MURMANSK. April 26 (Interfax-Northwest) - The Russian Defense Ministry on January 1, 2002 stopped its funding of the work done on the Kursk nuclear submarine in the dock of the Roslyakovo Ship Repair Plant, the legislative assembly of the Murmansk region told Interfax on Friday.
The people working at the plant have not been paid since February, Interfax has learned.
In the meantime, the cost of the work that was done on the submarine and was not paid for stands at some RUB150m (USD4.8m). This work includes the clearing of the debris, the opening of compartments, the dismantling of equipment, the unloading of missiles, and also the sealing of compartments and the preparation of the submarine for transport to Snezhnogorsk at the Nerpa plant.
The payment for the work done at the Nerpa plant, where the Kursk will be dismantled, has not been provided yet either, Interfax has learned.
The Nerpa ship-repair plant is located in the mouth of the Olenya Bay about 5km southwest of Snezhnogorsk, also known as Vyuzhny. The plant specializes in repairs of second-generation nuclear submarines, has a dry and a floating docks as well as equipment for reloading used nuclear fuel on Project 2020 vessels of the Malina class.
The Northern Fleet press service told Interfax that the PD- 42 floating dock carrying the submarine was being towed to the Nerpa plant. That is why navigation is suspended in the area of the Kola Bay where the dock is moving.
The submarine was checked before the departure, and the check proved "high quality of work" performed at Roslyakovo, the press service said. Sections of the submarine were also inspected by experts of the fleet's chemical and radiation protection services.
After the submarine is delivered to Nerpa, it will be placed on staples and guided to the boathouse, a source at the enterprise told Interfax. The active zone of the reactor will be unloaded there and later sent for storage to the Saida Bay.
Speaking about the unloading of seven missiles of the Granit system that is to take place at Nerpa, the source said their containers were deformed, and that is why the work would not be carried out in a regular way. The missiles will be cut out together with silos, he confirmed.
The Kursk sank in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000, killing all the 118 crewmembers. Bodies of 115 submarines have been retrieved from the submarine and identified.