To return to the
main naval spent fuel and radioactive waste entry, see the
Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste
file.
To return to the main
Pacific Fleet entry, see the Pacific Fleet
file.
For Landysh liquid radioactive waste processing facility
developments, see Landysh
facility entry.
9/19/2002: SEVEN SERVICE SHIPS
DECLARED DANGEROUS
On 19 September 2002, the
fuel and energy news agency
Imateknik reported that--according
to the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy--seven service ships with radioactive
materials on board were in dangerous shape and urgently need to be dismantled.
The majority of the remaining ships servicing Russia's nuclear fleet were also
reported to be in poor condition. According to the press service, if
effective measures are not taken to dismantle the service ships and ensure the
safe storage of reactor compartments, there is a high probability of a
large-scale environmental catastrophe.
["Khranilishcha radioaktivnykh otkhodov na Dalnem Vostoke nakhodyatsya
v avariynom sostoyanii," Ima-press,
19 September 2002; in Integrum
Techno, http://www.integrum.ru.]
{Entered 10/21/2002 CC}
9/18/2002: CONSTRUCTION OF ON-SHORE
REACTOR COMPARTMENT STORAGE FACILITY
On 18 September 2002, a Vladivostok report on the conference on "Ecological
Problems in Nuclear-Powered Submarine Dismantlement and the Development of
Nuclear Power in the Region" in Vladivostok noted that construction
of an on-shore reactor compartment storage facility is scheduled to begin in
2003. However, no decisions have been made regarding solid radioactive
waste (SRW) storage. Valentin Sergiyenko, head of the Far Eastern Branch
of the Russian Academy of Sciences, has proposed the construction of an SRW
storage facility in fissures under the thick basalt of the Shkotovo plateau.
He cited the lack of population centers on the plateau as an argument for the
location of such a facility.
9/17/2002:
PROJECT TO ENCASE DAMAGED SUBMARINES TO BEGIN IN 2003
On 17 September 2002, Deputy
Minister of Atomic Energy Valeriy Lebedev
stated that work on a project to encase two submarines with damaged reactors,
currently in
Razboynik Bay,
would start in 2003. Construction will cost an estimated $18 million.[1]
Alternative designs for the projects have been considered. According to
Vasiliy Mazokin, a laboratory director at the
Scientific Research and
Design Institute of Energy Technologies (NIKIET), the use of a
decommissioned floating dock has been rejected in favor of onshore storage. The
storage site has not yet been selected; possible locations include
Pavlovsk Bay,
Chazhma Bay, and Razboynik Bay. The cheapest site, at a cost of about $25
million, would be on Ustrichnyy Cape near Razboynik Bay, next to a planned
facility for the storage of reactors that have not been damaged.[2]
Construction of a "sarcophagus" for a third submarine, the K-314 (hull 610), a
Project 675 [NATO name 'Echo II'] SSN
that caught fire and vented radiation in
Chazhma Bay
in August 1985, is also planned.[1] For more information, see the
7/2000
entry, below.
4/2002: NEW RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION FOUND
NEAR DUNAY
In early April 2002, experts of the Radiological,
Chemical, and Biological Protection Service of the Pacific Fleet found 15
locations
with higher than normal radioactive levels near the village of Dunay, reports Grani.ru. The
article did not specify the level of the radioactive contamination.[1] In
December 2001, spent nuclear fuel in transit from
Konyushkovskiy Cove to the burial site in
the south of the Shkotovo Peninsula contaminated the road. The spent nuclear
fuel had been stored aboard the PM-80 service ship for more than 40 years and
had started to crumble.[2] As of 1999, 113 defective fuel elements
were jammed into the structure of the ship. The fuel contained an estimated
100,000 curies of Cs-137 and Sr-90. In 1999, three fuel elements were unloaded,
84 elements were removed in 2000 and another 22 in 2001. Removing some of the jammed fuel required the use
of small explosives. The ship lost integrity after most of the fuel was removed,
resulting in some environmental contamination. The poor condition of the ship
together with its listing prevented proper packaging of the fuel destined for
removal. Consequently, some of that fuel leaked and contaminated the pier and
the road both in 2000 and 2001.[3] According to one report, contaminated soil
on the road is expected to be removed by the end of April
2002.[4] Another report suggests that decontamination will be completed by July
2002.[2] According to Colonel Valentin Vysotskiy,
who is in charge of monitoring radiation levels for the Pacific Fleet,
radioactive contamination in the area does not exceed natural radiation levels
by more than 1% and does not pose any danger to human health.[4] However,
on 7 March 2002, the Russian state TV station RTR
reported that the level of radiation near the village reached 10 mR/hour, which is 100 times higher
than ambient levels. Dunay is located near a railway, which is used to transport
radioactive waste to
storage sites at Cape Sysoyeva. Higher radiation levels
may be the reason
why Dunay, a small village, has as many cancer patients as the regional town of Fokino.
The Primorskiy Kray Radiation Safety Department was unable to determine whether transported radioactive waste was the source of the radioactive
contamination as it does not have access to the data from the
storage sites.[5]
8/8/2000: NEW FEDERAL ENTERPRISE ESTABLISHED TO
HANDLE PACIFIC FLEET DECOMMISSIONING, RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND SPENT FUEL
ISSUES
Government Directive No. 220-r of 9
February 2000 authorizes the establishment of a new federal enterprise, called the Far Eastern Federal
Enterprise for Handling Radioactive Wastes (DalRAO), to manage radioactive waste at Military Units 40752 (Site
32, Primorye) and 95051 (Kamchatka
Shipyard, also known as Site 49K, Vilyuchinsk, Kamchatka).[1] DalRAO will also coordinate the dismantlement of ships
and nuclear submarines decommissioned in Kamchatka
Oblast, Sakhalin, and Primorskiy
Kray, as well as the environmental rehabilitation of naval bases.[2]
The DalRAO head office will be located in Vladivostok; one of its local
offices will be in Tikhookeanskiy (part of Fokino, a closed city).[1,2] On
8 August 2000 Zolotoy rog reported the registration of the Tikhookeanskiy
branch. Tikhookeanskiy Mayor Yevgeniy Khudenkikh said that he expects the new
enterprise to alleviate unemployment and add "real money" to the town's
budget.[2]
7/2000: PROJECT TO ENCASE THREE DAMAGED SUBMARINES
UNDER CONSIDERATION
Three nuclear submarines (hull numbers 541, 175, and 610)
in floating storage in Pavlovsk Bay are in critical condition. These boats
were decommissioned 15-20 years ago and have yet to be defueled.[1] On 10 August 1985,
the reactor of the K-314 (hull 610), a Project 675 [NATO name 'Echo II'] SSN, caught fire and vented radiation in
Chazhma Bay.[2,3] At a July 2000
seminar in Moscow entitled "Concepts and problems of nuclear-ecological
security of nuclear submarines complex dismantling in the Russian Far
East," experts stated that the K-314 is in the worst condition of the
three submarines. Work on
improving the safety of the K-116 (hull 541), a Project 659T [NATO name 'Echo I'] SSN, should be completed by the end of
2000.[1,4] To secure the third submarine (hull 175), a project to build a
"sarcophagus," a hermetically sealed special container that would
both prevent radiation from getting into the environment and keep the vessel
afloat, has been developed. [1,5] The project, which will cost an estimated $40 million, should keep
the submarine afloat for 25 more years. A similar sarcophagus for the K-314 would cost
$30-35 million. Therefore, construction of a joint sarcophagus for hulls 175 and 610 is also under
consideration.[1]
2/5/98: PRIMORSKIY KRAY ENVIRONMENT IMPROVING
Specialists from the Primorskiy
Kray branch of the Federal Center for Monitoring Environmental Pollution
have concluded that the region's environment is generally improving because
the region's industries are shutting down and agriculture is declining.
Radiation levels are reported to be below the natural normal level.
However, the military rarely discloses the radiation levels in areas it
controls. Radiation levels at Bolshoy
Kamen were normal, but specialists were not allowed to measure at the
Zvezda Shipyard where a radioactive waste reprocessing facility is under
construction.
12/10/97: RESEARCH ON RADIATION CONTAMINATION
CONCLUDED
The Russian Green Cross released the findings of
its three-year investigation of radiation and chemical pollution, which
concludes that a significant amount of radioactive waste has built up in
the area of Primorskiy Kray as a result of the service and repair of a
number of nuclear submarines. The Green Cross scientists focused
in particular on the results of the nuclear submarine accident that occurred
in Chazhma Bay in 1985.
12/5/96: LIQUID RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING FACILITY TREATS PACIFIC
FLEET WASTE
Russian scientists developed a liquid radioactive waste processing facility
for the Pacific Fleet. The staff of the Pacific Fleet insists that the
facility is successfully treating the waste and that external aid is unnecessary.
The facility has the capability to treat 60 cubic meters of waste daily.
Although there are currently 3,000 metric tons of liquid radioactive waste
in the storage facilities of the Pacific Fleet, the staff is confident
that the new facility will be able to process all of the waste. A spokesman
for the staff of the Pacific Fleet assures that the storage facilities
for unprocessed liquid radioactive waste and for unrecycled spent nuclear
fuel at Mayak
all meet appropriate international safety requirements. In addition, radiation
safety services monitor radiation levels, and a Defense Ministry inspectorate
oversees nuclear and radiation safety at the Pacific Fleet facilities.
8/1/96: WASTE IS SECRETLY TRANSFERRED TO MAYAK
The first train-load of spent naval fuel from the Pacific Fleet since 1994
has been shipped to Mayak reprocessing plant. The operation was kept secret
due to terrorist threats of "railway war" from the Chechen leader Salaman
Raduyev. According to Russian Navy Commander-in-Chief Feliks Gromov, a
total of 700 spent fuel assemblies from dismantled nuclear submarines will
be transferred from the Pacific Fleet in 1996. TUK-18 spent fuel shipment
containers are being used for the transfer. Anatoliy Shulyatyev, deputy
chief of technology department at the Mayak facility, estimates that due
to lack of funds shipment of all the accumulated nuclear waste from the
Far East to Mayak could take anywhere from five to ten years.
7/96: RUSSIAN RADIOACTIVE WASTE TREATMENT FACILITY COMPLETED
A facility owned and operated by Russia has been built to treat liquid
radioactive waste from decommissioned Russian Pacific Fleet submarines.
The facility will be located on a barge near Vladivostok, and it will process
7,000 cubic meters of waste annually. The McDermott Ship Building company
will supply the barge.
2/27/96: RUSSIA COMPLETES FIRST LIQUID WASTE REPROCESSING PLANT
Valentin Sergienko, deputy director of the Far Eastern branch of the Russian
Academy of Sciences, stated that the first liquid nuclear waste reprocessing
facility was assembled at the Pacific Fleet.
2/9/96: KAMCHATKA REQUESTS ADDITIONAL FUNDS FOR WASTE DISPOSAL
Deputies of the Kamchatka Regional Legislative Assembly directed a letter
to Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin regarding allocation of additional
funds for recycling of the decommissioned submarines and disposing of radioactive
waste.
11/4/95: WASTE TRANSFER NEARLY SINKS DECOMMISSIONED TANKER
The emergency transfer of 800 cubic meters of liquid radioactive waste
from the TNT-5 Pacific Fleet tanker to tanker TNT-27 commenced at Pavlovsk
Bay near Vladivostok. Decommissioned in 1992, TNT-5 had heeled over
and was about to sink. According to Valeriy Danilyan, Head of the Radioactive,
Chemical and Biological Safety Service for the Pacific Fleet, radioactive
waste is consequently reprocessed at the Shariya reprocessing assembly
owned by the Fleet. Danilyan also stated that the Shariya reprocessing
assembly can reprocess 800 cubic meters of waste in 10-15 days. During
the summer 1995, 3,000 cubic meters of liquid radioactive waste, or more
than half of the Pacific Fleet's waste, was reprocessed at Shariya. Danilyan
added that the "situation is under control" because all liquid radioactive
waste would be transferred from the TNT-5 next week and upon completion,
the tanker would either be recycled or sunk.
10/15-22/95: BOLSHOY KAMEN EMITS A HIGH LEVEL OF RADIATION
There are currently 450 containers with solid radioactive waste at Bolshoy
Kamen with a radioactivity level 20 times above the allowed limit.
10/13/95: EDICT WILL FUND RECONSTRUCTION WORKS AT ZVEZDA
Russian Prime Minister Victor Chernomyrdin signed Edict No. 1422, allocating
4.6 billion rubles in 1995 to the State Committee for the Defense Industry
for reconstruction works at the Zvezda floating liquid radioactive waste
reprocessing assembly.
9/13/95: TRANSPORT AND STORAGE OF FUEL CITED AS PROBLEMS
During a press conference, Gosatomnadzor Head Yuriy Vishnevskiy stated
that there are problems with the storage and transport of nuclear fuel
from submarine reactors, citing difficulties in transporting fuel from
the Pacific Fleet to the Mayak fuel processing plant.
3/95: EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES ARE NOW REFURBISHED TO RECYCLE LIQUID
WASTE
The head of the Pacific Fleet's chemical service, Valeriy Danilyan, stated
that two experimental facilities, one at the Zvezda facility in Bolshoy
Kamen Bay and the other at Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy, have been overhauled
to recycle liquid radioactive waste.
10/94: GREENPEACE REPORTS DECOMMISSIONED SHIPS STILL POSE A DANGER
A Greenpeace report stated that two Pacific Fleet submarine service ships
have been put out of commission because damaged spent fuel is stuck in
their holds. The service ship based near Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka reportedly
is in danger of sinking. The report also stated that spent fuel rods at
the storage site near Vladivostok broke and fell into the cooling pool.
The pools were subsequently drained and the water was dumped at sea.
9/94: MIKHAILOV ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR NEW FACILITY IN THE FAR EAST
Minister of Atomic Energy Viktor Mikhailov announced that Russia will start
building a nuclear waste processing facility in the Far East.
6/26/94: LIMITED AMOUNT OF WASTE IS ACCIDENTALLY RELEASED INTO THE PACIFIC
A Pacific Fleet radioactive waste storage facility "broke" and released
waste into the sea. Contamination was reportedly limited and the local
population was not endangered. Kamchatka Province officials announced the
spill on 28 June 1994.
5/11/94: RUSSIA AGREES NOT TO DUMP LIQUID WASTE INTO SEA OF JAPAN
Izvestiya reported Yevgeniy Stomatyuk, chairman of the Maritime
Kray Administration Natural Resources Committee and member of the Russian-Japanese
commission, as stating that at the conclusion of the meeting of the Russian-Japanese
commission on liquid radioactive waste, Russia had agreed that the Pacific
Fleet would not dump any liquid radioactive waste into the Sea of Japan
before the end of 1994.
2/20/94: RUSSIA WILL NOT ABIDE LONDON CONVENTION AMENDMENT
An amendment to the London Convention, which bans the dumping of low-level
radioactive waste (LLRW) into the sea, went into effect. Russia stated
that it will not abide by the amendment.
10/93: JAPAN PREPARED TO HELP RUSSIA FUND PROPER WASTE DISPOSAL
Russia dumped low-level waste into the Sea of Japan two days before a summit
between the Russian and Japanese presidents. Russia stopped another scheduled
dumping of nuclear waste following the protest after the first dumping
incident. A Japanese spokesman announced that Japan was prepared to discuss
with Russia how best to use a fraction of the $100 million (in Japanese
aid already allocated to Russia) to help Russia deal with its nuclear waste.
7/93: URANIUM SALE PROFITS MAY GO TOWARDS DISPOSAL FACILITIES
At the G-7 meeting in Tokyo, President Yeltsin stated that in order to
halt Russia's practice of dumping radioactive waste in the sea, a new radioactive
waste disposal facility would be built with profits from the sale of uranium
to the United States.
1990: LOCAL RESIDENTS SUCCESSFULLY PROTEST WASTE DUMPING
There was a plan to off-load spent fuel from submarines in Vladimir Bay,
but it was ultimately abandoned as a result of protests by local residents.
Last updated 25 November 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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