SNEZHNOGORSK. Jan 8 (Interfax-Northwest) - Preparations for unloading spent nuclear fuel from the reactor of the nuclear submarine Kursk have not been resumed due to cold weather on the Kola Peninsula.
Temperature in that region is currently reaching from 35 to 40 degrees below zeroCelsius, said Rostislav Rimdenok, the chief engineer of the ship repair plant Nerpa in the community of Snezhnogorsk in the Murmansk region, where the reactor section of the Kursk is currently standing. such cold weather for security reasons," Rimdenok told Interfax.
The preparations for unloading the fuel were suspended earlier due to the New Year's and Christmas holidays and were to resume on Wednesday.
At the same time, workers of the plant are still controlling the radiation situation and conducting non-risky preparations, Rimdenok said. In particular, they are dismantling energy equipment and so-called control and protection mechanisms.
Moreover, nearly all of the 84 covers for packing used reactor gangs from the Kursk have been delivered to the Imandra floating base that will accept fuel from the submarine. The covers are being positioned in the Imandra's storage tanks. Each cover has room for five gags.
The nuclear submarine Kursk sank during Northern Fleet exercises in the Barents Sea on August 12, 2000. All 118 crewmembers onboard the sub died in the accident.