To return to the main Pacific Fleet entry, see the Pacific Fleet file.

The post-Soviet reforms that have downgraded the status of the Pacific Fleet (relative to the Northern Fleet) have arguably upgraded the relative importance of Kamchatka Oblast facilities (within the Pacific Fleet).  Whereas the nuclear submarine base at Rybachiy (Russia's largest) previously shared responsibility for the Pacific Fleet's SSBNs with several smaller bases in Primorskiy Kray, the four remaining active-duty SSBNs (all Delta IIIs) are now all stationed at Rybachiy. SSNs and SSGNs are also stationed at Rybachiy. These nuclear submarines continue to conduct operations in the Sea of Okhotsk and in the Pacific Ocean.

At the same time, however, Kamchatka Peninsula facilities have shared the fate of other Pacific Fleet facilities in having to deal with large backlogs of decommissioned nuclear submarines and an overflow of liquid nuclear waste and spent fuel. These materials are kept in ground-based tanks and floating storage vessels at the Kamchatka Shipyard (also known as Site 49K), which is also responsible for the refueling active-duty submarines as well as the defueling of decommissioned vessels.  The actual dismantlement of SSBNs must be done (according to START I) at Bolshoy Kamen, however, meaning that decommissioned vessels must eventually be transported to Primorskiy Kray.  Thus, several SSBNs sit idly in Rybachiy awaiting transport south, while a large number of SSNs await the delivery of new technology to the Kamchatka Shipyard to allow their dismantlement on site.

Due to the lack of rail or road links from Kamchatka to the trans-Siberian railroad, submarine fuel, spare parts, weapons, and other equipment must be delivered to these facilities by ship during the summer and early fall.  The primary point of contact for naval fuel cycle activities is Chazhma Bay in Primorskiy Kray.
[The Monterey Institute of International Studies and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Nuclear Successor States of the Soviet Union: Status Report on Nuclear Weapons, Fissile Material, and Export Controls, no. 5, March 1998, p. 17.]{Entered 4/17/98 jcm; updated 5/1/2000 CC}

Page last updated 24 March 2000
For more recent developments, see the Pacific Fleet Developments or Pacific Fleet Radioactive Waste Developments files and development sections in the Kamchatka Shipyard or Rybachiy Nuclear Submarine Base facility files.

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 © 2003 by MIIS.

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