Scrapping of nuclear surface ships in the primorsky kray

Abstract

Object and purpose of research. This study is devoted to the scrapping of nuclear ships for the risk assessment of their decommissioning activities. Materials and methods. Based on available publications, this paper discusses various concepts for scrapping SSV-33 Ural, a large nuclear-powered ELINT ship, in the Primorsky Kray. The study was performed as per common research methods (analysis, comparison, instantiation). Main results. This paper investigated the first experience of scrapping a nuclear-powered surface ship in the Primorsky Kray and, taking this Project 1941 ship as a case study, gave an insight to technical and organizational aspects of its scrapping process. Conclusion. The study concludes that the floating unit with the reactor compartment of SSV-33 Ural needs further work to reduce its size and weight so that it could be sent to Ustrichny boneyard for long-term storage of reactor compartments. The paper also suggests an alternative variant of decommissioning nuclear-powered surface ships, by unloading their iron-water protection tanks with nuclear steam-generating plant and merge them into a single item for long-term storage, without any intermediate modules.