In mid-April I attended the Nuclear National Dialogue in Moscow, a conference sponsored by Green Cross, Global Green, Rosatom, and others.
I have few good details to report, but there was one presentation that may be interesting to folks who follow nuclear submarine dismantlement work in Russia and contributions of the Global Partnership to this effort. The presentation was by a Rosatom official in the department which is responsible for carrying out agreements and programs to take nuclear and radiological assets out of operation.
This chart shows the amounts allocated, contracted and spent by various Global Partnership countries on submarine dismantlement. I’ve added some English in red. Title: International Aid Resources for Addressing the Problem of the Disposition of Atomic Submarines (as of January 1, 2007) Column headings, left to right, are: Announced Resources in $ millions, (sub-columns: Total for Global Partnership; Total for Atomic Submarine Disposition); Sum of Contracts on Atomic Submarines signed since July 2002, in $ millions; Size of Resources Recieved for Disposition of Atomic Submarines, in $ millions.
The point being made, if you note the bottom of the chart, is that Russia itself has spent considerable funds on dealing with submarine dismantlement. (European style – the comma is a dot.)
To me this chart seems misleading and confusing, as it is unclear as to what kind of projects are counted out of the various submarine related activities (dismantlement, shipyard improvement, etc), particularly on the Russian side. The donor countries provide information on which projects they fund. Perhaps this makes a lot more sense to you submarine specialists out there.
Everyone else, enjoy this photo of a nuclear sub being towed for disposition. Too bad there isn’t a photo of the crane that got it up there.
