submarines have already been scrapped at the Zvezda plant, and more are being worked on.

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1 Introduction Like the Soviet Navy before it, the Russian Navy keeps one-third of its nuclear-powered submarines -some boats -in the Far East.' During the Cold War, the precise location and function of the Soviet Pacific Fleet's nuclear-powered submarine bases and facilities were kept secret. Now, a combination of new official information provided by the former Soviet Union, Soviet/Russian press accounts, site visits, and recently declassified US Naval Intelligence estimates from the 1950s allow for the first time a detailed account to be made of these nuclear submarine facilities! This article integrates the new data to provide a guide to nuclear submarine bases and support facilities in the Russian Pacific Fleet. From south to north, facilities for supporting nuclear-powered submarines in the Russian Far East are found in the Primorskyand Khabarovsk Krays and on the Kamchatka peninsula. Over half are located near Vladivostok, in and around the Shkotovo region. The other important facilities are concentrated near Petropavlovsk. Vladivostok and it Environs.Bolshoi Kamen is a small city of some people. located on the west side of the Shkotovo peninsula on Ussuryiskyi Bay, some 35 km east of Vladivostok. Several submarine service and nuclearwaste transport ships are based here:.at least two Vala class special tankers -TNT -5 and TNT -27 -which are used for the dumping of low-level liquid and solid radioactive waste at sea.".at least two PM-124 class radiological repair ships -PM-80 and PM which are used for the offloading and onloading of fresh or spent nuclear fuel to and from submarines at the Zvezda plant." After their holds are full, the spent fuel is taken to Installation (see below)..one Pinega class nuclear submarine support ship -the Pinega -that is used for the transport of liquid radioactive wastes.s These or similar ships also circulate among, or are found at, other nuclear facilities in the region. Bolshoi Kamen is also the site of two plants -Zvezda and Vostok -which service nuclear-powered submarines:".the Zvezda shipyard is currently the most important of the two plants. It is responsible for the refuelling, repairing and decommissioning of nuclearpowered submarines.7 Several nuclearpowered submarines have already been scrapped at the Zvezda plant, and more are being worked on. According to Russian Navy spokesmen, the first was K-10, an 'Echo I' SSN, the second was a 'November' SSN, and the third was a 'Yankee' SSBN. At least two other 'Yankee' SSBNs were being scrapped in Two partially dismantled 'Yankee' SSBNs were visible in the yard area in the autumn of The Vostok plant, located next to the Zvezda plant, finished and fitted out nuclear-powered submarines constructed at the Komsomolsk-na- Amure shipyard. With submarine production halted at Komsomolsk-na- Amure, the Vostok plant has been forced to undergo defence conversion and is now involved in a number of commercial enterprises, including export of lumber..the Chazhma Ship Repair Facility is located on the south side of Chazhma Bay near the settlements of Dunai (Shkotovo-22) and Temp, some 45 km southeast of Vladivostok on the east side of the Shkotovo peninsula. It is under the responsibility of Military Division Nuclear-powered submarines are refuelled and repaired at the facility. One of the Soviet Navy's worst nuclear submarine disasters occurred here when, on 10 August 1985, an 'Echo II' SSGN's reactor exploded at the end of a refuelling operation, contaminating the View of Bolshoi Kamen, looking southeast of the 'Victor III' SSN in front of the Zvezda Ship Repair Facility. The mast of TNT -5, a Va/a class liquid nuclear tanker is visible behind the 'Victor's' conning tower and in front of the drydock. The conning towers of two 'Yankee' SSBNs are also visible immediately behind the 'Victor'. (Photograph: J Handler)

2 EUROPE -April 1994 ~ANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW 167 surrounding land and water.8.installation is a permanent nuclear waste storage site, located at the southeastern tip of the Shkotovo peninsula on Cape Maidelya, several kilometres south of Dunaj. Highly radioactive waste from nuclear-powered submarines such as ion-resin exchanger slurries and low-level waste are transported to the facility by sea. The spent naval reactor fuel is held here prior to shipment to Chelyabinsk in the central Urals region for reprocessing. The other materials are kept on site.9.pavlovsk is a major nuclear-powered submarine base on the eastern edge of Strelok Bay some 65 km southeast of Vladivostok. It houses ballistic missile and other nuclear-powered submarines. According to START data, as of September 1990, nine SSBNs -three 'Yankee I' SSBNs and six 'Delta I' SSBNs -are based here. However, according to the Pacific Fleet press officer, Captain 1st Rank Victor Ryzhkov, as of autumn 1992, these older nuclear-powered submarines are awaiting retirement. 10 Decommissioned submarines, including three Pacific Fleet submarines which had been seriously damaged following nuclear accidents, as well as possibly sealed reactor compartments from scrapped nuclear submarines, are also kept here..vladimir Bay, some 300 kmeastnortheast of Vladivostok and north of Olga, contains a small submarine base. As early as 1957, US Naval Intelligence noted that Vladimir Bay had an 'excellent natural harbour' and contained a small submarine base. One estimate commented, 'Vladimir Bay is relatively undeveloped and lacks adequate rail and road access. That part of the harbour used by submarines is essentially ice free, and the harbour has significant development potential as a submarine base.'" The nuclear-powered submarine facility is reportedly located at the northern end of the bay, near the towns,

3 168 JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW April EUROPE Zavety IIYi'~h r' 'l j Decommissioned SUbmarine~,i /.) I q, 1kml

4 -EUROPE -April 1994 JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW 169

5 170 JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW April EUROPE.-. Decommissioned submarines, both nuclear and diesel, in Zavety liyicha naval base near Sovetskaya Gavan. (Photograph: J Handler) of Rakushka and Vesely Yar. A few nuclear-powered submarines are thought to still operate from here. Decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines may also be in the harbour. In 1990, protests by local residents led the Pacific Fleet to abandon plans to offload spent nuclear fuel from submarines in Vladimir Bay..Further north of Vladimir Bay, in the Khabarovsk Kray, is the small town of Zavety Ilyicha. It is located on Postovaya Bay between the seaports of Vanino and Sovetskaya Gavan. The town has become a holding area for decommissioned nuclear-powered submarines, as well as conventional submarines and surface vessels.'2 Zavety liyicha used to contain a small operational nuclear submarine base.'3 In the early 1980s, the navy completed construction of the facilities for nuclearpowered submarines. In 1982, four first- generation nuclear-powered submarines -two 'November' and two 'Echo I' SSNs, reportedly built in 1959, 1960, 1962 and began to operate from Zavety Ilyicha for half of the year during the ice-free months. In 1990, all four submarines were retired. Demonstrations by local residents in the summer of 1990 led the Pacific Fleet to forego plans to offload fuel from decommissioned submarines in the bay and store the hulls at the base. Despite promises by the Pacific Fleet to remove the submarines at a rate of one per year starting in 1991, the first was only taken away in October Petropavlovsk and its Environs.On the Kamchatka peninsula. Rybachiy is a major nuclear submarine base located some 15 km southwest of Petropavlovsk across Avachinskaya Bay on the small Krasheninnikova peninsula.'4 It is on the southern edge of the peninsula. on the northern side of Krasheninnikova Bay.'5 Nuclear-powered submarines have reportedly operated from here since at least the mid-1960s. According to START data, as of September 1990, 15 SSBNs -three 'Yankee I' SSBNs, three 'Delta I' SSBNs, and nine 'Delta III' SSBNs -were based here. Other nuclear-powered submarines operate from the base as well.'6.westwards across Krasheninnikova Bay from Rybachiy is the Gornyak (Miner) shipyard. located between the two towns of Primorskiy (Petropavlovsk- 50) to the north and Primorskoe (Petropavlovsk-53) to the south. Refuellings and repairs of nuclearpowered submarines are conducted at this facility. Empty containers for the temporary storage and transport of nuclear spent fuel from submarines. They measure 4.9 m x 1.9 m and weigh kg when loaded. At this weight, they are too heavy to be transported by existing road and rail systems, and so are stacked at Installation (Photograph: J Handler)

6 .A nuclear-waste facility for the storage of high-level nuclear waste, similar to Installation on the tip of the Shkotovo peninsula, is located to the north of the shipyard near the town of Primorskiy. Two 'raw burial grounds' for radioactive waste are located here, at least one of which may be leaking.'7 Overview Interestingly, several naval bases regularly mentioned as the centre of Pacific Fleet operations do not house nuclear-powered submarines. Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk contain several major surface ship facilities and shipyards in the small bays within their city limits; the Pacific Fleet headquarters and at least two diesel-powered submarine bases are also located in Vladivostok. There are no nuclear submarine shipyards or bases within the cities, however. As for the two nuclear-powered surface ships in the Pacific Fleet -the cruiser Frunze and the Kapusta class range/intelligence ship SSV-33 -they are based in Abrek Bay, a small bay at the northern end of Strelok Bay, north of the Chazhma Bay Ship Repair Facility. Notes and References Jane's Fighting Ships estimates 49 nuclear-powered submarines are currently operational in the Pacific Fleet, including 21 SSBNs, 10 SSGNs and 18 SSNs. The International Institute for Strategic Studies' (IISS) Military Balance lists 46 operational nuclearpowered submarines in the Pacific Fleet, including 20 SSBNs, nine SSGNs and 17 SSNs. The numbers of operational submarines may be lower, however. As of 1992, there were some 20 SSBNs and 20 SSN/SSGNs in the Pacific Fleet according to the Russian Pacific Fleet press officer, Captain 1st Rank Victor Ryzhkov. Thirtyfive submarines had been retired. See Handler J, 'Trip Report: Greenpeace Visit to Moscow and Russian Far East July - November 1992: Russian Navy Nuclear Submarine Safety, Construction, Defense Conversion, Decommissioning, and Nuclear Waste Disposal Problems', (Greenpeace, Washington, DC), 15 February As of 1 October 1993, the number had grown to 47 retired nuclearpowered submarines according to a Pacific Fleet spokesman; INTERFAX (Moscow), 'Another Dumping Into the Sea of Japan Possible', 22 October At least one and perhaps two nuclearpowered submarines have been transferred from the Northern to the Pacific Fleet since The most recent transfer, reportedly a 'Oscar II', was completed in September 1993; ITAR-TASS, 'The Kasatka Is Not Afraid of Ice', Krasnoe Znamia (Vladivostok), 16 September 1993; RIA, 'Pacific Fleet Get New Nuclear Sub', Vladivostok News,S October Thus, the actual number of operational nuclearpowered submarines in the Pacific Fleet may be boats. 2. Soviet/Russian official information is provided in the annexes to START which list, among other things, the nuclearpowered ballistic missile submarines and their bases and elimination facilities in Russia and the USA current as of 1 September For past Western descriptions of some of these facilities see: Polmar N, Guide to the Soviet Navy, 5th edition, (US Naval Institute Press: Annapolis, MD, 1991) and da Cunha 0, Soviet Naval Power in the Pacific, (Lynne Rienner Publishers: Boulder, CO, 1990), Chapter 4, 'Base Infrastructure in the Northwestern Pacific'. 3. These ships can store several cores' worth of nuclear fuel, reportedly in two large aft compartments, ibid. 4. The Pinega was constructed to process and condense liquic;j radioactive waste. The equipment has not functioned as anticipated, however, and now there is trouble keeping adequately trained sailors for the complex equipment on board. The Pacific Fleet currently uses it just as a liquid radioactive waste tanker. 5. There are two other defence related plants in Bolshoi Kamen: Krasny Vympel and the Pacific Enterprise Era. Round Table of the Utro Rossii, 'Bolshoi Kamen: Only Together, Only Optimistically', Utro Rossii (Vladivostok), 7 October One may be associated with the reported nuclear waste-handling facility located on the small peninsula which forms the northwest side of Bolshoi Kamen Bay. 6. Under START, the Zvezda plant is a designated 'SLBM launcher conversion or elimination facility'; Annex B, 'SLBMs and SLBM Launchers' to the 'Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of the Data Base Relating to the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms', US Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, Dispatch Supplement: START Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, signed Moscow 31 July 1991, Vol 2, Supplement No 5, October 1991, p The TNT -5 is too decrepit to go to sea any more. The TNT -27 is also in poor shape, and unable to move under its own power. It can carry some 900 t of liquid waste. Reportedly, some six TNT tankers are in the Pacific Fleet; 'Close Up Gendai' broadcast on nuclear waste disposal at sea by the Russian Navy, NHK TV (Tokyo), 7 April Another nuclear submarine related 'facility' is located about 500 m across from the ship repair facility on the north side of Chazhma Bay near the settlement of Razbojnik. Reactor compartments from decommissioned submarines scrapped at Bolshoi Kamen are being stored afloat here. Six were visible in the autumn of Between Installation and the town of Dunai is Koniushkovo Bay. Although the naval facilities here are half abandoned. there are two piers that are still periodically used by nuclear-powered submarines and their support ships as well as other small surface vessels. Also, the railhead closest to Installation is located here. 10. Handler J, ibid. 11. US Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 'Soviet Submarine Bases', ONIReview, Vol 12, No 8, September 1957, p Almost a dozen diesel-powered submarines, several surface ships and, reportedly, the Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers Minsk and Novorossiysk are also tied up in Postovaya Bay as of autumn As early as 1958, Postovaya Bay was identified as containing a dieselsubmarine base by US Naval Intelligence; US Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 'The Expansion of Soviet Far East Ports (U)', ONI Review, Vol 17, No 6, June 1962, p 273. However, another intelligence estimate noted that, although containing one of the best natural harbours in the region, the effectiveness of Sovetskaya Gavan area as 'a submarine base is diminished by ice conditions that are more severe than at any of the principal Soviet bases in the Far East'; US Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 'Soviet Submarine Bases,' ONI Review, Vol 12, No 8, September 1957, p Rybachiy may also be known as Lakhtazhny. 15. Some Western analyses refer to Krasheninnikova Bay as Tar'ya Bay: see US Defense Mapping Agency, Sailing Directions For the East Coast of the Soviet Union, 3rd Edition, 1986, p 86, and Polmar N,ibid,p This number may be smaller now, as 'Yankee' and 'Delta I' SSBNs are being retired. 17. Volenyts G, 'Everything is Cracking, Even the Burials', Komsomolskaya Pravda, 29 August 1991; Postfactum, 'Leak at Kamchatka Radioactive Waste Burial Ground,' 6 December 1991, contained in BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, SUN/0209 A/23, 13 December There may also be eight trenches for nuclear waste at the facility. Errata: In the last article by this author (see JIR, Vol 5, No 12. pp ), there were a number of editorial errors. Please amend Viyzhny (pp 551, 553, 556) to Vyuzhny; Buchma Kum Bay (pp 552, 554, 555) to Kut Bay; Ekamerununskaya Gavan (p 556) to Ekaterininskaya Gavan; and Polyarny (p 556 -Note 1) to Rosta. Joshua Handler is a Researcher with an international environmental organisation.