Everyone is concerned about our nuclear safety. But especially the west?

Radiation and environmental safety - the logical end of the cycle of using both peaceful and military nuclear power-are intertwined in the" Gordian knot " of our time and have become the subject of close attention not only to the citizens of the countries that own nuclear reactors, but also to the entire world community. In the early 90s, the Red Banner Northern Fleet came under heavy criticism from foreign and domestic media. He was charged with nothing less than the "potential risk of radioactive contamination" of the Kola Arctic. Then the fleet was "hung up" on the threat to the ecology of the Northern European countries, the seas washing the coast of Scandinavia. Simply put, Western experts have done a lot of hard work to make the northern bastion of Russia appear in the eyes of the world community as a kind of monster" that brings nuclear destruction to all living things by the mere fact of its existence.

The article "Passion for the North" is by no means a struggle for the honor of the naval jacket. It's just that in recent years, the problem of nuclear safety (NPS) has become so multifaceted and ambiguous that it's time to reflect on the issues: "How much are the alleged "guilty" to blame for what happened and is everything so terrible?", "Who are the "judges" and how will we pay for environmental well-being?", " Which way will we go More?.."

There's a raging atom under your feet

Four years ago I was lucky: I was seconded to the crew of the nuclear submarine "Tambov" for the period of combat service. And on one of the days of autonomous navigation, the commander of the reactor compartment, Lieutenant Commander Anton Tumarov, invited me to go with him to the hardware enclosure. For the officer, this was not out of the ordinary: once a week, he checked the condition of the reactor superstructures. For me, the opportunity to get into the" mecca "of nuclear submariners, to stand on a "live" reactor (and even in the North Atlantic depths, when there are hundreds of meters above the submarine, and kilometers below it!) it could only be compared to a flight into space. "Don't be afraid," Captain 3rd Rank Vyacheslav Buzun, commander of the submarine's electromechanical warhead, said, " it's not dangerous."

There were two things that struck me about the machine enclosure: it was perfect, as if I was in a surgical operating room, clean, and the air had a peculiar metallic taste.

"The smell of the reactor," Tumarov said, and then added:

- As you can see, our atomic "heart" is not terrible at all.

I always remember the excursion to the reactor when I see articles with chilling headlines on the pages of newspapers...

Yes, the problem of disposal of nuclear submarines, storage of radioactive waste and reprocessing of used nuclear fuel exists. Today, it is solved by specialists of various departments not only at the state, but also at the international level. But recently, either out of thoughtlessness or consciously, the media tend to depersonalize the facts concerning the problem of nuclear safety on the Kola Peninsula, hyperbolize them, sometimes expanding the concept of a potential threat unnecessarily limitless. I think we can agree that any type of economic activity in one way or another poses a danger to the environment, and the "potential threat" of, say, a fire itself lurks in a house where matches are used. But nevertheless, the escalation of "nuclear" passions continues. One of the reasons, in my opinion, is the imbalance between the number of adopted resolutions and their implementation. In principle, being in a healthy opposition is a journalist's right. But to raise a storm in a glass of water, allowing inaccuracies in terminology, freely interpreting facts, especially on such a " hot " topic, in my opinion, is not fair.

It is no secret that more than a hundred submarines have been withdrawn from the Northern Fleet. Nuclear fuel has been unloaded from thirty-one of them, and twenty-two have been prepared for long-term storage. The remaining decommissioned submarines are waiting for their turn, remaining, again, according to journalists, allegedly " a source of potential danger." But the media's non-specific information does not give an objective assessment of its potential. But behind the decommissioned nuclear submarines, cubic meters of radioactive waste and tons of unloaded nuclear fuel are SF specialists, professionals. Unfortunately, media representatives, as practice shows, very rarely turn to people in pursuit of objective data and comments. Although, in my opinion, who better than they, whose official duties are charged with monitoring and assessing the actual state of the environment in the points of deployment of forces and means of the Northern Fleet, know the real state of affairs in relation to the "potential threat" to the Arctic region of Russia. What is their opinion on this matter?

A threat that... doesn't exist

The threat of nuclear safety on the peninsula, radioactive contamination of the area or exposure of the population is far-fetched, it has not existed since 1989. This is the point of view of the officers of the Department of State Supervision of Nuclear Safety in the Northern Fleet, which is headed by Captain 1 rank Dakhir Urtenov. And there is no need, according to the "nuclear scientists", to unnecessarily frighten people with speeches in which there is more ignorance than logic and common sense.

"It's just that people often write about nuclear safety," one of the department's specialists told me, " who not only don't know what nuclear weapons are, but don't even turn to us for reliable information. At least in Severomorsk.

By the way, relatively recently, the regional media raised a lot of fuss about the aviation garrison: they say that the military is building a "nuclear burial ground"near the residents of the naval capital. Then the subordinates of Captain 1 rank Urtenov "fought", proving to the fighters for the " green world "that it was not a" burial ground", but a repository of fresh nuclear fuel (NF). And you need to understand that spent nuclear fuel, which has passed through nuclear reactions and still retains about 50 percent of its effectiveness, and fresh, which can be overloaded with bare hands without endangering your health, are, as comedians say, two big differences. Moreover, Americans participate in the implementation of the project, and this has a particularly beneficial effect on ordinary people. With their money, and 500 thousand dollars have already been received from the estimated 3-4 million dollars, Severomorsk residents are improving the physical protection of the storage facility, taking measures to prevent the possibility of theft of fresh nuclear weapons by terrorists or saboteurs, if any suddenly appear.

But, to be honest, it was hard to immediately believe that such a "neighborhood" does not affect the ecology of the environment surrounding the capital of the Northern Federal District Severomorsk. With these doubts, I turned to the chief radiologist of the SF, Lieutenant Colonel of the Kmitto medical service. Alexander Algerdovich said that the radiation situation in the territories and in the waters of the bases of ships and fleet units, in the sanitary protected areas of the region, surveillance zones and residential settlements is normal. That is, the dose of external radiation does not exceed the permissible one (according to the guidance document "Radiation Safety Standards (UXO)-96"), and there is no radioactive contamination. By the way, according to the chief radiologist of the SF, this is not all: the Law of the Russian Federation "On radiation safety of the population" tightened the standards of radiation safety, as a result of which the dose load by 2000 will be reduced by 2.5 times. And the navy is already ready for this.

Perhaps some readers will doubt the objectivity of the arguments and facts: they say that the military is all smeared with one world. But monitoring the level of radioactivity on the Kola Peninsula is by no means a monopoly of SF specialists. In August last year, employees of the State Geological Enterprise Ne-vskgeologiya from St. Petersburg independently of the military measured the radiation background in Murmansk, Kola and Severomorsk. The same measurements were made on the Kola Peninsula in 1993. Then, with the help of a special helicopter, an aerial gamma-spectrometric survey of the territory of the Murmansk region was carried out to determine the damage caused by the Chernobyl accident. Experts found two small contaminated areas, which fortunately do not pose a danger to people. The inspection found that the radiation situation in the region is at the level of background values. The latter, by the way, is a state standard.

So, as you can see, there is no mystery here, and there can't be. On the contrary, the Northern Fleet Command always works in close contact with the civilian authorities to protect the environment. For example, every week all information about the actual radiation situation in the fleet is sent to the regional Committee on ecology.

- Before the Duma adopted the Law "On radiation safety of the population of the Murmansk region", - told me the head of the Service of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection (RCBZ) of the Northern Fleet, Captain 1st rank Nikolai Vidasov, - a copy of the project was sent to us for revision. We also participate in the implementation of the regional target program "Creation of a unified state autonomous subsystem for monitoring the radiation situation in the Murmansk Region". Therefore, it is ridiculous to hear that, they say, the military "clamp down" on the truth, as if we are really some kind of inhumans and we have no families or children who "roam" with their parents in supposedly "contagious" garrisons.

The end of the conversation about the" nuclear image " of the Northern Fleet was put by the head of the Technical Department of the Northern Fleet, Rear Admiral Smolyakov. According to Anatoly Andreevich, the fleet's floating workshops and tankers are filled with liquid radioactive waste (LRW) by only 10 percent. In the autumn of last year, the Lotta floating technical base collected 600 tons of waste from them and delivered it to the Atomflot repair and Technological Enterprise (RTP) for processing. Onshore spent nuclear fuel (SNF) storage facilities are approximately 80 percent full. Technical bases for SNF storage in Gremikha and Andreyev Bay have been preserved. The special train, the only one in the European part of Russia, regularly runs between Murmansk and Chelyabinsk-65, delivering spent nuclear fuel for reprocessing to the Mayak production association. Of course, it costs a lot of money, which in the current economic conditions plays an important role. However, the Northern Fleet's Radiation Safety Service and the Defense Ministry's Nuclear Safety Inspectorate are closely monitoring SNF removal activities. Therefore, during the entire period of transportation of spent nuclear fuel through Murmansk, there were no cases of violation of radiation safety and contamination of the transshipment point. As for the problems of disposing of submarines withdrawn from the fleet, Rear Admiral Smolyakov said that the situation has stabilized. The program for the disposal of decommissioned submarines and their transfer to the Ministry of Atomic Energy of the Russian Federation has already been adopted, and the Russian Government has begun to allocate money for its implementation. By the way, the United States is also involved in financing the project. Last year, they signed contracts with the Snezhnogorsk ship repair plant Nerpa, Severodvinsk GMP Zvezdochka and PO Severnoye Mashinostroitelnoye Enterprise, in particular, for the supply of equipment for cutting submarines. "Therefore, according to some, there is no critical situation in the fleet," Rear Admiral Anatoly Smolyakov assured. "Everything is fine, everything is under control."

Andreeva Bay: Myths around Reality

At one time, these storage facilities became a serious "bone of contention" between environmental organizations, mainly foreign ones, and the Northern Fleet. The passion has not subsided to this day. The decision to create a coastal technical base there was made in 1958. During these decades, its storage facilities were not only filled to the brim with liquid and solid radioactive waste, but also dilapidated. In November 1982, specialists discovered a leak of water from the cooling pool in the room with spent fuel elements (fuel rods), which got into the territory adjacent to the building, in the Motovsky Bay. At that time, the Northern Fleet Command took decisive measures to contain the consequences of the accident. And in 1988, Severomorsk residents generally completed the liquidation work. But years later, the media again started talking about the ill-fated technical base. "Among the most serious incidents on the Kola Peninsula, the Andreyev Bay incident stands out, "the Washington Post reported last November. "Environmental organizations such as Belluna have warned the Russian Ministry of Energy about Andreyev Bay, demanding that emergency measures be taken to reduce the risk of an environmental disaster." What is the real concern of Western and Russian experts in the problem of Andreev's Lip?

The Chairman of the State Committee for Environmental Protection of the Murmansk Region, Ivan Vishnyakov, is sure that " the complete safety of this facility is still far away." The opinion of the chief specialist of the All-Russian Research and Design Institute of Energy Technology (VNIPIET)is also interesting in this regard Vyacheslav Perovsky, a former submarine officer, who claims that Andreev Bay first needs a thorough radioecological examination. After that, it will cease to be a scarecrow for the layman and an object for myths and fabrications. According to him, almost 80 percent of the structures of the technical base have self-collapsed from lack of demand and do not carry any radiation. The current SNF storage facility (90 spent reactor zones), built in 1983-1986 according to a temporary scheme, for all its structural antediluvian state, still demonstrates amazing survivability and stability, even in hypothetical accidents. There is, of course, a fear that radioactivity will enter the ground water, but instead of shouting about a catastrophe, it is necessary to update the roof, cut control wells, equip an insurance collector - in fact, a penny cost. And one last thing. A significant proportion of stored RW has decreased its activity due to natural decay, and their isolation from the external environment is not a super-task. Therefore, Andreev's lip is not so terrible as it is "painted". But in general, Vyacheslav Perovsky believes, plans to free the Andreevsky storage facilities from nuclear fuel without building a new special facility nearby are quackery, utopia. And this should not be the concern of the Northern Fleet alone.

The Governor of the Murmansk Region, Yuri Evdokimov, provides serious support to the North Sea residents in finding ways to solve this problem. With his direct participation, a number of working meetings of various Russian ministries and departments have already been held, which can help in the implementation of the project to create a specialized state-owned enterprise for the storage and processing of radioactive waste on Andreev Bay. But you can't count on financial revenues from the federal budget. The state treasury is barely enough to manage to patch up numerous social gaps. And the regional administration is forced to look for additional financial sources. Fortunately, the United States, Norway, Finland and fourteen states of the European Community are already providing assistance in solving the environmental problems of the Kola Peninsula. In particular, under a bilateral agreement between the Russian side and the office of the Governor of Finnmark Province, seven million Norwegian kroner was allocated for priority work on the removal of contaminated groundwater on Andreyev Bay. Full-scale project implementation activities will begin in May this year, and the Norwegians will never visit the technical base. And the Russians will "report" to investors with the help of captured photographic materials.

However, today all foreign investments (both for the implementation of the project in Andreeva Bay, and others) go through Moscow. This, according to the chairman of the Committee on Conversion, Nuclear and Radiation Safety of the Murmansk Region administration Alexander Ruzankin, will require additional time and make it difficult to control finances. Meanwhile, investors are strongly expressing their wish that the money they allocate for the environment should go directly to the region. Moreover, it is impossible to analyze the efficiency of using investments: there are too many expenditure items in each project. So Murmansk residents are afraid that the long passage of foreign investment through numerous departmental corridors may result in an elementary drain of financial resources. And regional specialists guarantee the targeted use of money: photo reports will allow Norwegians to come to the region less often at the expense of funds allocated for the project, and our experts, as Alexander Ruzankin said, prefer to stay closer to the problem, which has not been lessened in the West for a decade.

So whose radiation is in the seas?

Sometimes it seems that the radioactive "stuffing" of the Kola Peninsula is almost the only and most global threat to the ecology of not only Scandinavian, but also other European countries. The territory of the Murmansk Region is compared to a "nuclear fuel depot" on the pages of the Washington Post. But what is more important in this association - common sense and facts, or still logically unfounded emotions, the desire to focus the attention of the world community on our problems by all means and means, in order to remove their environmental troubles from the field of view of the broad masses?

Now it is no secret that from the first years of the development of the nuclear industry, radioactive waste was simply dumped into the sea. Until the 1980s, this was the most common method of RW isolation. The United States was the first country to start dumping radioactive waste at sea in 1946. Three years later, the United Kingdom followed the American example. 1955 - Japan. It was only in ' 59 that the first discharge of radioactive waste into the sea was made by the USSR. Therefore, in my opinion, it is not worth bothering to calculate to prove the obvious thing: the" contribution " of highly developed world powers to ocean pollution is no less than ours. According to the general estimates of Western scientists, only during the combined operations of Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Switzerland, France and Germany, radioactive waste with a total activity of more than 1 million curies was dumped into the Atlantic Ocean.

This is one aspect of the problem. About others-in one of the next issues of the magazine.

Lieutenant Commander Sergey Vasiliev, permanent correspondent of the Northern Fleet magazine" Orientir"

(The ending follows)

Permanent link to this publication: