More than 100 nuclear powered submarines require unloading of spent nuclear fuel and salvaging, according to Valery Martynov, head of the North-Western district of Russia’s State Nuclear Inspectorate. They are currently in a storage yard, some of them having been decommissioned more than 25 years ago.
According to Yuri Yevdokimov, governor of the Murmansk region, only 26 submarines have had their reactor compartments cut out and fuel core withdrawn.
Meanwhile, waste is accumulating because the fleet does not have enough special containers to remove it. So far, Yevdokimov says, 10 000 cubic metres of solid and 7 500 cubic meters of liquid radioactive wastes have built up at naval bases and temporary sites.
