LOCATION:
Zvezda Far Eastern Shipyard, Bolshoy Kamen, Primorskiy Kray; approximately 25km east of Vladivostok, across Ussuriskiy Bay.
SUBORDINATION:
Zvezda Far Eastern Shipyard, which is subordinate to the Russian Shipbuilding Agency
[Russian Government Decree No. 878, Voprosy Rossiyskogo agentstva po sudostroyeniyu, 30 July 1999; in The Legislation in Russia, http://law.optima.ru.]{Entered 5/1/2000 CC}
ACTIVITIES:
The Landysh plant is a liquid radioactive waste treatment plant that is housed on a barge at the Zvezda Far Eastern Shipyard.  Created as part of a Japanese nuclear assistance program, the plant was designed by the US firm Babcock and Wilcox, and constructed at the Amurskiy Sudostroitelnyy Zavod in Komsomolsk-na-Amure under subcontract to the Japanese Tomen Group.  The plant was floated down to Bolshoy Kamen in the fall of 1997.[1,2]
 
It was originally anticipated that the facility would become operational in April 1998.[3] The facility was completed in June 1998, but many technical problems remained.  Processing was only allowed to commence once Gosatomnadzor issued a license permitting the processing of waste, which occurred on 6 December 2000.  Also issued was a Waste Package Certificate (allowing the offloading of drums of cemented radioactive waste), but as of May 2001 the facility is still awaiting an Admissible Discharge Authorization to discharge the treated liquid waste.[4] 
 
In 1993, it was estimated that operating the plant would cost $3.4 million per year.  Japan pledged to underwrite only the first year of operation, after which Russia will have to provide the financing.[1] (For a detailed report on the Landysh project, please see "The Complex Politics of Foreign Assistance: Building the Landysh in the Russian Far East," The Nonproliferation Review Vol. 8, No. 2 (Summer 2001).  For an overview of Japanese assistance programs please see the Naval Reactors Foreign Assistance section. The problem of radioactive waste disposal is discussed in more detail in the Naval Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste section.
Sources:
[1] James Clay Moltz, "Conditions At Bolshoy Kamen And Problems Of CTR Implementation," trip report, CNS, Monterey Institute, February 1996.
[2] Yuriy Grachev, ITAR-TASS, 20 March 1995; in "Pacific Fleet Starts Radioactive Waste Disposal," JPRS-TEN-95-006, 26 May 1995, p. 58.
[3] NISNP staff interview with Japanese Foreign Ministry official, Tokyo, December 1997.{Updated 11/4/99 TR}
[4] NISNP e-mail correspondence with representative of contractor, May 2001.{Updated 9/7/01 CC} 
 
LANDYSH DEVELOPMENTS:
 
3/28/2002: LANDYSH PROCESSED OVER 800t OF RADIOACTIVE WASTE
On 28 March 2002, Agenstvo Voyennykh Novostey reported that, according to Minister of Atomic Energy Aleksandr Rumyantsev, the Landysh facility has processed over 800t of radioactive waste since it officially started operations in November 2001.
[Agenstvo voyennykh novostey, 28 March 2002; in "Russian Far East Complex Disposed of Over 800 Tonnes of Radioactive Waste," FBIS Document CEP20020328000133.] {Entered 4/9/2002 EF}
 
11/22/2001: LANDYSH OFFICIALLY OPENED
On 22 November 2001, the Landysh facility was officially opened during a ceremony at the Zvezda Far Eastern Shipyard in Bolshoy Kamen.[1] The facility cost 4.2 billion yen (over $34 million as of 22 November 2001).[2]
Sources:
[1] "Japan Supplies Facility for Recycling Liquid Radioactive Wastes to Russia," Interfax, 22 November 2001.
[2] Kyodo, 22 November 2001; in "Nuclear Waste Disposal Facility Completed in Russia," FBIS Document JPP20011122000122. {Entered 12/17/2001 EF}
 
10/30/2001: LANDYSH TO BE HANDED OVER TO RUSSIA
On 30 October 2001, Deputy Minister of Atomic Energy Valeriy Lebedev said that Japan would hand over the floating Landysh liquid radioactive waste filtering facility to Russia in December 2001. Since the start of Landysh test operations in late 2000, the facility has processed 1,500m³ of liquid waste.
[Agenstvo voyennykh novostey, 30 October 2001; in "Japan to Transfer Waste-Processing Facility to Russia in Dec," FBIS Document CEP20011030000231.] {Entered 10/31/2001 EF}
 
8/16/2000: LANDYSH TO BEGIN OPERATION IN OCTOBER 2000
On 16 August 2000, Interfax reported that after successfully undergoing testing in July 2000, the Landysh liquid radioactive waste treatment plant has been commissioned and will be operational in October 2000.[1,2]  The Landysh plant has the capacity to process 7,000 cubic meters per year and could treat the radioactive waste generated by all nuclear submarines of the Pacific Fleet.  Landysh will be operated by specially trained civilians.[1]
Sources:
[1] "Liquid Nuclear Waste Processing Vessel Commissioned in Russian Far East," Interfax, 16 August 2000.
[2] Nadezhda Brazhina, "Submarina opasna dazhe mertvaya," Vladivostok online edition, http://vl.vladnews.ru, 1 August 2000. {Entered 8/24/00 YF}
 
12/98: LANDYSH STILL NOT IN OPERATION
Operation of the Landysh liquid radioactive waste processing facility has been postponed indefinitely due to a number of defects.  The US firm Babcock and Wilcox is being held responsible for these defects, and Zvezda director Valery Maslakov said that the facility will not be put into operation until all of the defects are corrected.  Workers at the Vostok shipyard will repair the facility.
[Yevgenia Lents, ITAR-TASS, 4 December 1998; in "Utilization of Nuclear Submarines Stepped up in Far East," FBIS-UMA-98-338.]  {Entered 3/19/99  HA}
 
8/4/98: LANDYSH UNDERGOES TRIALS
The Landysh floating liquid waste processing facility is undergoing mooring trials, which are being conducted according to a program agreed to by specialists from Russia and the US firm Babcock and Wilcox, and coordinated by the Zvezda shipyard, oversight agencies, and the Ministry of the Economy. The Landysh facility will be stationed at a separate mooring wall and equipped with special equipment for receiving power supply, fresh water, and so forth.  If necessary, the Landysh can moor at any military base.  It can obtain energy from its own diesel supply, which can provide energy for 30 days if shore-based power is unavailable.  Experts who have successfully completed a special training course for working with liquid radioactive waste will work aboard the Landysh.  When the mooring trials are finished, a government commission, including representatives of the Russian Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Labor, the Marine Registry, other government departments, representatives of the Zvezda shipyard, and the Bolshoy Kamen Duma, will begin work.  The tests have been delayed twice before, in September 1997 and January 1998.  As of August 1998, experts had completed testing of two of the 12 units.
[Nina Kolesnichenko, "Na 'Landyshe' radiatsiey i ne pakhnet," Vladivostok, No. 138 (2240), 4 August 1998, pp. 5-6.]  {Entered 9/17/98  HA}
 
6/11/98: FLOATING PROCESSING FACILITY COMPLETE
Construction of the new floating liquid radioactive waste disposal facility was completed at the Vostok shipyard in Bolshoy Kamen.  The facility was named Landysh (lily of the valley).  Head construction worker V. Klyuchkov said that the facility will operate on the following cycle:  200 days of waste disposal followed by 100 days of maintenance.[1]  Japan funded the construction of the facility, which is mounted on a barge that is 63 meters long, 25 meters wide, and 5 meters high.  The facility will be able to process up to 7,000 cubic meters of waste annually and will be moored near Vladivostok.[2]
Sources:
[1]  "Korabl 'Chistilshchik'," Gudok, 11 June 1998, p. 2; in WPS Yadernyye materialy, No. 11, 18 June 1998, p. 2.
[2] "Liquid Waste Disposal Facility Is Soon to be Completed," Japan Atomic Energy Industrial Newsletter, 16 April 1998. {Entered 8/13/98  HA}
 
11/4/97: REPROCESSING FACILITY IN FINAL PHASE
The final building phase of the Landysh floating liquid waste reprocessing facility, which consists of outfitting the Landysh with equipment, began at the Vostok shipyard in Bolshoy Kamen.  Construction of the floating facility took place at the Amurskiy Zavod, before it was towed to Primorskiy Kray.  The Japanese government funded the project in order to ease their concerns about the Pacific Fleet's disposal practices.  The new reprocessing facility will be operated near the Zvezda shipyard in Bolshoy Kamen, in order to deal with the radioactive waste associated with the decommissioning and dismantlement of nuclear submarines at the shipyard.
[Moscow Russian Television Network, 4 November 1997; in "Russian Ships Used in Energy Production, Waste Disposal," FBIS-SOV-97-308.]   {Entered 8/11/98  HA}
 
4/19/96: OFFICIALS CONSIDER CONSTRUCTION OF REPROCESSING PLANT
Officials of Gosatomnadzor, the Pacific Fleet command, and local administration in the Far East are divided on the issue of accepting foreign aid for construction of a complex for reprocessing liquid radioactive waste. Proponents of the new reprocessing complex say that the present complex Sharya will not solve the problem with radioactive waste in the Far East. The local administration decided to contract with a US-Japanese consortium to build the $25 million complex with annual reprocessing capacity of 7,000 metric tons. The funds may come from the $100 million package promised by Japan to the CIS countries for dismantlement.
["Rossiya, vozmozhno, budet pererabatyvat aziatskiye radioaktivnyye otkhody," Segodnya, 19 April 1996, p. 2.]
 
2/8/96: FIRM COMPLETES PLANS FOR NEW REPROCESSING VESSEL
According to reports, the Vympel design office in Nizhniy Novgorod has finalized its plans for a vessel which will reprocess liquid nuclear waste. The $25.5 million vessel will be built by Amurskiye Verfi shipbuilder in Komsomolsk-na-Amure and will be paid for by the Japanese government out of funds allocated in 1993 to support Russian nuclear disarmament and safeguarding ecological security in the Russian Far East. The facility, when completed, will be able to reprocess some 7,000 tons of waste annually. Due its mobility, the new vessel will be able to pick up radioactive waste from different storage sites for reprocessing.
Sources:
[1] Penny Morvant, "Nizhniy Novgorod Firm Finishes Blueprint Of Nuclear Waste Reprocessing," OMRI Daily Digest, no. 28, pt. I, 8 February 1996, p. 3.
[2] "Floating Plant Will Eliminate Radioactive Waste," Segodnya, 9 February 1996, pp. 1,2.
 
1/96: US-DESIGNED REPROCESSING FACILITY WILL BE LOCATED AT ZVEZDA
According to an agreement between Russian, US, and Japanese firms and government organizations, the Zvezda shipyard in Bolshoy Kamen will be the future location of the new $25.5 million facility for reprocessing liquid radioactive waste of the Pacific Fleet. The US-designed facility will be placed on a Russian-made vessel allowing it to operate independently. The capacity of the future facility is estimated at 7,000 cubic meters a year. Its service life will be 20 years. The construction will be financed with funds allocated by Japan in 1993 to help Russia dismantle its nuclear arsenal. Russia will bear all the operational costs of the facility, which will amount to $1 million a year.
Sources:
[1] Victor Litovkin, "Americans And Japanese Are Solving Our Problem Of Radioactive Liquid Waste," Izvestiya, 16 January 1996, p. 1.
[2] Andrey Gavrielenko, Krasnaya zvezda, 18 January 1996, p. 3.
 
8/4/95: JAPAN MAY REVOKE FINANCIAL COMMITMENTS TO BUILD PLANT
Interfax reported that plans to build a Japanese-funded facility to reprocess liquid radioactive waste are in question, with reports that Japan may cancel its financial commitment. Since 1994, the waste has been stored in Russia's Pacific fleet tankers, which lack additional space and funding for transportation.
[Oleg Vnusov, NTV, 4 August 1995; in "Nuclear Waste Stockpiles Reach Dangerous Levels In Maritime," FBIS-TAC-95-016-L, 4 August 1995.]
 
7/20/95: RUSSIAN FIRMS LOSE OUT TO FOREIGN BIDS FOR PLANTS
Foreign companies, who participated in a tender aimed at solving the problem of radioactive waste in the Pacific Fleet, offered as much as $20 million for their designs, pushing Russian companies out of competition. The Russian-developed system is capable of purifying 500 liters of waste per hour.
["Why Was the Prize Given to Abroad?" Rossiyskaya gazeta, 20 July 1995, p. 1.]
 
10/94: JAPAN WILL FUND LLW FACILITY NEAR VLADIVOSTOK
Russia and Japan are planning the construction of a floating low-level radioactive waste (LLW) treatment and storage facility for submarine waste to be located near Vladivostok. Japan is fully funding the project, with an estimated cost of $16 million. The $16 million will come out of the $70 million that Japan has allocated for Russian nuclear disarmament.
[Naoaki Usui, "Bidding Starts For Japan-Financed Vladivostok Facility for LLW," Nucleonics Week, 20 October 1994, p. 7.]
 
6/94: JAPAN-FUNDED OFF-SHORE BARGE WILL REPROCESS WASTE
A joint Russian-Japanese commission has decided to reprocess liquid radioactive wastes from nuclear submarines on a floating barge that Japan is prepared to finance. The commission also discussed the construction of an on-shore reprocessing facility at Bolshoy Kamen. This plan was rejected because the barge would be more cost-effective and the residents of Bolshoy Kamen city protested the construction of a reprocessing facility.
[Natalya Ostrovskaya, "The Barge Will Reprocess Nuclear Wastes," Izvestiya, 28 June 1994, p. 2.]
 

Page last updated 15 August 2002
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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