arkhangelsk Oblast Administration Environmental Protection and Nature
Management Board deemed the dismantlement process at Severodvinsk shipyards and the
Belomorskaya naval base unsatisfactory. Presently, there are five nuclear
submarines at Sevmash, only one of which has been defueled, and four
nuclear submarines with nuclear fuel are floating at the Belomorskaya naval
base. According to Zvezdochka's nuclear and radiation safety division head,
Anatoliy Shepurev, the situation has been caused by a lack of funding: the 2000
federal budget provided funding to maintain just two fueled submarines
and two civilian crews.
5/24/2000: SEVERODVINSK SEEKS "CLOSED CITY" STATUS
On 24 May 2000 the Arkhangelsk Oblast press office
reported that Governor Anatoliy Yefremov sent a letter to the federal government
requesting that Severodvinsk be given "closed city" status. If granted
closed city status, Severodvinsk will come under federal jurisdiction and
will receive funding from the federal budget and various tax exemptions.
Those promoting the change point to estimates that the city's budget will
double from 300 million rubles ($10.6 million as of 24 May 2000) to 600
million rubles ($21.2 million as of 24 May 2000), and the city's regional
tax will decrease by 41 million rubles ($1.4 million as of 24 May 2000).
Oblast authorities are supporting the change as it will relieve them of
responsibility for the defense enterprises located there.[1] Some
hope that closed city status will attract foreign investment to
Sevmash
and Zvezdochka.[2]
Page last updated 5 August 2003
Comments or questions? Contact Cristina
Chuen at MIIS CNS: cristina.chuen@miis.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 © 2002 by MIIS.
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