In the icy waters of northern Russia, there is a huge ‘grave’, which poses an incalculable danger to humans and marine life. That danger comes from discarded nuclear reactors lying on the ocean floor. And they were inside the “out of date” Soviet submarines.
For decades, the Soviet Union used the desolate Kara Sea (in the Arctic Ocean) as a nuclear waste dump. Thousands of tons of nuclear material, nearly 6.5 times more than the radiation released at Hiroshima (Japan) after the US dropped the Little Boy nuclear bomb in 1945, have entered the ocean.
This underwater nuclear scrap yard contains at least 14 used reactors and an entire submarine that the Soviets deemed too dangerous and expensive. This reality is haunting Russians today.
Will the Russian government solve this painful problem or sit still and let the “underwater Chernobyl nuclear disaster” happen?
The Soviet Union built the world’s largest nuclear-powered naval weapon in the second half of the 20th century, building more nuclear-powered submarines than all other nations combined.
At its military peak in the mid-1990s, the Soviet Union boasted 245 nuclear-powered submarines, 180 of which were equipped with dual reactors and 91 of which carried dozens of nuclear-powered submarines. long-range ballistic missile carrying a nuclear warhead.
The Soviet Union’s first nuclear-powered submarine was the K-3 (K-3 was the first November-class submarine codename given and called by NATO; the Soviets called them the Whale class). The K-3 prototype first set sail using nuclear power on July 4, 1958.
The November-class submarines are flagship attack submarines designed to locate enemy surface ships and submarines using the powerful MG-200 sonar system. Once within range, the November class ships will attack with 533mm SET-65 or 53-65K torpedoes to destroy the ship, each torpedo carrying 300 kg of hull-destroying explosives.
The nuclear submarine K-3 is moored at the Nerpa Shipyard near Murmansk. (Photo: LEV FEDOSEYEV GETTY).
Eight Hotel class submarines , built to house and additionally launch ballistic missiles, joined the Soviet fleet from 1959 to 1962. While the November class submarines were Soviet hunters. , the Hotel class submarines become “stealth” or undetected, performing the task of measuring the distance of potential targets.
When enemy military bases or civilian centers are within range, a Hotel-class submarine can launch a salvo of R-13 or R-21 nuclear missiles, each with an explosive yield of 800 kilotons.
According to the bulletin of atomic scientists, an attack of this magnitude on Midtown Manhattan (the center of Manhattan borough, New York City, USA) could kill more than 2 million people. Losses also spread to Queens, Brooklyn and parts of New Jersey west of the Hudson.
The Soviet Echo-class nuclear submarines went to sea in 1960. The submarines were equipped with two water-cooled reactors and carried conventional cruise missiles and nuclear warheads, along with torpedoes. . The Soviet Union built five Echo Is – armed with six P-5 turbojet cruise missiles to attack land targets – followed by 29 Echo IIs, specially equipped with the name anti-maritime fire to neutralize the US aircraft carrier.
The majority of Soviet nuclear submarines operating in the Northern Fleet were based in the Arctic. The Northern Fleet bases are about 900 km west of the Kara Sea waste. The second, slightly smaller Soviet submarine fleet was the Pacific Fleet, based in and around Vladivostok on the east coast of the Soviet Union above Korea. Additional Soviet-era submarines departed from bases in the Baltic and Black Sea.
For decades, these pioneering Soviet submarine classes served the world, waiting for the moment when the Cold War turned “hot”. However, that moment never came. When this good fortune comes, there is another misfortune about it.
In the mid-1980s, nuclear submarines began to reach the end of their useful life. Beginning in 1987, the oldest Echo I-class submarines left the fleet to be decommissioned and the November-class attack submarines followed in 1988. But the removal of these submarines caused problems. problem than previous conventional ships. Before separating the ships, the auxiliary reactors and associated radioactive material had to be removed, and the Soviets did not always do this properly.
Nuclear submarines can cause disaster even before they go into service . In October 1995, 12 decommissioned Soviet submarines were pending in the port city of Murmansk on the Kola Bay. Each ship has fuel cells, reactors and nuclear waste.
The decommissioning process begins with extracting the vessel’s spent nuclear fuel from the reactor core. The danger was immediate: In 1985, an explosion during the defueling of a Victor-class submarine killed 10 workers and released radioactive material into the air and sea.
A corner of the K-27 submarine. Photo taken in 2012. (Source: COURTESY NORWEGIAN RADIATION AND NUCLEAR SAFETY AUTHORITY).
When it comes to dealing with the ship’s reactors, the crews will cut longitudinal slices into the submarine’s hull and cut single or dual reactor compartments with an additional compartment forward and aft in the same block. single giant cylinder. Once sealed, the cylinder will be hoisted onto a barge and taken to a long-term storage facility.
But during the Cold War (1946-1991), storing nuclear waste in the Soviet Union often meant dumping it into the deep sea . That is why, at least 14 reactors from the old ships of the Northern Fleet were thrown into the Kara Sea. Sometimes, the Soviets skipped the previous defueling step, dropping the reactor with its highly radioactive fuel rods still intact into the ocean.
It is reported that the Northern Fleet also removed 17,000 containers of dangerous nuclear material and deliberately sank 19 ships containing radioactive waste, along with 735 contaminated heavy machinery and equipment. radiation. Much lower level liquid waste is dumped directly into icy waters.
One of the most serious and dangerous disposals was K-27, a November-class experimental submarine with two liquid-metal-cooled reactors. While at sea in 1968, a reactor aboard the K-27 leaked and was partially damaged. Radiation exposure killed nine sailors and sickened 83 others.
Left photo: 9 out of 10 sailors on board K-159 were killed – Right photo: Submarine K-159 is fastened to the pontoon during the recovery in 2003. (Source: COURTESY BELLONA.ORG).
The K-27 limped back to port, but after years of analysis, the crew deemed it unusable. In 1981, the Soviet Union towed the K-27 to the Kara Sea and scuttled the submarine, sending everything – from fuel, reactors and other waste – to the cold seabed.
Experts suggest that sinking nuclear material to be safe must be at a depth of at least 3,000 meters. K-27 is located at an altitude of 50 meters!
In 2012, a joint Norwegian and Russian examination of the wreck of the K-27 showed very little deterioration – but naval experts say the submarine could only remain intact until 2032. .
Another submarine that is probably more at risk for radiation leaks is the November-class K-159 , which suffered a radiation accident in 1965 but served until 1989. After languishing in storage for 14 years. , a 2003 storm “rips off” K-159, and the battered ship plunges to the bottom of the Barents Sea, killing nine of its crew. The wreck lies at a depth of about 250 meters, full of radioactive fueled reactors.
Recently, Russia announced plans to recover K-27, K-159 and four other dangerous reactor compartments that were thrown into the Arctic sea. As of March 2020, Russian authorities estimate the cost of the salvage effort will be around 0 million.
The first target was K-159. But bringing the craft back to the surface would require a special vessel, a type of vessel that did not yet exist. Design and construction of that ship is scheduled to begin in 2021, with completion by the end of 2026.
Now, to avoid an “underwater Chernobyl nuclear disaster” , the Russians are starting a furious race against the fearsome, relentless decomposing of the seabed.
The common invisible ocean causes the submarine’s reactor to gradually “rot”, potentially creating a “radioactive cloud” that could infect local seafood populations, destroy abundant fishing grounds and polluting the oil and gas exploration border here.
Andrey Zolotkov, Director of Bellona-Murmansk, an international non-profit environmental organization based in Norway, said: “The breach of the barrier and the detection and release of radionuclides in the seawater could lead to fishing restrictions. In addition, this could seriously damage plans to develop the Northern Sea Route.”
World-renowned news agencies use even more dire terms to dissect the problem. The BBC (UK) raised concerns about a “nuclear chain reaction ” in 2013, while The Guardian (UK) described the situation as “an environmental disaster on the verge of explosion”.
Nearly everyone agrees that the Kara Sea is on the verge of an uncontrolled nuclear disaster. Even recovering the “nuclear waste dump” that has long been sunk on the seabed is a difficult challenge.
Nuclear submarines have a short lifespan in terms of their sheer cost and complexity. After about 20-30 years, degradation along with leaps in technology make the old nuclear subways obsolete.
At the same time, newer ships incorporate the latest advances in power plant technology, metallurgy, hull geometry, low-friction coatings and propeller designs, making it faster for ships to fight under the sea. , quieter, deeper and more dangerous diving.
The 1998 report of the US Defense Science and Technology Task Force stated: “Advances and proliferation of technology will make submarine stealth, endurance, and maneuverability critical. in the future. In combat, the “old-fashioned” will fall behind.”