The Ministry of Emergency Situations of the Russian Federation has announced that its divers are inspecting the K-27 nuclear submarine, which sank in the Kara Sea 42 years ago.
Russian divers’ inspection of the K-27 submarine highlights Moscow’s worries regarding the substantial risks linked to the vessel. For years, Russian authorities have been exploring whether the sunken K-27 can be safely raised to remove the uranium from its reactors.
Moscow’s latest Arctic development plan includes ambitious initiatives aimed at retrieving various types of nuclear waste that were previously disposed of by the Soviet Union in the Barents and Kara Seas.
This plan aims to recover the K-27 and K-159 nuclear submarines by 2035. Due to their hazardous nature, both submarines present formidable challenges for cleanup efforts.
Combined, the K-27 and K-159 contain approximately one million curies of radiation—equivalent to about a quarter of the radiation released during the first month of the Fukushima disaster.
The K-27 was deemed too radioactive for conventional dismantling, so it was towed to the Arctic Novaya Zemlya nuclear testing range in 1982 and subsequently scuttled in one of the archipelago’s fjords.
In September 2021, divers cut metal pieces of the hull of K-27. (Center for Underwater Research of the Russian Geographical Society)
The process of sinking the submarine to a depth of just 33 meters required considerable effort. The vessel was weighed down with asphalt to seal its fuel-filled reactors, and a hole was drilled into its aft ballast tank to facilitate the sinking.
However, this solution is not a long-term fix. The sealant around the reactor was intended only to prevent radiation leaks until 2032. Even more concerning is the potential for the K-27’s highly enriched fuel to trigger an uncontrolled nuclear chain reaction under certain conditions, posing a serious risk of localized radiation release.
In 2012, Radioactive Contamination experts explained to RT that their main challenge was to find a method for removing radioactive materials without causing too much disturbance to the reactors.
If the reactors are shaken excessively, this could lead to an uncontrolled chain reaction, which would significantly release radioactivity into the fragile Arctic marine environment.
Thomas Nilsen, editor of the Independent Barents Observer and former member of the Bellona Foundation, stated: “Radiation leakages will come sooner or later if we just leave the K-27 there. The sub has already been on the seafloor for 30 years, and it was rusty even before it was sunk. Leakages of radioactivity underwater are nearly impossible to clean up.”
The ambitious project to recover the K-27 and K-159 submarines is estimated to cost over 300 million euros (approximately $326 million).
In September 2022, a group of Russian officials, engineers, and nuclear scientists convened to discuss ways to salvage the operation, but discussions were halted by a critical issue: Russia currently lacks the necessary technology to undertake such an operation.
A Dutch salvage vessel successfully recovered the Kursk submarine in 2001, but given the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, it is unlikely that the Netherlands would assist again.
This situation leaves the environmental conditions in the Russian Arctic in a precarious state, with unpredictable outcomes. Russia cannot navigate this challenge alone; global cooperation will be essential for addressing the pressing issue of nuclear waste recovery and ensuring the safety of the Arctic environment.
Contact the author at ashishmichel(at)gmail.com
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