Murmank, the world’s atomic dustbin, has fire on nuclear submarine
Bellona, a respected Norwegian NGO which monitors Russia‘s nuclear fleet, said the number of casualties may have been higher…..
The desolate region around Murmansk contains the biggest concentration of old nuclear reactors in the world and, since the cold war ended, has become the world’s atomic dustbin.
Russian nuclear submarine blaze injures nine after crew remain inside, Guardian UK, 31 Dec 11 President orders inquiry into fire on board vessel docked in Arctic but officials play down any fears of radiation leak
The Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, has ordered an investigation after a nuclear submarine caught fire during repairs in the Arctic, injuring at least nine people. Continue reading
Russia finally submerges burning nuclear submarine
Russia submerges nuclear submarine to douse blaze (Reuters), 31 Dec 11 – Russia said it had won the battle with a raging blaze aboard a nuclear submarine on Friday by submerging the stricken vessel at a navy shipyard after hours of dousing the flames with water from helicopters and tug boats. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/29/us-russia-submarine-fire-idUSTRE7BS0MJ20111229
Huge fire on Russian nuclear submarine
Massive fire enguls Russian nuclear sub, 9 News, 30 Dec 11 Fire engulfed one of Russia’s biggest nuclear submarines while it was being repaired Thursday, sending flames and smoke billowing into the sky, but officials said all weapons had been removed and no radiation leak
was reported.
Emergency workers launched a massive operation to douse the flames after the blaze broke out on the 11,740-tonne Yekaterinburg while it was docked in the the northern Murmansk region near Russia’s border with Norway…… http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8396466/massive-fire-enguls-russian-nuclear-sub
Steps for USA and Russia towards nuclear disarmament
There is, however, some unfinished business concerning the 20 year-old Presidential Nuclear Initiatives (PNI’s) that both governments could take up now to help lay the foundation for future talks.
the United States and Russia have grown accustomed to sharing considerable information about their longer-range strategic nuclear forces. For years, they have routinely exchanged and updated information on the disposition of retiring nuclear-capable bombers and
missiles. Similar processes could be applied to the types and numbers of tactical nuclear systems affected by the P.N.I.’s.
The next logical step would be for both countries to disclose, on a reciprocal basis, the location, types and numbers of tactical nuclear weapons that remain.
Unfinished Business, NYT, FRANK KLOTZ, SUSAN KOCH and FRANKLIN MILLER December 13, 2011“……..the subject of reducing tactical nuclear weapons has again come to the fore. Signing the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty in April 2010, President Obama announced that the United States intended to pursue further reductions in all categories of nuclear weapons — including, for the first time, tactical and nondeployed warheads. Voting to approve the treaty, the U.S. Senate called for negotiations with Russia to address the
disparity in U.S. and Russian tactical nuclear weapons and to secure and reduce those weapons in a verifiable manner.
The specific size of that disparity is a matter of debate. Neither the United States nor Russia has publicly disclosed the number and locations of the tactical nuclear weapons they possess.
Unofficial estimates vary widely. Continue reading
Russia’s global nuclear ambitions
A new ARMZ race, Asia Times, 14 Dec 11 By Peter Lee The people who brought about Chernobyl are pressing to become the world’s leading source for nuclear power equipment, materials, and services.
Russia’s quasi-state nuclear power authority, Rosatom, has ambitions of becoming the world’s one-stop shop for nuclear plants, uranium fuel and spent fuel services. Currently accounting for 20% of the world’s nuclear power stations and 17% of global nuclear fuel fabrication, Rosatom wants to double in size and become the dominant player in uranium ore and spent fuel in the process.
In places like Kazakhstan, Canada, Niger, Australia, the United States and Mongolia, Rosatom’s (AtomRedMetZoloto) Uranium Holding Co, or ARMZ, is seeking to dominate worldwide uranium production. Over the past two decades, Russia has aggressively leveraged the nuclear legacy of the Cold War competition between the United States and the Soviet Union. In the nuclear arms race with the United States, the USSR always opted for quantity and size rather than quality….
Russia unhappy with being encircled by USA missile shield in Europe
Russia says missiles to target US nuclear shield in Europe, Dmitry Medvedev accuses Washington and Nato of ignoring Moscow’s concern at defences they say are aimed at Iran Associated Press in Moscow guardian.co.uk, 24 November 2011 Russia has threatened to deploy missiles to target the US missile shield in Europe if Washington fails to assuage Moscow’s concerns about its plans.
The harsh warning reflects deep cracks in US-Russian ties despite Barack Obama’s efforts to “reset” relations with the Kremlin. President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday that he still hopes for a deal with the US on missile defence, but he accused Washington and itsNato allies of ignoring Russia’s worries. He said Russia will have to take military countermeasures if the US continues to build the shield without legal guarantees that it will not be aimed against Russia.
The US has repeatedly assured Russia its proposed missile defence system would not be directed against Russia’s nuclear forces, and it did that again on Wednesday…..http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/24/russia-targets-us-missile-shield
Rising risk of nuclear conflicts, says Russian military chief
Nikolai Makarov, Russia Military Chief, Sees Rising Risk Of Nuclear Conflicts Huffington Post, 17 Nov 11 MOSCOW — Russia is facing a heightened risk of being drawn into conflicts at its borders that have the potential of turning nuclear, the nation’s top military officer said Thursday.
Gen. Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, cautioned over NATO’s expansion eastward and warned that the risks of Russia being pulled into local conflicts have “risen sharply.” Makarov added, according to Russian news agencies, that “under certain conditions local and regional conflicts may develop into a full-scale war involving nuclear weapons.”
A steady decline in Russia’s conventional forces has prompted the Kremlin to rely increasingly on its nuclear deterrent. The nation’s military doctrine says it may use nuclear weapons to counter a nuclear attack on Russia or an ally, or a large-scale conventional attack that threatens Russia’s existence.
Russia sees NATO’s expansion to include former Soviet republics and ex-members of the Soviet bloc in eastern and central Europe as a key threat to Russia’s security…. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/17/nikolai-makarov-russia-nuclear-conflict_n_1100100.html
Russia’s huge and pointless expenditure on nuclear submarines
former Finance MinisterAlexei Kudrinhas repeatedly warned that the huge increase in military spending planned for the next decade is fiscally untenable and must be reconsidered.
This means that Putin must choose between pursuing prudent and efficient military programs or indulge in huge wasteful and useless Cold War-era military buildup programs
Putin’s Nuclear Submarine Boondoggle, Moscow Times, 15 November 2011, ByAlexander Golts There is one contradiction that is a standard component of the Russian military: Although the military funds some programs that meet the country’s security needs, many others have little value at all….
Prime MinisterVladimir Putinlast week pressured leaders from the Defense Ministry and the United Shipbuilding Corporation to sign several major contracts worth 280 billion rubles ($9.2 billion) that will primarily be used to fund the development and construction of a new generation of nuclear submarines.
That total is expected to rise even further next year when the final cost is set in the main contract to build a series of Borei-type nuclear submarines. Continue reading
Russian nuclear submarine collides with fishing boat
Nuclear submarine collides with fishing boat ABC News, 23 Sept 11, A Russian nuclear submarine collided with a fishing boat off the country’s Pacific coast, damaging the outer shell of the naval vessel but causing no radiation leak, Russian news agencies reported overnight. Continue reading
Flaws, construction errors in Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant
Insider cites sloppy work at Iranian nuclear plant, SMH, DOUGLAS BIRCH and GARY PEACH, September 23, 2011 A Russian engineer who worked on Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant during the final stages of construction says inexperienced workers, poor oversight and layers of bureaucracy contributed to a rash of equipment failures that delayed the reactor’s startup for almost a year. Continue reading
Russian atomic company loses in Siemens exit from nuclear industry
Siemens partner biggest loser in nuclear exit, By Marilyn Gerlach, FRANKFURT, Sept 19 | 2011 (Reuters) – Siemens’ exit from its nuclear partnership with Rosatom robs the Russian player of a famous brand name it badly needs to compete with the likes of Areva NP , General Electric and Toshiba …. Continue reading
UK Prime Minister told by Russia to shut up about Litvinenko radiation murder
Kremlin tells Cameron to forget radiation killing of dissident ahead of Moscow state visit, Daily Mail, By JAMES CHAPMAN, 12th September 2011 David Cameron was told to forget Britain’s ‘obsession’ with the radiation killing of a dissident Russian in London last night as he arrived for the first visit by a British prime minister to Moscow in six years.
Mr Cameron wants to focus on Anglo-Russian trade ties, but is under pressure to use the trip to press the Kremlin over the killing of Alexander Litvinenko and broader abuses human rights and state-sponsored corruption.
Four former British foreign secretaries — David Miliband, Jack Straw, Margaret Beckett and Sir Malcolm Rifkind — took the unusual step yesterday of issuing a joint statement urging Mr Cameron to stand up to the Russian regime.
Mr Litvinenko was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210 in London five years ago in what is alleged to have been a state-sponsored assassination. He died a lingering death. Ever since, Russia has spurned Britain’s demands to extradite Andrei Lugovoy, the former KGB officer who is the chief suspect in the murder.
Mr Lugovoy, now a member of Russia’s parliament, has claimed he was not involved. Mr Cameron will raise the case during extensive talks in Moscow but officials are making clear that the aim is to try to ‘reset’ relations.
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking yesterday ahead of Mr Cameron’s arrival, signalled that Russia expects the Prime Minister to abandon the demands for Lugovoy’s extradition. ‘We cannot afford to be guided by politicised and stereotyped approaches inherited from a different era,’ he said. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2036288/Kremlin-tells-Cameron-forget-radiation-killing-Alexander-Litvinenko-ahead-Moscow-state-visit.html
Russia’s nuclear-powered ice-breaker ship
The Soviet Ship That Cuts Through Ice Like a Nuclear-Powered Knife Through Butte, Wired.com, By Andrew Tarantola, Gizmodo.com , July 8, 2011 ………who else would think to pack two nuclear reactors into a ship and set it loose in the Arctic breaking ice? The North Koreans? Psshhh, not likely…….”
…..Breaking with the Soviet tradition of intuitive, straightforward design, the reactors are used to power Rube Goldberg propulsion system. The reactors power boilers which generate high pressure steam to power 12 dynamos which in turn power electric motors attached to each of the three propeller screws. These motors provide each screw with roughly 25,000 horsepower or 55.3MW. With that much power, the Yamal punches through ice up to 2.3m thick at a speed of 3 knots. And though the Yamal’s maximum rated ice thickness is 5m, it has been recorded smashing individual ice ridges as thick as 9m…
….Despite its ability to break through 20 vertical feet of ice at a time, the Yamal is effectively trapped in the Arctic. Because the reactors use the area’s frigid water for cooling, the Yamal is physically incapable of traveling near (and definitely not past) the equator without overheating and melting down its fuel supply. ….
Russia touts nuclear industry – and wants mandatory safety rules
Russia Urges Mandatory Nuclear Safety Rules After Japan Accident, Bloomberg, By Henry Meyer – May 26, 2011 Russia called for nuclear safety rules to be tightened and made mandatory at an international level after the accident at Japan’s Fukushima atomic plant.
“There is no alternative but to strengthen these rules,” Nikolai Spassky, deputy head of Russia’s Rosatom Corp. holding, told reporters today during the Group of Eight summit in Deauville, France. “All countries which are developing a nuclear industry have to recognize this……Russia Urges Mandatory Nuclear Safety Rules After Japan Accident – Bloomberg
New nuclear missile test by Russia
Russia tests nuclear missile amid row with US | Herald Sun * May 21, 2011 RUSSIA has conducted its second intercontinental ballistic missile test in less than a month as it stepped up its campaign against a US-backed interceptor system for Europe.News reports said the Sineva missile was launched from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea and later successfully hit its target on the opposite side of the country on the Kamchatka Peninsula.
“The launch was conducted from a submerged position,” defence ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told Russian news agencies…..
Moscow is currently furious with Washington for pushing ahead with plans to deploy a missile defence system for Europe – a shield that Russia fears could one day be transformed into an offensive weapon that targets its soil……Russia tests nuclear missile amid row with US | Herald Sun
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