MURMANSK. May 24 (Interfax-AVN) - Specialists of the Atomflot enterprise of the Murmansk sea-navigation line have successfully unloaded spent nuclear fuel of the reactor of a nuclear submarine, which is designated Viktor 3 in NATO classification.
"The operation was organized in a usual manner. All technological requirements of unloading spend nuclear fuel were met. No incidents have occurred," a source in Atomflot told Interfax Tuesday.
Specialists of the enterprise were employed for unloading spent nuclear fuel from the Kursk submarine sunk in August 2000, he said.
"Security and safety remain our priority no matter whether we are unloading fuel from sunk submarines and those afloat," he said.
According to the source, the unloading procedures were organized at the Nerpa ship repairing plant in Snezhnegorsk, the Murmansk region, involving the Imandra floating dock that took the load for storing.
The submarine is being cannibalized in framework of the contract signed between the ship repairing plant and the Norwegian Foreign Ministry, which is responsible for international nuclear policy and the working program. The project is estimated at 4.7 million euros.
There are plans that a similar operation will be performed with another submarine of the kind in summer, but Great Britain will sponsor the work then.
The funding of all operations is provided in the framework of the G-8 Global Partnership program signed during the G-8 Kananaskis summit in 2002. The leaders of the G-8 bound themselves to provide $20 billion during 10 years starting from 2003 in support of nonproliferation, disarmament, antiterrorism and nuclear safety efforts in Russia.
A total of 26 second-generation Project 671RTM submarines (code-name Shchuka, Viktor-3 in NATO classification) were built from 1964 to 1974, including 16 for the Northern Fleet. The subs were based in Zapadnaya Litsa.
As of now, eight such subs have already been cannibalized.
The subs are propelled by the OK-300 nuclear power plant with 2 VM-4 water-cooled and water-moderated reactors, their thermal power being 75 MW each and shaft power 31,000 hp.