Russia to decide fate of sunken nuclear subs
Russia must soon decide what to do with two sunken nuclear submarines in the Barents and Kara seas in order to avoid potential radioactive pollution of the area, a senior Russian nuclear official said on Monday.
- We must decide as soon as possible whether we will lift these subs or bury them completely on site, Ivan Kamenskikh, deputy general director of Russia’s nuclear corporation Rosatom, said at a conference on board the Yamal nuclear icebreaker, RIA Novosti reports.
The two submarines in question are the November class nuclear submarines B-159 (K-159), which sank in the Barents Sea in August 2003, 248 meters down, with nine of her crew and 800 kilograms of spent nuclear fuel, while being moved for dismantling and the K-27, which was dumped in the eastern Kara Sea in 1982.
The latter was an experimental attack submarine built in 1962 and decommissioned in 1979 due to its troublesome nuclear reactors. Her reactor compartment was sealed before the sub was dumped at a depth of 33 meters.
Read also: Are the dumped nuclear reactors leaking?
- I think the issue should be resolved in 2012. To lift them will cost a lot of money, but we must decide on their fate now to make sure that in the future we will not have problems with radioactive pollution of the areas where these subs are located, Kamenskikh said, adding that at present radiation levels at the wreckage sites are normal.
The official also said that the wreck of a third sunken submarine, the K-278 Komsomolets, will most likely remain at the site of the accident forever, as the salvage operation will be too costly and dangerous. This submarine sank in the Norwegian Sea on April 7, 1989, south of the Bear Island. The submarine sank with its active reactor and two nuclear warheads on board, and lies at a depth of 1,685 meters.
Read also: 22 years since Komsomolets sank
