Introduction According to Russian Navy spokesmen,the first was K-10, an 'Echo I' SSN, thesecond was a 'November' SSN, and thethird was a 'Yankee' SSBN. At least twoother 'Yankee' SSBNs were beingscrapped in 1992-93. Two partiallydismantled 'Yankee' SSBNs werevisible in the yard area in the autumn of1993.

.The Vostok plant, located next to theZvezda plant, finished and fitted outnuclear-powered submarinesconstructed at the Komsomolsk-na-Amure shipyard. With submarineproduction halted at Komsomolsk-na-Amure, the Vostok plant has beenforced to undergo defence conversionand is now involved in a number ofcommercial enterprises, includingexport of lumber.

Like the Soviet Navy before it, theRussian Navy keeps one-third of itsnuclear-powered submarines -some45-50 boats -in the Far East.' Duringthe Cold War, the precise location andfunction of the Soviet Pacific Fleet'snuclear-powered submarine bases andfacilities were kept secret. Now, acombination of new official informationprovided by the former Soviet Union,Soviet/Russian press accounts, sitevisits, and recently declassified US NavalIntelligence estimates from the 1950sallow for the first time a detailed accountto be made of these nuclear submarinefacilities! This article integrates the newdata to provide a guide to nuclearsubmarine bases and support facilities inthe Russian Pacific Fleet.

From south to north, facilities forsupporting nuclear-powered submarinesin the Russian Far East are found in thePrimorskyand Khabarovsk Krays and onthe Kamchatka peninsula. Over half arelocated near Vladivostok, in and aroundthe Shkotovo region. The other importantfacilities are concentrated nearPetropavlovsk.

60 000 people. located on the west sideof the Shkotovo peninsula on UssuryiskyiBay, some 35 km east of Vladivostok.Several submarine service and nuclear-waste transport ships are based here:.At least two Vala class special tankers-TNT -5 and TNT -27 -which are usedfor the dumping of low-level liquid andsolid radioactive waste at sea."

.At least two PM-124 class radiologicalrepair ships -PM-80 and PM-133 -which are used for the offloading andonloading of fresh or spent nuclear fuelto and from submarines at the Zvezdaplant." After their holds are full, thespent fuel is taken to Installation 927-111(see below).

.One Pinega class nuclear submarinesupport ship -the Pinega -that isused for the transport of liquidradioactive wastes.s These or similarships also circulate among, or arefound at, other nuclear facilities in theregion.

Bolshoi Kamen is also the site of twoplants -Zvezda and Vostok -whichservice nuclear-powered submarines:"

.The Zvezda shipyard is currently themost important of the two plants. It isresponsible for the refuelling, repairingand decommissioning of nuclear-powered submarines.7 Several nuclear-powered submarines have alreadybeen scrapped at the Zvezda plant,and more are being worked on.

.The Chazhma Ship Repair Facility islocated on the south side of ChazhmaBay near the settlements of Dunai(Shkotovo-22) and Temp, some 45 kmsoutheast of Vladivostok on the east sideof the Shkotovo peninsula. It is under theresponsibility of Military Division 63971.Nuclear-powered submarines arerefuelled and repaired at the facility. Oneof the Soviet Navy's worst nuclearsubmarine disasters occurred herewhen, on 10 August 1985, an 'Echo II'SSGN's reactor exploded at the end of arefuelling operation, contaminating the

Vladivostok and it Environs

.Bolshoi Kamen is a small city of some

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/aclass 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)

EUROPE -April 1994 ~ANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW 167

Vladivostok. It houses ballistic missileand other nuclear-powered submarines.According to START data, as ofSeptember 1990, nine SSBNs -three'Yankee I' SSBNs and six 'Delta I' SSBNs-are based here. However, accordingto the Pacific Fleet press officer, Captain1st Rank Victor Ryzhkov, as of autumn1992, these older nuclear-poweredsubmarines are awaiting retirement. 10

Decommissioned submarines, includingthree Pacific Fleet submarines which hadbeen seriously damaged followingnuclear accidents, as well as possiblysealed reactor compartments fromscrapped nuclear submarines, are alsokept here.

surrounding land and water.8.Installation 927-111 is a permanentnuclear waste storage site, located at thesoutheastern tip of the Shkotovopeninsula on Cape Maidelya, severalkilometres south of Dunaj. Highlyradioactive waste from nuclear-poweredsubmarines such as ion-resin exchangerslurries and low-level waste aretransported to the facility by sea. Thespent naval reactor fuel is held here priorto shipment to Chelyabinsk in the centralUrals region for reprocessing. The othermaterials are kept on site.9.Pavlovsk is a major nuclear-poweredsubmarine base on the eastern edge ofStrelok Bay some 65 km southeast of

.Vladimir Bay, some 300 kmeast-northeast of Vladivostok and north ofOlga, contains a small submarine base.As early as 1957, US Naval Intelligencenoted that Vladimir Bay had an 'excellentnatural harbour' and contained a smallsubmarine base. One estimatecommented, 'Vladimir Bay is relativelyundeveloped and lacks adequate railand road access. That part of theharbour used by submarines isessentially ice free, and the harbour hassignificant development potential as asubmarine base.'"

The nuclear-powered submarinefacility is reportedly located at thenorthern end of the bay, near the towns

,

168 JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW April 1994 -EUROPE

Zavety IIYi'~h

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Decommissioned

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-EUROPE

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170 JANE'S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW April 1994 -EUROPE

.-.

Decommissioned submarines, both nuclear and diesel, in Zavety lIyicha naval base near Sovetskaya Gavan. (Photograph: J Handler)

generation nuclear-powered submarines-two 'November' and two 'Echo I'SSNs, reportedly built in 1959, 1960,1962 and 1963 -began to operate fromZavety Ilyicha for half of the year duringthe ice-free months.

In 1990, all four submarines wereretired. Demonstrations by localresidents in the summer of 1990 led thePacific Fleet to forego plans to offloadfuel from decommissioned submarines inthe bay and store the hulls at the base.Despite promises by the Pacific Fleet toremove the submarines at a rate of oneper year starting in 1991, the first wasonly taken away in October 1993.

Petropavlovsk across Avachinskaya Bayon the small Krasheninnikova peninsula.'4It is on the southern edge of thepeninsula. on the northern side ofKrasheninnikova Bay.'5 Nuclear-poweredsubmarines have reportedly operatedfrom here since at least the mid-1960s.According to START data, as ofSeptember 1990, 15 SSBNs -three'Yankee I' SSBNs, three 'Delta I' SSBNs,and nine 'Delta III' SSBNs -were basedhere. Other nuclear-powered submarinesoperate from the base as well.'6

.Westwards across KrasheninnikovaBay from Rybachiy is the Gornyak(Miner) shipyard. located between thetwo towns of Primorskiy (Petropavlovsk-50) to the north and Primorskoe(Petropavlovsk-53) to the south.Refuellings and repairs of nuclear-powered submarines are conducted atthis facility.

Petropavlovsk and its Environs

of Rakushka and Vesely Yar. A fewnuclear-powered submarines arethought to still operate from here.Decommissioned nuclear-poweredsubmarines may also be in the harbour.In 1990, protests by local residents ledthe Pacific Fleet to abandon plans tooffload spent nuclear fuel fromsubmarines in Vladimir Bay.

.Further north of Vladimir Bay, in theKhabarovsk Kray, is the small town ofZavety Ilyicha. It is located on PostovayaBay between the seaports of Vanino andSovetskaya Gavan. The town hasbecome a holding area fordecommissioned nuclear-poweredsubmarines, as well as conventionalsubmarines and surface vessels.'2

Zavety lIyicha used to contain a smalloperational nuclear submarine base.'3 Inthe early 1980s, the navy completedconstruction of the facilities for nuclear-powered submarines. In 1982, four first-

.On the Kamchatka peninsula.Rybachiy is a major nuclear submarinebase located some 15 km southwest of

Empty containers for the temporary storage and transport of nuclear spent fuel from submarines. They measure 4.9 m x 1.9 m and weigh40000 kg when loaded. At this weight, they are too heavy to be transported by existing road and rail systems, and so are stacked atInstallation 927-111. (Photograph: J Handler)

.A nuclear-waste facility for the storageof high-level nuclear waste, similar toInstallation 927-111 on the tip of theShkotovo peninsula, is located to thenorth of the shipyard near the town ofPrimorskiy. Two 'raw burial grounds' forradioactive waste are located here, atleast one of which may be leaking.'7

Overview

RIA, 'Pacific Fleet Get New Nuclear Sub',Vladivostok News,S October 1993. Thus,the actual number of operational nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific Fleetmay be 25-30 boats.

2. Soviet/Russian official information isprovided in the annexes to START whichlist, among other things, the nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines andtheir bases and elimination facilities inRussia and the USA current as of 1September 1990. For past Westerndescriptions of some of these facilitiessee: 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, (LynneRienner Publishers: Boulder, CO, 1990),Chapter 4, 'Base Infrastructure in theNorthwestern Pacific'.

3. These ships can store several cores' worthof nuclear fuel, reportedly in two large aftcompartments, ibid.

4. The Pinega was constructed to processand condense liquic;j radioactive waste.The equipment has not functioned asanticipated, however, and now there istrouble keeping adequately trained sailorsfor the complex equipment on board. ThePacific Fleet currently uses it just as aliquid radioactive waste tanker.

5. There are two other defence related plantsin Bolshoi Kamen: Krasny Vympel and thePacific Enterprise Era. Round Table of theUtro Rossii, 'Bolshoi Kamen: OnlyTogether, Only Optimistically', Utro Rossii(Vladivostok), 7 October 1993. One maybe associated with the reported nuclearwaste-handling facility located on thesmall peninsula which forms the northwestside of Bolshoi Kamen Bay.

6. Under START, the Zvezda plant is adesignated 'SLBM launcher conversion orelimination facility'; Annex B, 'SLBMs andSLBM Launchers' to the 'Memorandum ofUnderstanding on the Establishment of theData Base Relating to the Treaty Betweenthe United States of America and theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics on theReduction and Limitation of StrategicOffensive Arms', US Department of State,Bureau of Public Affairs, DispatchSupplement: START Treaty Between theUnited States of America and the Union ofSoviet Socialist Republics on theReduction and Limitation of StrategicOffensive Arms, signed Moscow 31 July1991, Vol 2, Supplement No 5, October1991, p 188.

7. The TNT -5 is too decrepit to go to sea anymore. 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 inthe Pacific Fleet; 'Close Up Gendai'broadcast on nuclear waste disposal atsea by the Russian Navy, NHK TV (Tokyo),7 April 1993.

8. Another nuclear submarine related 'facility'is located about 500 m across from theship repair facility on the north side ofChazhma Bay near the settlement ofRazbojnik. Reactor compartments from

Interestingly, several naval basesregularly mentioned as the centre ofPacific Fleet operations do not housenuclear-powered submarines.Vladivostok and Petropavlovsk containseveral major surface ship facilities andshipyards in the small bays within theircity limits; the Pacific Fleet headquartersand at least two diesel-poweredsubmarine bases are also located inVladivostok. There are no nuclearsubmarine shipyards or bases within thecities, however.

As for the two nuclear-powered surfaceships in the Pacific Fleet -the cruiserFrunze and the Kapusta classrange/intelligence ship SSV-33 -theyare based in Abrek Bay, a small bay atthe northern end of Strelok Bay, north ofthe Chazhma Bay Ship Repair Facility.

Notes and References

decommissioned submarines scrapped atBolshoi Kamen are being stored afloathere. Six were visible in the autumn of1993.

9. Between Installation 927-111 and the townof Dunai is Koniushkovo Bay. Although thenaval facilities here are half abandoned.there are two piers that are stillperiodically used by nuclear-poweredsubmarines and their support ships aswell as other small surface vessels. Also,the railhead closest to Installation 927-111 islocated here.

10. Handler J, ibid.11. US Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence,

'Soviet Submarine Bases', ONIReview, Vol12, No 8, September 1957, p 353.

12. Almost a dozen diesel-powered

submarines, several surface ships and,reportedly, the Pacific Fleet aircraftcarriers Minsk and Novorossiysk are alsotied up in Postovaya Bay as of autumn1993.

13. As early as 1958, Postovaya Bay wasidentified as containing a diesel-submarine base by US Naval Intelligence;US Navy, Office of Naval Intelligence, 'TheExpansion of Soviet Far East Ports (U)',ONI Review, Vol 17, No 6, June 1962,p 273. However, another intelligenceestimate noted that, although containingone of the best natural harbours in theregion, the effectiveness of SovetskayaGavan area as 'a submarine base isdiminished by ice conditions that are moresevere than at any of the principal Sovietbases in the Far East'; US Navy, Office ofNaval Intelligence, 'Soviet SubmarineBases,' ONI Review, Vol 12, No 8,September 1957, p 352.

14. Rybachiy may also be known as

Lakhtazhny.15. Some Western analyses refer to

Krasheninnikova Bay as Tar'ya Bay: seeUS Defense Mapping Agency, SailingDirections For the East Coast of the SovietUnion, 3rd Edition, 1986, p 86, and Polmar

N,ibid,p419.16. This number may be smaller now, as

'Yankee' and 'Delta I' SSBNs are beingretired.

17. Volenyts G, 'Everything is Cracking, Eventhe Burials', Komsomolskaya Pravda, 29August 1991; Postfactum, 'Leak atKamchatka Radioactive Waste BurialGround,' 6 December 1991, contained inBBC Summary of World Broadcasts,SUN/0209 A/23, 13 December 1991.There may also be eight trenches fornuclear waste at the facility.

Jane's Fighting Ships 1993-1994estimates 49 nuclear-powered submarinesare currently operational in the PacificFleet, including 21 SSBNs, 10 SSGNs and18 SSNs. The International Institute forStrategic Studies' (IISS) Military Balance1993-1994 lists 46 operational nuclear-powered submarines in the Pacific Fleet,including 20 SSBNs, nine SSGNs and 17SSNs. The numbers of operationalsubmarines may be lower, however. As of1992, there were some 20 SSBNs and 20SSN/SSGNs in the Pacific Fleet accordingto the Russian Pacific Fleet press officer,Captain 1st Rank Victor Ryzhkov. Thirty-five submarines had been retired. SeeHandler J, 'Trip Report: Greenpeace Visitto Moscow and Russian Far East July -

November 1992: Russian Navy NuclearSubmarine Safety, Construction, DefenseConversion, Decommissioning, andNuclear Waste Disposal Problems',(Greenpeace, Washington, DC), 15February 1993. As of 1 October 1993, thenumber had grown to 47 retired nuclear-powered submarines according to aPacific Fleet spokesman; INTERFAX(Moscow), 'Another Dumping Into the Seaof Japan Possible', 22 October 1993. Atleast one and perhaps two nuclear-powered submarines have beentransferred from the Northern to the PacificFleet since 1991. The most recent transfer,reportedly a 'Oscar II', was completed inSeptember 1993; ITAR-TASS, 'TheKasatka Is Not Afraid of Ice', KrasnoeZnamia (Vladivostok), 16 September 1993;

Errata:In the last article by this author (see JIR, Vol 5,No 12. pp 551-556), there were a number ofeditorial errors. Please amend Viyzhny(pp 551, 553, 556) to Vyuzhny; Buchma KumBay (pp 552, 554, 555) to Kut Bay;Ekamerununskaya Gavan (p 556) toEkaterininskaya Gavan; and Polyarny (p 556-Note 1) to Rosta.

Joshua Handler is a Researcher with aninternational environmental organisation.