The vessel is operated by Atomflot, a part of Russia’s State Atomic Energy Corporation. In the 80ties, the vessel was infamous for dumping liquid radioactive waste from the Soviet ice-breaker fleet in the Barents Sea. “Serebryanka” was later rebuilt to carry containers with spent nuclear fuel from the Russian navy’s storage sites along the coast of the Kola Peninsula.
Last year, the vessel transported uranium fuel containers Gremikha naval base, east on coast of the Kola Peninsula to Murmansk.
The start of the removing of spent nuclear fuel from Andreeva Bay was originally supposed to start in 2012, but as BarentsObserver previously has reported, Russia wanted to step up the clean-up operations at the nuclear waste storage site by starting the removal already in 2010. That is what now is happening.
Last Friday morning “Serebryanka” arrived at Atomflot service base in Murmansk with spent nuclear fuel containers from Andreeva bay, the Russian navy’s largest storage facility for spent nuclear fuel from the submarine fleet.
Norwegian authorities have over the last decade had a close collaboration with Russian authorities regarding exchange of information related to the nuclear safety situation in the Andreeva bay. Also, the Finnmark County Governor’s environmental department in Northern Norway has since the mid-90ties participated nuclear safety related projects in the Andreeva bay. The run-down storage site is of large concern for Norway; it is located some 60 kilometers from the Norwegian border.
One project financed by Norway in the Andreeva bay is the reconstruction of the quay. The old quay was in bad shape and could not be used in a safe way for loading the heavy containers with spent nuclear fuel. Loading of the containers with its highly radioactive substance is considered to be a risky operation. Also, the shipping itself along the Arctic coast of the Kola Peninsula could be risky.
- We are informed about the general plans for shipping of spent nuclear fuel from the Andreeva bay, but not about the details or the exact dates, says Eldri Holo, head of section for Emergency Preparedness at the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority.
She says it happend so the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority was informed about this particular shipment because some of their employees had a meeting with representatives from Atomflot just after the vessel arrved at quay at Atomflot last Friday.
- We expect to be informed about any changes in the plans regarding shipping of spent nuclear fuel, says Eldri Holo, in a phone interview with BarentsObserver.
The spent nuclear fuel containers were loaded into “Serebryanka” with the help of a floating crane from the Murmansk shipyard, reports the regional news portal b-port.com.
According to b-port.com, the loading operation was carried out jointly by personnel from Atomflot and SevRAO. They both have experts on nuclear safety. Before the containers were loaded into “Serebryanka”, they were repacked onshore.
The Andreeva Bay is located in the Litsa Fjord between the city of Murmansk and the Norwegian border. The site is the primary spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste storage facility for the Northern Fleet. It contains about 21,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies and about 12,000 cubic meters of solid and liquid radioactive wastes. There are three wet storage tanks in the Andreeva Bay facility, containing large volumes of spent nuclear fuel. These tanks are deteriorating due to poor maintenance and the harsh Arctic climate.
