Russia to Scrap Last Soviet-Era Nuclear Sub by 2014

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED April 02, 2013

Russia's Nerpa shipyard is to scrap the last Soviet-era nuclear submarine to be withdrawn from the Russian Fleet by 2014, the yard said on Tuesday.

The Project 949A (NATO: Oscar II class) cruise-missile submarine Krasnodar was launched in 1985 and retired from the Russian Navy in 2012, according to rusnavy.com.

The boat will be the last submarine to be dismantled at the shipyard, Nerpa press secretary Irina Anzulatova said.

“Work is currently underway to remove spent nuclear fuel from it,” she said.

According to Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom, a total of 199 nuclear submarines have been decommissioned from the Navy since the late 1980's, including 120 in northwestern Russia and 79 in Russia’s Far East.

Russia has three nuclear submarine disposal enterprises: Zvezdochka in Severodvinsk (Arkhangelsk region), Nerpa in Snezhnogorsk (Murmansk region) and Zvezda in Bolshoi Kamen (Far East).

Nerpa has dismantled over 50 submarines since 1998. Zvezdochka completed its submarine dismantling program in 2011. Zvezda currently has no submarine dismantlement contracts, a company representative told RIA Novosti.

Rosatom has confirmed that information to RIA Novosti.

During the scrapping process, spent nuclear fuel is removed from the submarine's reactors and put into storage, while the hull is cut into three sections, with the bow and stern sections being removed and destroyed. The hull's reactor compartment is sealed and put into storage.

Topics: Decommissioning, Nuclear ships, Russia

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