Spent nuclear fuel to be unloaded from Borisoglebsk sub in March

DATELINE: SEVERODVINSK March 1

Spent nuclear fuel will be unloaded from the Borisoglebsk K-496 nuclear-powered submarine of the Russian North Fleet in March 2010, a Zvezdochka shipyard source told Interfax.

“The unloading started in December 2009. It is proceeding normally.

The fire that broke out at another decommissioned submarine at Zvezdochka in late February had no effect on the Borisoglebsk works,” the source said.

Rosatom and foreign sponsors will fund the K-496 disposal, he said.

Canada is financing the unloading of spent nuclear fuel, and the United States is sponsoring the disposal of missile silos and the three- compartment reactor unit.

The construction of the Borisoglebsk K-496 (Project 667 Kalmar, NATO code name Delta 3) started at the Sevmash shipyard in Severodvinsk on November 23, 1975. The submarine was commissioned on December 30, 1977.

The Borisoglebsk collided with the U.S. Grayling submarine in the Barents Sea in March 1993, as the U.S. sub was covertly following the Russian one. The Borisoglebsk had a nuclear deterrence and stabilization mission in May-June 1999, during the NATO armed aggression against the former Yugoslavia.

The submarine was due to be modernized in May 2006, but that did not happen because of the shortage of funds. It was decided to scrap the submarine, and its flag was removed in early fall.

In all, the submarine had 22 combat missions, including three near the North Pole, 28 combat alert duties and 31 missile shootings. It was decommissioned in 2008.

The submarine is 155 meters long. It has a displacement of 10,600 tonnes, a submersion depth of 450 meters, an autonomous voyage of 90 days and a crew of 130 men. It is armed with 16 launchers of RSM-50 intercontinental ballistic missiles.

In all, 14 submarines of the series were built.

Source: Interfax-AVN