2/6/12 Home / Official Documents / G-8 Global Partnership www PGS Printer Friendly Page   Eighth Annual International Nuclear Materials Policy Forum September 25-28, 2001 Japan's Cooperation in the Submarine Dismantlement on the Pacific Coast Technical Secretariat of the Japan-Russia Committee for Co-operation on Reducing Nuclear Weapons Background The Japanese aims for the elimination of nuclear weapons in the Far East Russia are focusing on three categories. First, the disposal of radioactive liquid waste being produced as a result of the dismantling of nuclear submarines which have already been taken out of active service. Second, the dismantling of General Purpose Nuclear Submarines (known as SSNs), which do not carry missiles. Third, the improvement of related infrastructure, such as the unloading facilities and the transport of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), which is mainly derived from the dismantling process. Altogether, seven projects have been studied on behalf of the Russian Federation, all of which will be financed by grants from Japan, which are itself a good-will gesture and a gift of the Japanese taxpayer. The source of funding for this Japanese assistance to the Russian Federation is in the form of two donations committed by the Japanese Government. The first commitment was announced by the then Prime Minister Miyazawa on the occasion of the G7 Joint Ministerial Meeting held in Tokyo April 1993, providing $100 million in the form of a grant aid package for the purpose of dismantling nuclear weapons in the former Soviet Union. At the same time, and in parallel, other aid programs were also announced. They were in the form of humanitarian aid, technology assistance or transfer, and personnel exchange programs to assist post-Perestroika Russia. In June 1999, at the Summit meeting in Cologne, a second grant aid package was pledged by the then, and late, Japanese Prime Minister Obuchi, providing assistance for additional projects taking the total value to $200 Million. These actions are motivated by the political intention of Japan to participate fully in international co-operation towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Out of the total fund, almost 70% of the pledged value of around $200 million has been allocated to the Russian Federation. Framework In order to provide a legal framework for this co-operation, within which the aid programmes can be administered, a bilateral Framework Agreement was drawn up with Russia in 1993. There were similar agreements drawn up with Belarus, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. It was under this Framework Agreement that an inter-governmental Committee was established, providing for a Governing Council and a Technical Secretariat. The Governing Council is composed of representatives from the Japanese and Russian Governments. This Governing Council ultimately decides on the feasibility and priority of selected projects. The Technical Secretariat is entrusted with the management of the funds and implementation of the selected projects. The task before the Technical Secretariat is considerable, as it is required to remain as small a body as possible. It has therefore been necessary for the Technical Secretariat to appoint an agent who is required to take over the many tasks associated with implementing the programmes. This task includes the recruitment of specialist engineers and technical consultants. All feasibility study and procurement activity is carried out on the basis of open, public, tenders in order to ensure complete transparency of all procurement procedures. Projects undertaken In the case of the Russian Federation, a number of projects have been discussed and studied, but due to frequent changes in policy, only one project has been implemented to date, that of the construction of a Barge Mounted Low Level Liquid Waste Treatment Plant. For example, deliberations were carried out a plan to construct storage facilities at Tomsk. The plan was cancelled as a result of a reactor accident, which created strong opposition amongst the local population. The second plan, to participate in construction work at Mayak, also bore no fruit. In addition, the supply of a missile fuel (nitrogen peroxide) disposal facility was discussed, again with no agreement. A plan to supply new containers for the transport of nuclear warheads derived from SLBMs and ICBMs was dropped because the United States of America are supplying the same type of container, and which is deemed to be sufficient to cover Russian requirements. Projects now listed in the schedule and currently in progress are the supply of emergency response equipment and the delivery of a floating facility for disposing of liquid radioactive waste. The former has a legal problem due to a restriction limiting access to the location where this emergency response equipment is to be stored. The latter is the construction of a new floating facility to dispose of low-level liquid radioactive waste derived from the deactivation and dismantling of Russian nuclear submarines. This barge mounted treatment plant named "Suzuran" or "Landysh", meaning " Lily of the Valley", will be anchored in Bolshoi Kamen Bay located in the vicinity of Vladivostok in the Russian Far East. The designed throughput of the facility is 7,000 cubic meters per year. Its main purpose is to treat radioactive liquid from all types of decommissioned submarines, and this includes the strategic submarines which are being dismantled with funding under the United States CTR programme. This demonstrates that there is already a good level of co-operation between Japan, Russia and the United States, in the Far East. The construction of the facility is now complete. After the successful completion of active commissioning, an Operating License has been issued by the Russian Gosatomnadzor, in addition to a Waste Package Certificate which will permit the offloading of the cemented waste in drums for transportation to, initially, a temporary storage facility, then to long-term storage. At present, we are waiting for the issue of Regulatory approval to permit the discharge of purified liquid waste. The second category covered by this particular grant aid is the "Dismantling of General-Purpose Submarines". Of the approximately 150 nuclear submarines due for dismantling in Russia, some 50 are expected to be dismantled by the Zvezda Shipyard in the Far East. Japan will again play a leading role in assisting Russia in reducing this nuclear threat. A Japanese-funded study on the dismantling of Victor Class general-purpose submarines has recently been carried out. These submarines, because of their age, require special handling, unloading and dismantling facilities. This year, as a follow-on from the study, the Japanese Government intends to fund the dismantlement of a general-purpose nuclear submarine at the Zvezda shipyard. The project has been postponed because priority has been given to the dismantling of strategic nuclear submarines (SSBN's) funded by the American programme, which is expected to be completed within a couple of years. The Zvezda shipyard currently has capacity to dismantle approximately four submarines per year. The Japanese grant aid will facilitate the dismantling of further submarines, once agreement is reached between the two Governments. In the third category of projects, which covers the associated field for facilitating the dismantlement of submarines, provides for the provision of specialised unloading facility within the compound of the Zvezda shipyard, and the reconstruction of the 27km railway line between Bolshoi Kamen and Smolyaninovo, linking with a branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway are also programmed. The necessary project feasibility study on the unloading facility has been completed and the report is now in the hands of the Russian Government. With the implementation of this project, in the Building #103, the older generation of Victors can be de-fuelled in a safe, hazard-free, environment. The reconstruction of the railway line will enable the transportation of SNF casks to long-term storage facilities, by linking it to the Trans-Siberian Railway, and complement a new 2.4km line constructed between Bolshoi Kamen station and new SNF unloading and temporary storage facilities, all provided under the American CTR programme. Conclusion A tremendous amount of time and energy is required to complete each project. In reality, practice is very different to the theory. The exchange of expertise and experience between donor countries is a necessary prerequisite if the use of available funds is to be optimized and duplication is to be avoided. Pro-active co-operation on the recipient's side is also a pre-requisite for the achievement of these targets. Despite all the difficulties, however, Japan, as a non-nuclear-weapon state and as one of countries which has suffered a nuclear tragedy, has an earnest desire to contribute to the realization of a world free from nuclear weapons.

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