To return to the main
Pacific Fleet entry, see the
Pacific Fleet file
The Shkotovo Peninsula area encompasses a number
of nuclear submarine facilities, including Chazhma Ship
Repair Facility, Sites 32 and 86, and Razboynik
Bay, and is also home to the towns of Tikhookeanskiy (Shkotovo-17 or
Fokino), Dunay (Shkotovo-22), and Temp. The region functions as a primary service,
refueling, and waste storage site for the Pacific Fleet's nuclear submarines.
Across Strelok Bay lies the large submarine base at Pavlovsk.
Besides servicing SSNs operating in the southern portion of the Pacific
Fleet, the Shkotovo Peninsula's facilities are the primary source of nuclear
fuel for SSNs and SSBNs operating out of Petropavlovsk's Rybachiy
submarine base on the Kamchatka Peninsula. Shkotovo facilities connect
to the Trans-Siberian Railroad, allowing it to receive fresh fuel from
the Machine Building Plant (MSZ)
in Elektrostal and return spent fuel assemblies for storage or reprocessing
at the Mayak
Chemical Combine (in Chelyabinsk).
Near Dunay, on the eastern coast of the Shkotovo Peninsula, southeastern shore of Chazhma Bay (the western
extension of Razboynik Bay, which lies on the western
edge of Strelok Bay), 45km southeast of Vladivostok, Primorskiy Kray
Ministry of Defense
Fresh fuel for nuclear submarines is stored here
on land and in the PM-74 service ship.[1,2] Between 1990 and 1993, Chazhma received regular deliveries of fresh nuclear fuel. As of 1993, there
was enough fresh fuel for 24 submarines (48 nuclear reactors) at this site.
Much of the fuel was damaged or usable only in retired first-generation
Soviet submarines.[3]
In March 1998, a US Department of Energy (DOE) team
visited and conducted an initial site characterization assessment of the
service ship PM-74, which carries fresh fuel from Chazhma (also known as
Site 34) to Kamchatka Shipyard
(Site 49K), where Rybachiy-based nuclear submarines are refueled.
The PM-74 also carries spent fuel back from Kamchatka.[1] The assessment
served as the basis for a plan to upgrade the ship's MPC&A system,
which was completed in August 2000.[1,2,3] In September 1998, DOE began to upgrade MPC&A
at a land-based fresh fuel storage facility at Chazhma. The enhancements
initially included several rapid upgrades and eventually
incorporated long-term
measures as well.[1] These long-term measures included a permanent storage
facility scheduled for completion in spring 2000.[2] Upgrades
to two buildings at Site 34 were reported completed in September 2000.[3]
(For more information
on DOE MPC&A assistance to the Russian Navy, please see the
DOE reports and agreements on these activities in the Russia: Full
Text Documents section.)
Nuclear-powered submarines were refueled, repaired,
and stored at this facility, also known as Site 34, which fell under the
jurisdiction of Military Division 63971. The facility is near the settlements
of Shkotovo-22 (Dunay) and Temp. The land and water surrounding the
facility were contaminated when a reactor on K-314, an Echo
II (Project 675) SSN, caught fire at the close of a refueling operation on 10
August 1985 and vented radiation in Chazhma Bay.[5,6,7] As of December
2000 there was one submarine with fuel on board in Chazhma Bay, and five fueled and
17 defueled submarines in the larger Razboynik Bay.[8]
In August 1998, the Far East Association of Business
Journalism published plans to convert the Chazhma Ship Repair Facility
into a complex to process gas and oil from the Sakhalin shelf. Although
this facility has ceased to repair submarines,
the docks, spur tracks, and infrastructure remain. A site survey
is in progress.[3] As of March 2000, the Ministry
of Defense had signed documents that allot land for the construction
of an oil refinery and gas terminal in Chazhma and Razboynik
bays, and a technical and economic feasibility study was under way.
The Primorsk Oil and Gas Complex (PNGK) project has been included in the
"Program for the Development of the Primorsk Fuel and Energy Complex, 2000-2015,"
and will reportedly be included in the federal energy program.[4] However,
as of August 2000 no progress had been made toward beginning the project, and
Dunay Mayor Yevgeniy Khudenkikh said that project realization was
questionable.[9]
9/25/2002: CHAZHMA DECLARED RADIATION-FREE, PLANS FOR OIL AND GAS
COMPLEX AT CHAZHMA MOVE FORWARD
On 25 September 2002,
Vladivostok
reported that Chazhma would
participate in a November 2002 tender for the construction of drilling platforms
for the Sakhalin shelf. In preparation for the tender, specialists from Dalvoyenmorstroy and the Pacific Fleet Department for
Radiation, Chemical, and Biological Defense decontaminated Chazhma.
According to Aleksandr Maksimov,
head of the Pacific Fleet Department for Radiation, Chemical, and Biological
Defense, radiation levels are now 15-20 microRoentgen
per hour (uR/hr),
while not long ago levels were 530-550uR/hr. Yuriy Likhoyda,
deputy governor of Primorye, on a visit to the site in late September, told
journalists that the Primorye government had ambitious plans for the area.
These plans include construction of an oil and gas terminal, oil refinery, and a
power plant: facilities that could employ former defense workers living in the
nearby closed city of Fokino.
According to Valeriy Tsymbal,
general director of the Chazhma oil and gas complex project, the project has
been given a separate line in the federal program for the development of the
Russian Far East and Zabaykal.
Although Minatom previously had been
considering the storage of damaged nuclear submarines at the site, Deputy Minister of
Atomic Energy Valeriy Lebedev
said that the ministry did not wish to harm the commercial development of
Chazhma, and would only locate the submarine storage facility in Chazhma if the
site was not used for other purposes.
[Sergey Akulich,
"Novaya zhizn Chazhmy," Vladivostok,
http://vl.vladnews.ru,
25 September 2002.] {Entered 10/21/2002 CC}
9/1/2000: SECURITY UPGRADES AT CHAZHMA COMPLETE
For more information, see the 9/1/2000
entry in the Naval Foreign
Assistance Developments file.
7/2000: PROJECT TO ENCASE SUBMARINE THAT VENTED
RADIATION AT CHAZHMA UNDER CONSIDERATION
For more information, see the 7/2000
entry in the Pacific Fleet Radioactive Waste
Developments section.
Southern coast of the Shkotovo Peninsula, southeast
of Vladivostok, Primorskiy Kray
Ministry of Defense
Also known as Cape Sysoyeva and Cape Maydel, the Site 32
radioactive waste site is the only land-based permanent nuclear submarine
radioactive waste storage facility in the Far East. It consists of five burial trenches
for low-level solid radioactive wastes. The trenches are full and covered
so that the content of the trenches is unknown. Highly radioactive waste,
such as ion-resin exchanger slurries, from nuclear-powered submarines is
also stored at this site.[1-6]
Spent reactor fuel is also routinely stored here
prior to shipment to the
Mayak
Chemical Combine reprocessing plant in Chelyabinsk. The land-based
storage facility holds 8,400 spent fuel assemblies. In 1995, the
Shkotovo facility was at 93 percent capacity.[1-6]
The US Department of Energy assistance program for spent fuel MPC&A at Site 32 has completed upgrades
at two Site 32 buildings. The
facility is the first to work
cooperatively with DOE on spent fuel MPC&A.[7,12] The project was completed
in January 2000.[8] In addition, three PM-124 class (PM-80, PM-125, PM-133)
service ships, based in Pavlovsk Bay, operate at Shkotovo. These ships hold 1,680 spent
fuel assemblies, including 118 damaged fuel assemblies on the PM-80.
The PM-133, also known as TNT-16,
was contaminated during rescue efforts that followed the 10
August 1985 incident during which the reactor of K-314, an Echo
II (Project 675) SSN, caught fire and vented radiation in Chazhma
Bay.[9,10,13] Two Pavlovsk-based technical
support ships also operate at the facility, the TNT-5 and TNT-27.[4,5,13]
In 1995, approximately 700 persons were stationed
at Site 32, as part of Military Unit 40752.
Site 86 is adjacent to Site 32.[11] DOE has been working on MPC&A
upgrades at two buildings on this site. As of February 2001, upgrades
had been completed at one of the two buildings.[12]
9/24/2002: RADIOACTIVE STORAGE SITES
IN DANGEROUS CONDITION
On 24 September 2002, Vladivostok reported on an investigation of
regional spent fuel and radioactive waste storage facilities by Mikhail Netecha,
of the Scientific Research
and Design Institute of Energy Technologies (NIKIET). He found that the storage facilities near
Sysoyeva Bay, where contaminated materials from the 1985
Chazhma incident have been stored, were in dangerous condition. Some were no longer hermetically
sealed and had contaminated the facility as well as some of the nearby
territory. Several areas had elevated levels of gamma radiation.
Liquid radioactive waste had leaked into a ravine outside the base. Cape Maydel, to the south of the base, had also been contaminated by run-off from the
spent fuel storage facility. According to Vladivostok, participants
in the conference on "Ecological Problems in Nuclear-Powered Submarine
Dismantlement and the Development of Nuclear Power in the Region," held in
Vladivostok from 16 to 20 September 2002, agreed that the first measures that should be
taken include filling contaminated ravines, burying radioactive waste
containers, and decontaminating buildings. This would require compact,
mobile equipment to handle solid radioactive wastes and prepare them for burial.
Vladivostok also reported that the spent fuel storage facility in
Sysoyeva has already been repaired, and construction of a temporary storage site
for 35 spent fuel assemblies is nearing completion.
9/18/2002: SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL UNLOADED FROM SERVICE SHIP
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 spent nuclear
fuel had been removed from a service ship in Primorye.
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 Cape Sysoyeva contaminated the road. For more
information, see the 4/2002 entry in the
Pacific Fleet Radioactive Waste Developments file.
9/1/2000: SECURITY UPGRADES AT SITE 32 COMPLETE
For more information, see the 9/1/2000
entry in the Naval Foreign
Assistance Developments file.
2/9/2000: NEW FEDERAL ENTERPRISE ESTABLISHED TO
HANDLE SITE 32 RADWASTE
According to Government Directive No. 220-r of 9
February 2000, a new state enterprise, to be called the Far Eastern Federal
Enterprise for the Handling of Radioactive Wastes (DalRAO), will be created to manage
radioactive waste at Military Units 40752 (Site 32) and 95051
(Vilyuchinsk, Kamchatka). The head office will be located in Vladivostok.
The Ministry of Defense will complete the gradual transfer of security
and fire protection functions to the new enterprise by 2002. For more information, please see the 8/8/2000
entry in the Pacific Fleet Radioactive Waste
Developments file.
On the eastern coast of the Shkotovo peninsula, across Razboynik Bay (a
small bay on the western side of Strelok
Bay) from the Chazhma Ship Repair Facility
Ministry of Defense
As of December 2000, there were five fueled and 17
defueled decommissioned submarines at Razboynik Bay. Thirteen of the 22
Razboynik Bay submarines had been cut up into three-compartment modules.
12/6/2002: FIRE ON MISSILE CRUISER ADMIRAL LAZAREV
On 6 December 2002, a fire was reported on the nuclear-powered Pacific Fleet missile cruiser Admiral Lazarev, moored
in Abrek Bay, just north of Razboynik Bay.[1,2] For more information, see the
12/6/2002 entry in the
Pacific Fleet General Developments file.
9/17/2002: PROJECT TO ENCASE
DAMAGED SUBMARINES TO BEGIN IN 2003
For more information, see the 9/17/2002 entry
in the Pacific Fleet Radioactive Waste Developments file.
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. For more information,
see the 4/2002 entry in the
Pacific Fleet Radioactive Waste Developments file.
6/16/2000: TWENTY-ONE
INJURED IN SLBM OXIDIZER LEAK
On 16 June 2000 an RSM-50 "Volna" [NATO name SS-N-18
"Stingray"] SLBM released rocket fuel oxidizer (nitrogen tetroxide) when
it was dropped on the deck of the Daugava transport ship.
The Daugava was docked at the Konyushkovskiy special base (Shkotovo-16),
located in the north of Konyushkovskiy Cove, also known as Shimiuza Cove,
3.5km from the town of Dunay.[1,2,3] Estimates of the amount of oxidizer
released vary from 50 liters to 8MT.[5,6] According to navy headquarters,
the primary reason for the accident was the age of the KS-8362 crane which
was lifting the missile: the crane's service life expired in 1995.
As of early 1999, only three out of 14 100MT cranes in the Russian Navy
were in good working order, and 17 of the navy's 63 40MT cranes.
The Northern Fleet has reportedly halted the use of all cranes, while the
Pacific Fleet continues to use theirs.[4] For more information on
crane problems, see the 4/6/2000
entry in the General Naval Developments
section. According to most news sources, the "Volna" missile had exhausted
its service life and was being transferred from the Daugava
transport
ship to the Konyushkovskiy special base, where RSM-50s are dismantled.
The Daugava brought 16 decommissioned RSM-50s from Kamchatka,
and had successfully unloaded 12 of the missiles before the accident occurred.[1,3]
In a conflicting story, ORT television reported that the SLBM was being
loaded onto a submarine.[7] No other reports mention a submarine,
though a few suggest the missile may have had a nuclear warhead. The Russian
Defense Ministry press service stated that warheads are removed from missiles
when their service lives expire.[8] According to Vesti's Vladimir
Temnyy, had the compartment of the missile containing rocket fuel been
breached, 5MT of fuel (unsymmetrical dimethylhydrazine, also called UDMH,
or heptyl) could have escaped.[4] Captain Vladimir Rybalchenko, the Daugava's
boatswain, said that he had put the crane's sling on the missile himself,
and did not understand why the rocket slipped out of the sling onto the
deck.[1] As a result of the accident, sailors from the Daugava,
representatives of the Kamchatka naval group and the secret military storage
facility who were observing the unloading, two crane operators, and the
naval first response team were injured and a bright orange toxic cloud,
500m long and 300m wide, was formed.[1,4] Due to unusual weather
conditions, after passing through the town of Fokino (population 30,000)
the cloud drifted out to sea; usually the wind blows towards Vladivostok.[3,8]
As of 20 June 2000, 11 of the 20 people hospitalized immediately after
the accident had been released, while five were suffering from acute chemical
burns to the lungs. Of these five, only Rybalchenko was in critical
condition. On 17 June Daugava's captain, Vasiliy Moskvin,
was hospitalized after a night spent directing clean-up operations.
On the evening of 17 June, fleet commanders and a large commission from
Moscow which was in Primorskiy Kray inspecting Pacific Fleet operations,
arrived in Dunay.[1]
3/20/2000: FIVE SAILORS DIE IN ATTEMPT TO
STEAL METAL FROM DECOMMISSIONED SUBMARINE
Five sailors died during an apparent attempt to steal
scrap metal from a partially dismantled nuclear submarine at a naval base
on the Shkotovo peninsula, Vladivostok reported on 22 March 2000.[1]
A report in Nezavisimaya gazeta said the incident took place at
the Spartak ship repair factory, but did not specify if that is part of
the Chazhma Ship Repair Facility or the nearby Razboynik Bay naval facility.[2]
The bodies of the five sailors were found inside a three-section module
of the partially dismantled submarine (which contains the reactor compartment
and one compartment forward and aft of the reactor compartment) by a patrol
on the morning of 21 March 2000. The sailors, three warrant officers and
two contract servicemen, presumably entered the module the previous night.
Investigators surmise that the sailors were overcome by gasses that had
accumulated in the module as a result of corrosion, and probably lost consciousness
without realizing what was happening to them. Since all five of the sailors
appear to have entered the module at the same time, none of them managed
to aid the others or to escape. Nezavisimaya gazeta said the sailors
had closed the deck hatch after they entered the module, preventing the
gasses from venting out.[2] All five of the sailors were assigned to the
unit that guards and monitors decommissioned submarines stored at the two
bases on the peninsula, and had the keys to open the locked deck hatch.
An investigative commission has been formed to look into the incident,
and although it has not reached any conclusions, "unofficial sources" told
Vladivostok
that as the sailors entered the module at night, they were likely attempting
to supplement their salaries by taking scrap metal from the partially dismantled
submarine and selling it. Incidents of scrap metal theft from Russian naval
bases are common, the paper added.[1] Nezavisimaya gazeta said that
the module involved was a partially dismantled Project 667A strategic nuclear
missile submarine (NATO name Yankee), which is "rich in ferrous
metal."[2] Vladivostok said that the submarine was one of the first
to be decommissioned in the Far East, and had been stored at the base for
about 20 years.[1] Its reactor core had already been defueled. The sailors,
all of whom were married, received salaries of about 1000 rubles a month
(about $35 as of 23 March 2000), giving them ample incentive to supplement
their incomes.[2] A report in Kommersant-daily
speculated that the
sailors had hoped to steal measurement instruments that contain gold and
silver. It also named the five sailors involved as Vladimir Kavalerov,
Andrey Gladun, Yevgeniy Nikitin, Vladimir Baranov, and Igor Ganeyev.[3]
On 5 April 2000, the Pacific Fleet press service announced the conclusions
of the commission investigating the incident. The commission found that
environmental conditions in the submarine module were not adequately controlled,
personnel training was inadequate, and there were violations by patrol
and guard units near the decommissioned submarines. Admiral Mikhail Zakharenko,
commander of the Pacific Fleet, ordered that officials responsible for
the above violations be punished.[4]
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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