The decommissioning of Russian nuclear-powered vessels is an issue of major concern to the United States and to Scandinavian countries[1] near Russia.
In the midst of the Cold War, the Soviet Union was more concerned about building up its fleet than making provisions for the disposal of aging nuclear-powered vessels.
To put this figure in perspective, the service life expectancy of more modern Delta IVs is estimated to be between 20 and 30 years with regular overhauls, or 10 to 15 without.
In 1995, a Northern Fleet submarine based near Murmansk nearly suffered a nuclear meltdown when power was cut off due to unpaid electricity bills.
After the "somewhat acrimonious dissolution" of AMEC, the Norwegian and British governments shared the £3.9 million cost of dismantling a Russian November-class submarine.
[7] "Reactor compartments from Polyarny and other shipyards at the Kola Peninsula and in Severodvinsk, Arkhangelsk county, are towed to Sayda Bay".
[13] On 10 August 1985, control rods were incorrectly removed from a Victor-class submarine during defueling at Chazma Bay naval yard outside Vladivostok, resulting in an explosion, the "release of large amounts of radioactivity", and ten deaths.
[citation needed] There are plans to convert the first submarine of the class (K-3) into a museum ship in Saint Petersburg, but the hulk remains in Polyarny, Murmansk Oblast, due to economic reasons and the "radiophobia" of some ecological organizations.
K-159 sank in the Barents Sea on 30 August 2003, while being towed to be scrapped, killing nine crewmen and depositing 800 kilograms (1,800 lb) of reactor fuel on the seabed.
[18] On 23 October 2002, a nuclear submarine caught fire during dismantlement at Sevmorput; according to the Bellona Foundation, it was probably the Echo II-class K-22.
[19] As a result of the SALT I and START I/II treaties, 33 of the 34 Yankee class were decommissioned,[citation needed] while K-219 was lost on 6 October 1986 after an explosion and fire near Bermuda.
[21] On 21 November 2005, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi reached an agreement to dismantle five decommissioned nuclear submarines, among them a Charlie I, the latter "the first project in Kamchatka under the Japan-Russia cooperation framework.
[23][24] One cited "various sources" in estimating that only "somewhere between 8 and 15 [Victor IIIs] had been decommissioned due to lack of funds in the 1999-2000 timeframe"[24] while another placed the number at "about a dozen" (of the 26 built) by 1996.
[23] In February 2003, under the Russian-Japanese "Star of Hope" program, Japan spent $6 million to dismantle a Victor III of Russia's Pacific Fleet; the job was completed in December 2004.
[25] Another 20 billion yen ($171 million) was allocated to dismantle four Victor IIIs at the Zvezda shipyard in the town of Bolshoi Kamen and a Charlie I at Vilyuchinsk, Kamchatka (as previously mentioned).
[30] By 2006, it was reported that their dismantling, funded by the United Kingdom under the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, had been completed at Sevmash shipyard.
[31] In September 2011, the Russian defense ministry announced it will decommission and dismantle the three remaining boats to comply with the START III treaty and because its newer Borei-class submarines require smaller crews and are less costly to maintain.
[35] In 2010, the deputy chief engineer of Atomflot, the Russian nuclear fleet operator, reported that "all radioactive [materials] have been unloaded" from Sibir, but the "decommissioning decision has not been made yet, however.