N. S. Klokov (Nizhny Novgorod)

A. V. Borkov, Doctor of Historical Sciences (Nizhny Novgorod)

As part of the process of reducing nuclear weapons, preventing the proliferation of nuclear materials, eliminating the threat of nuclear terrorism and the danger of radioactive contamination of the environment, comprehensive disposal (dismantling, destruction, processing of nuclear waste, etc.) of nuclear submarines (submarines) plays an important role.

The complex disposal of submarines involves a huge amount of work related both directly to the submarines themselves and to coastal infrastructure facilities: ensuring physical protection and proper engineering condition of storage facilities of coastal technical bases, construction of ground-based long-term storage facilities for reactor compartments, creation of infrastructure for the safe management of radioactive waste (RW), environmental rehabilitation of contaminated territories onshore bases, the disposal of nuclear technological service vessels (ATO), which were used to ensure the operation of nuclear submarines and are themselves radiation-contaminated objects.

GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP

International terrorists are making increasingly persistent attempts to seize weapons of mass destruction, materials and technologies for their manufacture. And highly enriched nuclear fuel of nuclear submarines and radioactive waste can be used to create primitive nuclear devices or as a radiological weapon - a "dirty" bomb. Yes, and just as a kind of psychological weapon - in order to sow panic.

In response to the threat of nuclear terrorism, the G8 leaders, at a meeting in Kananaskis, Canada, in 2002, launched an initiative called "Global Partnership against the Proliferation of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction", including countering the seizure of such weapons by terrorists and their supporting forces. The issue of disposal of multi-purpose nuclear submarines was identified as one of the priorities of cooperation within the framework of this initiative.¹

Of the $ 20 billion declared by States under the Global Partnership initiative, about $ 1.5 billion was planned to be allocated for the disposal of Russian nuclear submarines and rehabilitation of contaminated territories, spent nuclear fuel (SNF) and RAW management. that, together with Russia's contribution of $ 600 million, would amount to more than $ 2 billion. ²

In the Soviet Union, more nuclear submarines were built at one time than in all the countries of the world combined. Now such a large number of boats has become not only unnecessary, but also burdensome.

Of the 250 nuclear submarines built over the past half-century, 195 have been decommissioned over the past 20 years. The same fate befell 2 missile cruisers with nuclear power plants and almost 40 nuclear technological service vessels (special tankers, floating bases). 4 coastal technical bases intended for servicing the fleet with nuclear installations were eliminated.

At the same time, all spent nuclear fuel from submarines remained either in their reactors or in dilapidated storage facilities of coastal bases. The same situation applies to thousands of tons of solid and liquid radioactive waste. Radiation-contaminated structures and territories of these bases have also been preserved.³

According to rough estimates, the cost of disposing of Russian multi-purpose nuclear submarines is close to 4 billion rubles. USD ⁴

Considering that only in the last 5-6 years Russia has begun to allocate approximately $ 70 million a year to solve this problem (before that-much less), and realizing that a sharp increase in this funding from the Russian budget is unlikely to be expected, it becomes clear that solving the problem of complex nuclear submarine disposal will require a large amount of money. For the next 10 to 12 years, you can only use international assistance.

Almost all countries participating in the Global Partnership, including those that later joined this program, expressed their intention to allocate funds for solving nuclear and environmental problems related to the elimination of nuclear submarines and bringing former nuclear technology facilities of the Russian Navy to a safe state⁵. From the above data, it can be seen that the announced amount of funds is almost two times less than necessary for the comprehensive disposal of nuclear submarines and rehabilitation of radiation-hazardous former facilities of the Russian Navy. This means that we must continue to make diplomatic efforts to obtain the necessary funds from foreign countries and at the same time look for opportunities in the Russian budget.

IT'S A LONG WAY TO THE FAR EAST...

The attention of most foreign donors and their funds are directed to the comprehensive disposal of nuclear submarines and rehabilitation of former radiation-hazardous naval facilities in the North-West of Russia. Major work has been completed and is being carried out there, which has led to a noticeable improvement in the situation.

Financing of international projects in the field of Russian spent fuel disposal, SNF and RW management, and rehabilitation of former onshore technical bases of the Russian Navy as of 1.01.2005 (in millions of US dollars)*

* No more recent data was published.

In the European part of Russia, the relevant infrastructure is developed, there are 5 factories that deal with the disposal of nuclear submarines. In the Far East, there are only 2 of them. The distances in the east of the country are incomparable with the western regions. From Kamchatka, for example, nuclear fuel has to be exported by sea. These are completely different risks, different working conditions.

Assistance in the European part of Russia is provided by a number of Western European states and Canada. In the Far East, our country's partners are only Japan and Australia, which has joined it. US involvement is limited to assistance in the disposal of strategic nuclear submarines. South Korea, which has also joined the Global Partnership, has not yet announced where it intends to invest the money. Meanwhile, South Korea has special vessels to transport bulky cargo. They could help transport blocks or the boats themselves from naval bases to factories.

The situation in the Far Eastern region is very serious. This is caused by the following issues::

- lack of a ground-based long-term storage facility for reactor compartments;

- insufficient information on the state of SNF and RW at onshore bases;

- the need for special approaches to solving the problem of two emergency nuclear submarines;

- lack of a solid radioactive waste processing facility;

- the acute problem of nuclear submarine disposal in Kamchatka and transportation of reactor compartments from there;

- lack of a system for handling toxic and harmful substances;

- inability to dispose of nuclear-technological service vessels;

- lack of the possibility of SNF removal by rail from the Zvezda Far Eastern plant;

- lack of a regional monitoring system.

- insufficient attention of Global Partnership participants to the Far Eastern region6.

Back in October 1992, the Government of the Russian Federation established a Commission on the problems of dumping nuclear waste at sea. In February 1993, the commission prepared a report to the President of the Russian Federation, published in April 1993 in the form of a "White Paper on Radioactive Waste" ^.7

But even after that, the removal and storage of nuclear waste in the internal and external marine reservoirs of Russia continued. In particular, information appeared in the press about the disposal of about 800 tons of liquid radioactive waste in the Sea of Japan by the Russian Pacific Fleet in 1993.

Tokyo, believing that more than 30 old Russian nuclear submarines sunk in the Sea of Japan pose a potential danger to the environment, including Japan, signed the Russian-Japanese agreement on cooperation in the field of disarmament, non-proliferation and disposal of nuclear weapons in the Russian Federation in 1993⁸. However, the aid program was almost immediately frozen, as Tokyo remained dissatisfied with the fact that the Russian side restricted Japanese access to its closed facilities.

In 2000, the "Memorandum on the development of cooperation between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Japan in the field of promoting disarmament, non-proliferation and disposal of nuclear weapons subject to reduction in the Russian Federation"was signed.⁹

The first stage of implementation of the agreements reached was the construction of the floating dock "Lily of the Valley" for processing liquid radioactive waste, which was put into operation at the Zvezda plant in February 2001.10 with the financial assistance of Japan^.

Following the G8 summit in Kananaskis in June 2002, Japan expressed its readiness to provide more than $ 200 million under the Global Partnership Program. Of these, over $ 100 million. for the implementation of projects related to the dismantling of decommissioned nuclear submarines in the Russian Far East, $ 100 million - for the disposal of excess weapons-grade plutonium.

Draft of joint actions of Russia and Japan, signed by the Japanese Prime Minister Dz. Koizumi, during his visit to Russia in January 2003, includes a clause on speeding up the dismantling of nuclear submarines and starting preparatory work. Japan has allocated about 25 billion yen ¹¹*to implement the project.

In February 2003, as part of the implementation of the "Russian-Japanese Action Plan", another project was born - "Star of Hope", which provided for the dismantling of nuclear submarines withdrawn from the Pacific Fleet. In 2004, a pilot project was successfully implemented to dispose of the first multi-purpose submarine of the "Vic" class.-

* $ 1 is equivalent to about 95-100 yen (ed. note).

tor-III" (according to the NATO classification). Japan's contribution was approximately $ 8 million. ¹²

"STAR OF HOPE "

On January 13, 2005, the Federal Atomic Energy Agency (Rosatom) hosted the signing ceremony of the Decision of the 24th Board Meeting of the Committee for Cooperation to Assist in the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons Subject to Reduction in Russia concerning the disposal of decommissioned nuclear submarines in the Russian Far East. The document stipulated that Japan would finance the disposal of 5 Russian nuclear submarines: 3 Viktor-III - class submarines, one Viktor-I-class submarine, and a Charlie-1-class nuclear-powered missile carrier located in Kamchatka.¹³

S. Antipov, Deputy head of Rosatom, who signed the agreement on the Russian side, said: "There were periods between Russia and Japan when the activity in the issue of recycling completely stopped. But, fortunately, for the second year now, Rosatom has been pleased to note a certain increase in the attention of our Far Eastern neighbors to solving the problem of complex nuclear submarine disposal. It seems that the world community is really aware of the global nature of the possible threat from waiting for the disposal of old nuclear submarines that have nuclear and radiation-hazardous materials on board. And if something happens, our Far East may very well not be so far away for so many countries in the Pacific region. And as for Japan, from there to the Zvezda plant - the main point of cutting up submarines-is generally just around the corner. There are 13 submarines waiting to be disposed of in Kamchatka, 19 in Primorye and Khabarovsk Krai. Maybe that's why this decision is made: from one submarine to five! For Japan, this is already some progress. "¹⁴ He also noted that" the technical capabilities of Russian factories allow us to dispose of up to 9 boats a year. " ¹⁵

The Committee planned to implement measures for the disposal of the above-mentioned submarines in the following sequence::

enter into an executive agreement with Rosatom for the disposal of nuclear submarines; study relevant issues (technical, safety, financial) related to the disposal of nuclear submarines of the Russian Far East; based on the results of this examination, conclude financial contracts with the bodies recommended by Rosatom and with which the committee will agree to cooperate.

On September 12, 2006, a final agreement was signed in Vladivostok, which provided for Japan's participation in the dismantling and disposal of the nuclear submarine of Project 671 "Yershe" ("Viktor-I" according to the NATO classification). The ship was disassembled at the Zvezda shipyard in Bolshoy Kamen, Primorsky Krai, and completed in late 2007. ¹⁶

At the same time, the Japanese delegation visited Kamchatka, where they got acquainted with the site for the upcoming dismantling of the Charlie-I class submarine within the framework of the Star of Hope project at the North-Eastern Regional Center for the Repair and Disposal of Weapons and military Equipment of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the closed city of Vilyuchinsk, where the Pacific Fleet ¹⁷ submarine flotilla is based.

On August 2, 2007, a Japanese delegation headed by Japanese Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs S. Masakazu signed a contract at the Zvezda shipyard for the disposal of 3 Viktor-III class submarines decommissioned from the Russian fleet. The works were planned to be completed in ^2009.18

To date, negotiations are continuing on the dismantling of the last of the five Charlie-1 class submarines.

LOTS OF AGREEMENTS, LITTLE MONEY

To solve the problem of disposing of Russian nuclear submarines, the Far Eastern region needs additional funds. So far, there is no answer to the question of where to find them.

After Kananaskis, Russia signed contracts worth $ 278 million with foreign partners. Rosatom has signed contracts with its enterprises for approximately the same amount for the budget funds of the Russian Federation.

But to date, only $ 78 million has been received from partners. Most of the allocated funds do not reach Russia and remain in the donor country as payment for certain works and services: data collection and compilation, expertise, and organizational services.

The lack of the necessary legal framework between Russia and some countries also hinders. It may take months or even years for the parliaments of a number of countries to ratify the framework agreement on the multilateral Nuclear Environmental Program (MNEPR) of May 21, 2003, which defines the financing mechanism.

Rosatom is also looking for compromise options here, for example, acting through interagency agreements or through countries that have already joined the MNEPR. Thus, Australia, which joined the Global Partnership only in 2004 and does not have an agreement with Russia, in agreement with Japan, which is already working with our country under a contract, transferred $ 7 million to the account of the Russian-Japanese contract for the disposal of the nuclear submarine ¹⁹.

As part of the Global Partnership initiative, the deadline for the disposal of Russian multi-purpose nuclear submarines was set for 2010.

However, as V. Akhunov, head of the Nuclear Facilities Decommissioning Department of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy, stated back in 2005, " the ambitious task of disposing of all decommissioned nuclear submarines by 2010 is problematic without the assistance of donor countries."

In total, 195 submarines were withdrawn from the Navy, 118 of them were eliminated. In the Pacific region, 77 submarines were withdrawn, of which 40 were disposed of. Simple arithmetic shows that the number of boats to be disposed of is roughly comparable in the North and in the Far East. But if in the North of Russia, financial assistance is provided by Norway, Canada, Germany, England and Canada, and Italy expresses a desire to participate in this matter, then in the Far East only Japan assisted Russia in disposing of only one nuclear submarine, and long negotiations were only conducted on the next 5 boats. In the Far Eastern region, 37 boats remained to be destroyed.

To complete the task, we need to dispose of all boats in the North and Far East by 2010, only in the Pacific Ocean.-

In the Russian region, it would be necessary to increase this figure to 8-10 submarines per year. The capacity of the Russian budget allowed to eliminate a maximum of 6 boats per year ²⁰.

According to Rosatom, the disposal of the Russian nuclear fleet at the current level of funding may be delayed for 40-50 years, which is dangerous due to the progressively increasing deterioration of the technical condition of recycling facilities. The loss of buoyancy of nuclear-powered ships and the gradual destruction of radiation safety barriers can create real threats of large-scale environmental pollution. In addition, the cost of the upcoming work will inevitably increase due to the emergence of new technologies for handling spent fuel, as well as the complexity and scale of rehabilitation measures.

"Can we do without foreign aid? - said the deputy head of Rosatom S. Antipov. "Of course we can! Only this case will last for decades. Accordingly, the environmental danger, as well as the terrorist threat, increases not only for Russia, but also for the whole world. And there are no near and far regions on this issue. " ²¹

In the Far East, the need for international assistance was identified for 6 priority interrelated projects.

These include: the disposal of 4-5 submarines a year to meet international obligations in this area by 2010; the reconstruction of the railway track for the transportation of spent nuclear fuel unloaded from submarines; the construction of an isolation point for two emergency submarines that are kept afloat and require constant attention and buoyancy (these boats pose a high risk first of all, for the ecology of the region); creation of a long-term storage point for reactor compartments on the shore of Raboynik Bay; creation of a regional RW conditioning and storage center in Sysoev Bay; disposal of the Ural nuclear ship, which requires approximately $ 30 million. ²²

In addition, Rosatom offers the Japanese side a number of additional projects for financing in the framework of cooperation on the disposal of nuclear submarines. In particular, we are talking about creating a joint regional system of radioecological monitoring in Primorye. Projects are also being considered for the construction of a long-term coastal nuclear storage facility for submarines and the reconstruction of a 30-kilometer railway section from the Zvezda plant to the Trans-Siberian Railway, which is used for SNF transportation.

The main thing in the disposal of nuclear submarines is to extract spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste from them and bring them to a safe state. It is this part of dismantling boats that is most important for ensuring the safety of the entire Pacific region. However, Tokyo refuses to finance any operations related to the handling of nuclear components: transportation, fuel unloading and reprocessing, citing the danger of such operations.

Russia seeks to implement the disposal of nuclear submarines, first of all, on its own. Suffice it to say that of the 77 decommissioned submarines located in the Far East, 40 were eliminated using Russian technologies. But, realizing that this problem also affects the interests of neighboring states, and wishing to speed up the process of destroying already exhausted nuclear weapons, the Russian Federation strongly supports cooperation in this area with other countries, in particular with Japan.

However, the implementation of joint agreements is very slow. The implementation of the signed agreements with both Japan and other countries participating in the Global Partnership program shows that the task of completing the process of eliminating Russian submarines taken off combat duty by 2010 is unlikely to be achieved, especially in the current global financial and economic crisis.

The disposal of nuclear submarines requires the activation of cooperation between the Russian Federation and other countries, and in the Far East - first of all with Japan. Time will tell how ready Tokyo is for this.

¹ Group of Eight Action Plan: Global Partnership against the Proliferation of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction. Evian, 2.06.2003 / / Official website of the President of the Russian Federation - http://www.kremlin.ru/events/articles/2003/06/46645 /156633. shtml

² Nuclear submarine disposal: a contact and expert group under the auspices of the IAEA. 22.10.2004 / / Website of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation - www.minatom.ru/News/Main/viewPrintVersion?id=7243&idChannel-70

³ Report of the Deputy Head of the Department. Head of Rosatom S. Antipov "On the comprehensive disposal of nuclear submarines and features of international cooperation in the framework of Global Partnership in the Russian Far Eastern region".16.06.2005 / / Official website of the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation -http://www.minatom.ru/News/Main/viewPrintVersion 7 id-19450&idChannel-6 14

⁴ Group of Eight Action Plan...

⁵ Report of S. Antipov...

⁶ Ibid.

⁷ Higashi Adziya senryakugaikan 1996-1997 (Strategic Review of East Asia 1996-1997) / / Boeite (Japan Self-Defense Forces Directorate). Tokyo, p. 139.

⁸ Japan finances the disposal of a submarine in Bolshoy Kamen. Vladivostok City website, 20.09.2006 - http://news.vl.ru /vlad/2006/09/12/apl/

⁹ "Memorandum on the development of cooperation between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of Japan in the field of promoting disarmament, non-proliferation and disposal of nuclear weapons subject to reduction in the Russian Federation" dated 4.09.2000 / / Center for Political Research "PIR" http://www.pircenter.org/da-ta/gp/memo rf-japan

¹⁰ First Deputy Foreign Minister of Japan Kanede Katsutoshi arrived in Primorye to inspect facilities for the disposal of Russian nuclear submarines//RIA Novosti, 01.09.06.

¹¹ Russo-Japanese Action Plan / / Official website of the President of the Russian Federation - http://www.kremlin.ru/text/docs/2003/01/30607 .shtml

¹² Ibid.

¹³ Ibid.

¹⁴ Ibid.

¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁶ Japan will help Russia dispose of its nuclear submarine / / RIA Novosti. 13.09.2006.

¹⁷ Who is the Star of Hope shining for? // Newspaper "Pogranichnik Severo-Vostoka". September 20-26, 2006 - http://www.svrpu.ru/psv/3851 /0050. shtml

¹⁸ Three decommissioned Russian nuclear submarines from the Pacific Fleet will be disposed of at the expense of Japan // Production ecology, 6.08.2007 - http://www.ecoindustry.ru/news.html&id=16865

¹⁹ Australia joined the disposal of Russian nuclear submarines in the Far East. 24.06.2004 / / Minatom website of the Russian Federation http://www.minatom.ru/News/Main/viewPrintVersion?id=2225&idCh annel=7 0

²⁰ The problem of world security in the aspect of complex utilization of multi-purpose submarines was discussed at a seminar in Tokyo on 21.06.2005 / / Minatom website of the Russian Federation - http://www.minatom.ru/News/Main/view PrintVersion?id=19621&idChannel=614

²¹ Ibid.

²² Ibid.

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