Dismantling of Russian Northern Fleet's Nuclear Subs

The Asahi Shimbun ("RUSSIAN NORTHERN FLEET DISMANTLES ITS NUCLEAR SUBS:USED NUCLEAR MATERIALS ARE NEAR AT HAND," Severomorsk, 3, 12/18/96)reported on the present situation of the dismantling of the Russian Northern Fleet's nuclear submarines. The report quoted a Russian Northern Fleet commander as saying that only 26 out of 92 retired subs have been dismantled so far, that the rest are still floating on the Northern Sea and that it may take about 10 years even to transport the used nuclear fuel to a reprocessing facility in Ural. A source from the Russian National Security Council also said that the danger is that the rotten subs will worsen their nuclear reactors. The report warned that the cost of dismantling the subs and management of the extracted nuclear fuel is too high for the Russian government.