Case Study - Submarines
Risks of Ignoring the Decommission Process
The demilitarisation process associated with
the end of the cold war has left the former Soviet
Union with a legacy of nuclear hazard. This hazard
is from the 130 [Digges, 2003] nuclear submarine
currently rusting away in ports all over Russia.
These submarines are contaminated with varying
levels of radiation, some reactors still containing
the high radioactive fuel.
Hotel class nuclear submarine
is moored at the Sevmorput shipyard in
Murmansk waiting for decommission. [Digges, 2003]
This waste poses the potential to leak into the
environment, which would have devastating effects
on the local fauna and flora. These high radioactive
substances could then be introduced into the food
chain causing major economic and health concerns
for the costal inhabitants of Russia a who rely
on fish and fishing for there survival.
This waste poses a risk not only to the coastal
people of Russia but to us all. n the 1st of September
2003 Alexander Tyulyakov, deputy director for
administrative issues of the Russian state-owned
Atomflot, which carries out repair work and spent
nuclear fuel storage for Russian nuclear icebreakers
and nuclear submarines, was arrested last week
amid a swirl of gossip that he was trafficking
in guns and radioactive elements [Digges, 2003].
Tyulyakov was charged with harbouring weapons
discovered at his home, and possession of a highly
radioactive substance, he faces up to 10 years
in prison.
This is reminiscent of a 1999 theft of the radioactive
element californium 252 and 17 kilograms of mercury
from Atomflot by a group of specialists who had
worked with these materials-a technician from
nuclear support ship Imandra, a reactor decontaminator
from the nuclear icebreaker Rossiya, and his son,
a programmer in a St Petersburg military installation
[Digges, 2003].
 These
men, contrived to find customers for these materials
in St Petersburg. They loaded the radioactive
materials into the trunk of a car and covered
them with paraffin. However, despite the paraffin
and plenty of water the three brought along on
the 800-kilometre journey to help reduce the impact
of the radioactivity, the radiation level within
five metres of the car trunk exceeded healthy
norms by 350 times.
By the time the three arrived in St Petersburg,
agents from the Anti-Organised Crime Unit, as
well as the FSB, had been tipped off on the case.
Undercover investigators arranged a meeting with
the trio, and agreed on a price of $50,000 for
the container of californium, and $10,000 for
the mercury. When the group met the undercover
agents with the substances, they were arrested
[Digges, 2003].
Californium 252 is suitable for the dirty bombs.
It can also be successfully used for murder as
an instrument of slow poisoning. Even in small
quantities, if placed within proximity of the
intended victim it can kill in a period of several
days[Digges, 2003].
These incidents and the possible treats to the
environment demonstrate the need for a well regulated
and transparent decommissioning process for all
the nuclear facilities around the world.
References:
Digges C, 'Atomflot Deputy Director Arrested
on Suspicion of Smuggling of Nuclear Materials'
2003, Bellona. Available Online: http://www.bellona.no/en/international/russia/icebreakers/31049.html
Accessed: 12/10/05
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