Introduction 60 000 people. located on the west side According to spokesmen, of the Shkotovo peninsula on Ussuryiskyi the first was K-10, an 'Echo I' SSN, the Like the Soviet Navy before it, the Bay, some 35 km east of Vladivostok. second was a 'November' SSN, and the Russian Navy keeps one-third of its Several submarine service and nuclear- third was a 'Yankee' SSBN. At least two nuclear-powered submarines -some waste transport ships are based here: other 'Yankee' SSBNs were being 45-50 boats -in the Far East.' During .At least two Vala class special tankers scrapped in 1992-93. Two partially the Cold War, the precise location and -TNT -5 and TNT -27 -which are used dismantled 'Yankee' SSBNs were function of the Soviet Pacific Fleet's for the dumping of low-level liquid and visible in the yard area in the autumn of nuclear-powered submarine bases and solid radioactive waste at sea." 1993. facilities were kept secret. Now, a .At least two PM-124 class radiological .The Vostok plant, located next to the combination of new official information repair ships -PM-80 and PM-133 - Zvezda plant, finished and fitted out provided by the former Soviet Union, which are used for the offloading and nuclear-powered submarines Soviet/Russian press accounts, site onloading of fresh or spent nuclear fuel constructed at the Komsomolsk-na- visits, and recently declassified US Naval to and from submarines at the Zvezda Amure shipyard. With submarine Intelligence estimates from the 1950s plant." After their holds are full, the production halted at Komsomolsk-na- allow for the first time a detailed account spent fuel is taken to Installation 927-111 Amure, the Vostok plant has been to be made of these nuclear submarine (see below). forced to undergo defence conversion facilities! This article integrates the new .One Pinega class nuclear submarine and is now involved in a number of data to provide a guide to nuclear support ship -the Pinega -that is commercial enterprises, including submarine bases and support facilities in used for the transport of liquid export of lumber. the Russian Pacific Fleet. radioactive wastes.s These or similar From south to north, facilities for ships also circulate among, or are .The Chazhma Ship Repair Facility is supporting nuclear-powered submarines found at, other nuclear facilities in the located on the south side of Chazhma in the Russian Far East are found in the region. Bay near the settlements of Dunai Primorskyand Khabarovsk Krays and on Bolshoi Kamen is also the site of two (Shkotovo-22) and Temp, some 45 km the Kamchatka peninsula. Over half are plants -Zvezda and Vostok -which southeast of Vladivostok on the east side located near Vladivostok, in and around service nuclear-powered submarines:" of the Shkotovo peninsula. It is under the the Shkotovo region. The other important .The Zvezda shipyard is currently the responsibility of Military Division 63971. facilities are concentrated near most important of the two plants. It is Nuclear-powered submarines are Petropavlovsk. responsible for the refuelling, repairing refuelled and repaired at the facility. One and decommissioning of nuclear- of the Soviet Navy's worst nuclear powered submarines.7 Several nuclear- submarine disasters occurred here Vladivostok and it Environs powered submarines have already when, on 10 August 1985, an 'Echo II' been scrapped at the Zvezda plant, SSGN's reactor exploded at the end of a .Bolshoi Kamen is a small city of some and more are being worked on. refuelling operation, contaminating the

View of Bolshoi Kamen, looking southeast of the 'Victor III' SSN in front of the Zvezda Ship Repair Facility. The mast of TNT -5, a Va/a class liquid nuclear tanker is visible behind the 'Victor's' conning tower and in front of the drydock. The conning towers of two 'Yankee' SSBNs are also visible immediately behind the 'Victor'. (Photograph: J Handler) EUROPE -April 1994 ~ANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW 167

surrounding land and water.8 Vladivostok. It houses ballistic missile .Vladimir Bay, some 300 kmeast- .Installation 927-111is a permanent and other nuclear-powered submarines. northeast of Vladivostok and north of nuclear waste storage site, located at the According to START data, as of Olga, contains a small submarine base. southeastern tip of the Shkotovo September 1990, nine SSBNs -three As early as 1957, US Naval Intelligence peninsula on Cape Maidelya, several 'Yankee I' SSBNs and six 'Delta I' SSBNs noted that Vladimir Bay had an 'excellent kilometres south of Dunaj. Highly -are based here. However, according natural harbour' and contained a small radioactive waste from nuclear-powered to the Pacific Fleet press officer, submarine base. One estimate submarines such as ion-resin exchanger 1st Rank Victor Ryzhkov, as of autumn commented, 'Vladimir Bay is relatively slurries and low-level waste are 1992, these older nuclear-powered undeveloped and lacks adequate rail transported to the facility by sea. The submarines are awaiting retirement. 10 and road access. That part of the spent naval reactor fuel is held here prior Decommissioned submarines, including harbour used by submarines is to shipment to Chelyabinsk in the central three Pacific Fleet submarines which had essentially ice free, and the harbour has Urals region for reprocessing. The other been seriously damaged following materials are kept on site.9 significant development potential as a nuclear accidents, as well as possibly submarine base.'" .Pavlovsk is a major nuclear-powered sealed reactor compartments from The nuclear-powered submarine submarine base on the eastern edge of scrapped nuclear submarines, are also facility is reportedly located at the Strelok Bay some 65 km southeast of kept here. northern end of the bay, near the towns

, 168 JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW April 1994 -EUROPE

Zavety IIYi'~h r' 'l j Decommissioned SUbmarine~,i/ .) I

q , 1kml -April 1994 JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW 169

-EUROPE 170 JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW April 1994 -EUROPE .-.

Decommissioned submarines, both nuclear and diesel, in Zavety lIyicha naval base near Sovetskaya Gavan. (Photograph: J Handler)

of Rakushka and Vesely Yar. A few generation nuclear-powered submarines Petropavlovsk across Avachinskaya Bay nuclear-powered submarines are -two 'November' and two 'Echo I' on the small Krasheninnikova peninsula.'4 thought to still operate from here. SSNs, reportedly built in 1959, 1960, It is on the southern edge of the Decommissioned nuclear-powered 1962 and 1963 -began to operate from peninsula. on the northern side of submarines may also be in the harbour. Zavety Ilyicha for half of the year during Krasheninnikova Bay.'5 Nuclear-powered In 1990, protests by local residents led the ice-free months. submarines have reportedly operated the Pacific Fleet to abandon plans to In 1990, all four submarines were from here since at least the mid-1960s. offload spent nuclear fuel from retired. Demonstrations by local According to START data, as of submarines in Vladimir Bay. residents in the summer of 1990 led the September 1990, 15 SSBNs -three .Further north of Vladimir Bay, in the Pacific Fleet to forego plans to offload 'Yankee I' SSBNs, three 'Delta I' SSBNs, Khabarovsk Kray, is the small town of fuel from decommissioned submarines in and nine 'Delta III' SSBNs -were based Zavety Ilyicha. It is located on Postovaya the bay and store the hulls at the base. here. Other nuclear-powered submarines Bay between the seaports of Vanino and Despite promises by the Pacific Fleet to operate from the base as well.'6 Sovetskaya Gavan. The town has remove the submarines at a rate of one become a holding area for per year starting in 1991, the first was .Westwards across Krasheninnikova decommissioned nuclear-powered only taken away in October 1993. Bay from Rybachiy is the Gornyak submarines, as well as conventional (Miner) shipyard. located between the submarines and surface vessels.'2 two towns of Primorskiy (Petropavlovsk- Zavety lIyicha used to contain a small Petropavlovskand its Environs 50) to the north and Primorskoe operational nuclear submarine base.'3 In (Petropavlovsk-53) to the south. the early 1980s, the navy completed .On the Kamchatka peninsula. Refuellings and repairs of nuclear- construction of the facilities for nuclear- Rybachiy is a major nuclear submarine powered submarines are conducted at powered submarines. In 1982, four first- base located some 15 km southwest of this facility.

Empty containers for the temporary storage and transport of nuclear spent fuel from submarines. They measure 4.9 m x 1.9 m and weigh 40000 kg when loaded. At this weight, they are too heavy to be transported by existing road and rail systems, and so are stacked at Installation 927-111.(Photograph: J Handler) .A nuclear-waste facility for the storage RIA, 'Pacific Fleet Get New Nuclear Sub', decommissioned submarines scrapped at of high-level nuclear waste, similar to Vladivostok News,S October 1993. Thus, Bolshoi Kamen are being stored afloat Installation 927-111on the tip of the the actual number of operational nuclear- here. Six were visible in the autumn of Shkotovo peninsula, is located to the powered submarines in the Pacific Fleet 1993. north of the shipyard near the town of may be 25-30 boats. 9. Between Installation 927-111and the town Primorskiy. Two 'raw burial grounds' for 2. Soviet/Russian official information is of Dunai is Koniushkovo Bay. Although the radioactive waste are located here, at provided in the annexes to START which naval facilities here are half abandoned. least one of which may be leaking.'7 list, among other things, the nuclear- there are two piers that are still powered ballistic missile submarines and periodically used by nuclear-powered Overview their bases and elimination facilities in submarines and their support ships as and the USA current as of 1 well as other small surface vessels. Also, September 1990. For past Western the railhead closest to Installation 927-111is Interestingly, several naval bases descriptions of some of these facilities located here. regularly mentioned as the centre of see: Polmar N, Guide to the Soviet Navy, 10. Handler J, ibid. Pacific Fleet operations do not house 5th edition, (US Naval Institute Press: 11. US Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, nuclear-powered submarines. Annapolis, MD, 1991) and da Cunha 0, 'Soviet Submarine Bases', ONIReview, Vol Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk contain Soviet Naval Power in the Pacific, (Lynne 12, No 8, September 1957, p 353. several major surface ship facilities and Rienner Publishers: Boulder, CO, 1990), 12. Almost a dozen diesel-powered shipyards in the small bays within their Chapter 4, 'Base Infrastructure in the submarines, several surface ships and, city limits; the Pacific Fleet headquarters Northwestern Pacific'. reportedly, the Pacific Fleet aircraft and at least two diesel-powered 3. These ships can store several cores' worth carriers Minsk and Novorossiysk are also submarine bases are also located in of nuclear fuel, reportedly in two large aft tied up in Postovaya Bay as of autumn Vladivostok. There are no nuclear compartments, ibid. 1993. submarine shipyards or bases within the 4. The Pinega was constructed to process 13. As early as 1958, Postovaya Bay was cities, however. and condense liquic;j radioactive waste. identified as containing a diesel- As for the two nuclear-powered surface The equipment has not functioned as submarine base by US Naval Intelligence; ships in the Pacific Fleet -the cruiser anticipated, however, and now there is US Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 'The Frunze and the Kapusta class trouble keeping adequately trained sailors Expansion of Soviet Far East Ports (U)', range/intelligence ship SSV-33 -they for the complex equipment on board. The ONI Review, Vol 17, No 6, June 1962, are based in Abrek Bay, a small bay at Pacific Fleet currently uses it just as a p 273. However, another intelligence the northern end of Strelok Bay, north of liquid radioactive waste tanker. estimate noted that, although containing the Chazhma Bay Ship Repair Facility. 5. There are two other defence related plants one of the best natural harbours in the in Bolshoi Kamen: Krasny Vympel and the region, the effectiveness of Sovetskaya Pacific Enterprise Era. Round Table of the Gavan area as 'a submarine base is Notesand References Utro Rossii, 'Bolshoi Kamen: Only diminished by ice conditions that are more Together, Only Optimistically', Utro Rossii severe than at any of the principal Soviet Jane's Fighting Ships 1993-1994 (Vladivostok), 7 October 1993. One may bases in the Far East'; US Navy, Office of estimates 49 nuclear-powered submarines be associated with the reported nuclear Naval Intelligence, 'Soviet Submarine are currently operational in the Pacific waste-handling facility located on the Bases,' ONI Review, Vol 12, No 8, Fleet, including 21 SSBNs, 10 SSGNs and small peninsula which forms the northwest September 1957, p 352. 18 SSNs. The International Institute for side of Bolshoi Kamen Bay. 14. Rybachiy may also be known as Strategic Studies' (IISS) Military Balance 6. Under START, the Zvezda plant is a Lakhtazhny. 1993-1994 lists 46 operational nuclear- designated 'SLBM launcher conversion or 15. Some Western analyses refer to powered submarines in the Pacific Fleet, elimination facility'; Annex B, 'SLBMs and Krasheninnikova Bay as Tar'ya Bay: see including 20 SSBNs, nine SSGNs and 17 SLBM Launchers' to the 'Memorandum of US Defense Mapping Agency, Sailing SSNs. The numbers of operational Understanding on the Establishment of the Directions For the East Coast of the Soviet submarines may be lower, however. As of Data Base Relating to the Treaty Between Union, 3rd Edition, 1986, p 86, and Polmar 1992, there were some 20 SSBNs and 20 the United States of America and the N,ibid,p419. SSN/SSGNs in the Pacific Fleet according Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the 16. This number may be smaller now, as to the Russian Pacific Fleet press officer, Reduction and Limitation of Strategic 'Yankee' and 'Delta I' SSBNs are being Captain 1st Rank Victor Ryzhkov. Thirty- Offensive Arms', US Department of State, retired. five submarines had been retired. See Bureau of Public Affairs, Dispatch 17. Volenyts G, 'Everything is Cracking, Even Handler J, 'Trip Report: Greenpeace Visit Supplement: START Treaty Between the the Burials', Komsomolskaya Pravda, 29 to Moscow and Russian Far East July - United States of America and the Union of August 1991; Postfactum, 'Leak at November 1992: Russian Navy Nuclear Soviet Socialist Republics on the Kamchatka Radioactive Waste Burial Submarine Safety, Construction, Defense Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Ground,' 6 December 1991, contained in Conversion, Decommissioning, and Offensive Arms, signed Moscow 31 July BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, Nuclear Waste Disposal Problems', 1991, Vol 2, Supplement No 5, October SUN/0209 A/23, 13 December 1991. (Greenpeace, Washington, DC), 15 1991, p 188. There may also be eight trenches for February 1993. As of 1 October 1993, the 7. The TNT -5 is too decrepit to go to sea any nuclear waste at the facility. number had grown to 47 retired nuclear- more. The TNT -27 is also in poor shape, powered submarines according to a and unable to move under its own power. Errata: Pacific Fleet spokesman; INTERFAX It can carry some 900 t of liquid waste. In the last article by this author (see JIR, Vol 5, (Moscow), 'Another Dumping Into the Sea Reportedly, some six TNT tankers are in No 12. pp 551-556), there were a number of of Japan Possible', 22 October 1993. At the Pacific Fleet; 'Close Up Gendai' editorial errors. Please amend Viyzhny least one and perhaps two nuclear- broadcast on nuclear waste disposal at (pp 551, 553, 556) to Vyuzhny; Buchma Kum powered submarines have been sea by the Russian Navy, NHK TV (Tokyo), Bay (pp 552, 554, 555) to Kut Bay; transferred from the Northern to the Pacific 7 April 1993. Ekamerununskaya Gavan (p 556) to Fleet since 1991. The most recent transfer, 8. Another nuclear submarine related 'facility' Ekaterininskaya Gavan; and Polyarny (p 556 reportedly a 'Oscar II', was completed in is located about 500 m across from the -Note 1) to Rosta. September 1993; ITAR-TASS, 'The ship repair facility on the north side of Kasatka Is Not Afraid of Ice', Krasnoe Chazhma Bay near the settlement of Joshua Handler is a Researcher with an Znamia (Vladivostok), 16 September 1993; Razbojnik. Reactor compartments from international environmental organisation.