The Terrifying History of Nuclear Submarine Graveyard

for decades the soviet union used the desolate kerasee as their dumping grounds for nuclear waste thousands of tons of nuclear material equal to nearly six and a half times the radiation released at hiroshima went into the ocean the underwater nuclear junkyard includes at least 14 unwanted reactors and an entire crippled submarine that the soviets deemed proper decommissioning too dangerous and expensive today this corner cutting haunts the russians a rotting submarine reactor fed by an endless supply of ocean water might re-achieve critically belching out a boiling cloud of radioactivity that could infect local seafood populations spoil bountiful fishing grounds and contaminate a local oil exploration frontier news outlets have found more dire terms to interpret the issue the bbc raised concerns of a nuclear chain reaction in 2013 while the guardian described the situation as an environmental disaster waiting to happen nearly everyone agrees that the kera is on the verge of an uncontrolled nuclear event but retrieving a string of long-lost nuclear time bombs is proving to be a daunting challenge nuclear submarines have a short life span considering their sheer expense and complexity after roughly 20 to 30 years degradation coupled with leaps and technology render old nuclear submarines obsolete first decades of accumulated corrosion and stress limit the safe dive depth of veteran boats sound isolation mounts degrade bearings wear down and rotating components of machinery fall out of balance leading to a louder noise signature that can be more easily tracked by the enemy at the same time newer vessels incorporate the latest advances in power plant technology metallurgy hole shape low friction coatings and propeller design making for faster quieter deeper diving in more deadly undersea combat vessels technology advances and proliferation will make the submarine's stealth endurance and mobility even more important attributes in the future says the 1998 defense science board task force report in combat older subs won't cut it the soviet union in russia built the world's largest nuclear-powered navy in the second half of the 20th century crafting more atom-powered subs than all other nations combined at its military height in the mid-1990s russia boasted 245 nuclear-powered subs 180 of which were equipped with dual reactors and 91 of which sailed with a dozen or more long-range ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads the soviet union's first nuclear-powered submarine was the k-3 the first of the nato code named november class the soviets called them the whale class the k-3 prototype sailed for the first time using nuclear power on july 4th 1958 all but one of the 14 november class vessels cruised with dual vma water cooled nuclear reactors with the final sub the experimental k27 powered by a pair of vt1 liquid metal cooled reactors the november-class vessels were top of the line attack submarines designed to locate surface vessels and opposing submarines using a powerful mg 200 sonar system once in range novembers would strike with ship killing 533 millimeter set 65 or 5365k torpedoes each carrying up to 300 kilograms of hull shattering explosives eight hotel class submarines built to house and launch a complement of ballistic missiles joined the soviet fleet between 1959 and 1962 while novembers were the ussr's hunters the hotel class subs were meant to stay undetected using a pair of pressurized water-cooled reactors to cruise within striking distance of potential targets once enemy military bases or civilian population centers were in range a hotel-class sub could unleash a barrage of r-13 or r-21 nuclear missiles each of the latter with a blast yield of 800 kilotons a strike of this magnitude over midtown manhattan would probably kill over 2 million people according to the bulletin of atomic scientists fatalities would extend to parts of queens brooklyn and sections of new jersey west of the hudson echo classed soviet nuclear submarines took to the seas in 1960 these house twin water-cooled reactors and carried conventional and nuclear-tipped cruise missiles along with a complement of torpedoes the soviets built five echo ones equipped with six p5 turbojet-powered cruise missiles to hit targets on land then launched 29 echo 2s specifically equipped with anti-shipping missiles meant to neutralize american aircraft carriers a majority of the soviet's nuclear submarine classes operated from the arctic-based northern fleet headquartered in the northwestern port city of murmunsk the northern fleet bases are roughly 900 kilometers west of the cara sea dumping grounds a second slightly smaller hub of soviet submarine power was the pacific fleet based in and around vladivostok on russia's east coast above north korea additional soviet-era submarines sailed from bases in the baltic and black seas for decades these pioneering soviet submarine classes served around the world awaiting the moment when the cold war would turn hot that moment never came by the mid-1980s the boats were reaching the end of their useful lifespan starting in 1987 the oldest echoes left the fleet for decommissioning and november class attacked submarines followed in 1988 but the disposal of these submarines posed more problems than previous conventional vessels before crews could chop the vessels apart the subs reactors and associated radioactive materials had to be removed and the soviets didn't always do this properly mothballed nuclear submarines posed the potential for disaster even before scrapping begins in october of 1995 12 decommissioned soviet subs awaited disposal in murmansk each with fuel cells reactors and nuclear waste still aboard when the cash-strapped russian military didn't pay the base's electric bills for months the local power company shut off power to the base leaving the line of submarines at risk of meltdown military staffers had to persuade plant workers to restore power by threatening them at gunpoint the scrapping process starts with extracting the vessel's spent nuclear fuel from the reactor core the danger is immediate in 1985 an explosion during the defueling of a victor class submarine killed 10 workers and spewed radioactive material into the air and sea specially trained teams must separate the reactor fuel rods from the subs reactor core then seal the rods in steel casks for transport and storage at least they seal the rods when adequate transport and storage is available the soviets had just five rail cars capable of safely transporting radioactive cargo and their storage locations varied widely in size and suitability workers at the shipyard then remove salvageable equipment from the submarine and disassemble the vessel's conventional and nuclear weapon systems crews must extract and isolate the nuclear warheads from the weapons before digging deeper into the launch compartment to scrap the missile's fuel systems and engines when it is time to dispose of the vessel's reactors crews cut vertical slices into the hull of the submarine and chop out the single or double reactor compartment along with an additional compartment for and aft in a single huge cylinder shaped chunk once sealed the cylinder can float on its own for several months even years before it is lifted onto a barge and sent to a long-term storage facility but during the cold war nuclear storage in soviet russia usually meant a deep sea dump job at least 14 reactors from bygone vessels of the northern fleet were discarded into the kara sea sometimes the soviets skipped the defueling step beforehand ditching the reactors with their highly radioactive fuel rods still intact according to the bellona the northern fleet also jettisoned 17 000 containers of hazardous nuclear material and deliberately sunk 19 vessels packed with radioactive waste along with 735 contaminated pieces of heavy machinery more low-level liquid waste was poured directly into the icy waters one of the most egregious and dangerous disposal capers was that of the k-27 the experimental november class submarine with two liquid metal-cooled reactors while at sea in 1968 one reactor above the k27 suffered a leak and partial meltdown radiation exposure killed nine crewmen and sickened 83 more the k-27 limped back to port but after years of analysis naval crews deemed it impossible to save in 1981 tugs towed the k27 into the cara and scuttled the hull sending everything fuel reactors and other waste to the bottom experts suggest safely sinking nuclear material to at least 3 000 meters the k-27 lies at 50 meters in 2012 a joint norwegian russian inspection of the k-27 wreck revealed little deterioration but naval experts think the sub might only stay intact until 2032 another submarine is perhaps a bigger risk for the radioactive leak k159 a november class suffered a radioactive discharge accident in 1965 but served until 1989 after languishing in storage for 14 years a 2003 storm ripped k-159 from its pontoons during a transport operation and the battered hulk plunged to the floor of the barents sea killing nine crewmen the wreck lies at a depth of around 250 meters most likely with its fueled and unsealed reactors open to the elements russia has announced plans to raise the k27 and the k-159 and four other dangerous reactor compartments discarded in the arctic as of march 2020 russian authorities estimate the cost of the recovery effort will be approximately 330 million dollars the first target is k159 but lifting the sunken sub back to the surface will take a specially built recovery vessel one that does not yet exist design and construction of that ship is slated to begin in 2021 to be finished by the end of 2026 now in order to avoid an underwater chernobyl the russians are beginning a terrifying race against the relentless progression of decay we hope you liked the video and we want to know which was your favorite and don't forget to give this video a thumbs up and hit the subscribe button and the bell down below if you want to make sure you never miss out on important new information like this on the 9th of february 1945 the german submarine u864 was torpedoed by the british sub a movement on and around the wreck could therefore trigger landslides [Music]

Channel: ETERN

Views: 860,692

Keywords: submarine, submarines, navy, aircraft, aircraft carrier, nuclear submarine, military, military aircraft, russian army, usa, submarine us, warships, world of warships, unsinkable boat, graveyard, nuclear, nuclear weapons, army, us army, soviets, soviet union, ussr

Id: _T-TCLZeKgE

Length: 12min 2sec (722 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 12 2021