NO9600025 Bellona Report Volume 2:1996 NEI-NO--726 \ Sources of Radioactive contamination Thomas Nilsen Igor Kudrik Alexandr Nikitin BELLONA V .., I! V: NO9600025 Bellona Report Volume 2:1996 The Russian Northern Fleet Sources of Radioactive contamination Thomas Nilsen Igor Kudrik Alexandr Nikitin 2 C 1 0 1 The publication of this report is sponsored by: Stiftelsen Fritt Ord/Foundation for Freedom of Expression (Main contributor) Contributors: Norsk Hydro a.s. Petrochemicals Division NORSAS, Norwegian Resource Centre for Waste Aker ASA Management and Recycling Chemical Workers Union of Norway Norsk Sivilingeni0rers Forening Norwegian Seafood Export Council Norges ingeni0rorganisasjon (NITO) FESIL AS Green Sea Operations AS Norwegian Society of Engineers UNI STOREBRAND Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry AGAAS WASA Forsiikring (Stockholm) OZO Hotwater A/S Norwegian Fishermen's Association Energiforsyningens Fellesorganisasjon EnFO Norwegian Federation of Oilworkers' Trade Union Store Norske Spitsbergen Kullkompani AS Norwegian Polar Institute Svalbard Samfunnsdrift AS Odda Smelteverk Norzink AS Published by: The Bellona Foundation Norway: P.O. Box 2141, Griinerl0kka N-0505 OSLO, Norway. E-mail: [email protected] Russia: Brussels: USA Russia Bellona Europa Bellona USA 183038 Murmansk 142-144 Avenue de Tervueren 310 D Street NE P.O. Box 4310 B-1150Bruxelles Washington, DC 20002 Bellona Russia Belgium USA E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] URL: Photos: Copying permitted when source is http://www.grida.no/ngo/bellona/ John Berg (archive), Thorbj0rn Bj0r- stated. kli, Per Stale Bugjerde, Nils B0hmer, ISBN 82-993138-5-6 The Norwegian Defence, Frederic Comments to this report are welco- ISSN 0806-3451 Hauge, Aleksej Klimov, Igor Kudrik, med. Thomas Nilsen, The Northern Fleet Lay-out: K R Nygaard, Bellona. Museum (archive), NTB, NUPI, This report is availiable in English, Printing: a.s. Joh. Nordahls Trykkeri Andrej Pronin, Scanfoto. Russian and Norwegian. Keywords: Kola Peninsula, the Russian Northern Fleet, radioactive waste, radioactive contamination, nuclear submarines, nuclear accidents Authors Thomas Nilsen (1968) is a member Igor Kudrik (1974) heads the Bel- Alexandr Nikitin (1953) has been of the Bellona Foundation's Russian lona Foundation's branch office in a Bellona associate since 1994 and Studies group. Over the past eight Murmansk. He has worked with joined the Foundation's staff in years he has made extensive visits several Russian environmental 1995. He holds the rank of full cap- to Russia to study the environmen- organizations and has spent the last tain and is retired from service. He tal situation there. He is co-author two years establishing Bellona's was trained at the Naval College in of the report Sources of Radioactive Murmansk office. He attended the Sevastopol and served with the Contamination in Murmansk and Murmansk School of Pedagogy. He Russian Northern Fleet until 1985. Arkhangelsk Counties and the wor- specialises in the study of radioac- From 1985 until 1992, he worked at king paper Reprocessing Plants in tive contamination emanating from the Department of Nuclear Safety Siberia. He attended the Norwegian both military and civilian sources. in the Ministry of Defence. University of Technology and Natu- ral Sciences and has a background in environmental journalism. Advisory Panel Nils B0hmer (1967) joined the Bel- Nikolai Mormul (1933) is a retired Vyacheslav Perovsky has served lona Foundation in 1993 and works rear admiral of the Russian Nor- in one of the Northern Fleet's tech- as a nuclear physicist in the Russian thern Fleet. Trained at Dzerzhinsky nical divisions and is a trained Studies group. He is co-author of Military Academy, he served abo- nuclear chemist. He assisted in the the report Sources of Radioactive ard the first Soviet nuclear subma- cleanup efforts following the 1982 Contamination in Murmansk and rine K-3. He later served on board accident at a nuclear waste reposi- Arkhangelsk Counties and of the several other nuclear submarines, a tory at Andreeva Bay and has con- working paper Reprocessing Plants number of which experienced tributed to the construction of the in Siberia. He holds a degree from nuclear incidents. From 1978 to present storage facility. He has the University of Oslo and was for- 1983, he was chief of the Northern been with the Minatom Institute for merly with the Norwegian Radia- Fleet Technical Department. He is Industrial Technology (VNIPIET) tion Protection Authority under co-author of the book The Nuclear in St. Petersburg since the mid whose auspices he attended an Submarine Epoch, and is also a 1980s. expedition to the sunken nuclear member of the United Nations Aca- submarine Komsomolets in 1992. demy of Information. Can this information be kept secret? The Bellona Foundation has been involved in environmen- interest in publishing the report, which only concerns mat- tal questions concerning north-western Russia and the Arc- ters related to nuclear safety. Considerable effort has been tic since 1989. In our work we have surveyed the environ- made to provide comprehensive references making it clear mental challenges that exist in this region. We have parti- that our sources of information have been open ones. cularly focused on environmental challenges represented The report documents that without international co-ope- by pollution from the petroleum industry, other industrial ration and financing, a grave situation could arise which can activities and nuclear facilities. With this report The Rus- be pictured as a Chernobyl in slow motion. If safety measu- sian Northern Fleet - Sources of Radioactive Contamina- res are not implemented, major accidents and the release of tion we have compiled knowledge and statistics available fissile material will be unavoidable. Keeping information of from open sources. By presenting this information we hope this nature secret constitutes a violation of the Law on State to contribute to increased insight and consequently to help Secrets (1993) Article 7 which establishes that: "Informa- realise necessary national and international measures. tion on the condition of the environment is not subject to The report gives a comprehensive view of the serious classification". It further violates Article 10 of the Law on situation which now exists in the Northern Fleet. In fact, 18 Information and Protection of Information (1995) which % of the nuclear reactors existing in the World are situated states: "It is prohibited to ascribe the following to materials in this area. The Northern Fleet has a total of 270 reactors with limited access:., documents which contain information in service or in storage. Waste from an additional 90 reac- on extraordinary situations, environmental information and tor cores are stored under unsafe conditions at Zapadnaya other information necessary to ensure the safe functioning Litsa. Eighteen reactor cores are stored under similar con- of residential areas and industrial sites". ditions on board storage ships and barges. The report fur- Nikitin's incarcerators are guilty of attempting to pre- ther describes a series of circumstances which represent vent information of a vital nature from becoming available dangers to human health and the environment. The situa- to the population and official agencies. By classifying pre- tion is grave and will require comprehensive measures to viously unclassified material and by preventing new infor- bring safety levels up. mation from emerging, the FSB threatens human health A prerequisite for international co-operation is open- and ecological safety, both in Russia as well as in neigh- ness. This report offers a factual basis to assist in the deve- bouring states. For this they must be brought to account. lopment of proper risk assessment, problem solving and Nikitin must be released immediately. His imprison- prioritising. It is our view that such work is best carried out ment and the accusations against him are not only flagrant through international co-operation, with particular empha- breaches of human rights and the rights of free speech, but sis placed on a strengthening of Russian treatment techno- also constitutes a direct hindrance to international involve- logy for nuclear fuel and wastes. ment in the region. If Aleksandr Nikitin is sentenced for his We have encountered some resistance in the writing of participation in the work on this report, then what you now this report. The Russian Federal Security Police (FSB) has hold in your hand is an official state secret. If such is to be in various ways tried to hinder its completion and to crimi- the case the foundation for international co-operation is nalise its contents. One of the authors, Bellona employee non-existent, since that depends on at least the minimum of Alexandr Nikitin, is now in custody under threat of the information which this report represents. New serious acci- death sentence. He is accused of acts of high treason, and it dents will certainly occur if information of the type inclu- is alleged that he has sold Bellona top secret information. ded in this report is to be considered classified. Parts of the background material for this report was confis- Russia and other states must now increase the availabi- cated by Russian security police during a raid on Bellona's lity of information regarding military nuclear waste. Per- Murmansk office. Both of these events have hindered the mission must be given for national and international bodies