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In every nuclear submarine lecture, I talk about reactor disposal in temporary and long term storage.  This is what that looks like. 

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Anonymous

Fascinating stuff, but then I think civilian reactor rods are stored in a similair matter. I just cannot get rid of the thought that these might start rusting due to neglect.

Robert Sanges

Does anybody know what that red vehicle is? Looks pretty cool to me. I'd like to know more about it. Appears each wheel can pivot right on its centerline.

Anonymous

Robert, I wondered the same. The obvious thought is some kind of fire appliance but it sure doesn't look like any fire engine I've ever seen. Second though it was maybe some kind of tug for moving the containers around on the tracks we can see. I'm curious to know if anyone knows what it actually is.

Anonymous

To me, it looks like the red vehicle is a mobile power source for the blue sled, see the arm for managing the large cables/hoses going to the sled? Either electric/hydraulic. That's my guess.

Anonymous

https://goo.gl/maps/ExSszZcpXJP94akY8 - Google Maps link to Sadya-Guba in Murmansk Oblast where one of these storage facilities is located.. there's loads of them there. I think there is at least another one somewhere else, Kamchatka?

Antarctican

When I was aboard the USS Nimitz and Berthed at PSNS Bremerton, I could watch the de-commissioning process of submarines in a dry dock next to our ship. The boat was sectioned into three pieces, the reactor compartment was offset from the remaining Bow and Stern sections for a period of time. The reactor compartment was then removed from the dry dock and placed on a barge and secured. The remaining Bow and Stern Sections were then moved together and welded to create a foreshortened boat. Eventually the reactor compartment was towed off from the shipyard and the boat was tied up with a number of similar boats on a pier.

Anonymous

The US equivalent storage is here https://goo.gl/maps/LPZCnAhfnFCQLJtW6 and the identity of some compartments are shown here http://navsource.org/archives/08/100/0857524.jpg

Anonymous

Thats interesting, I wonder why they didn't dispose of the bow and stern as scrap?

Anonymous

Usually non nuclear remains are scrapped, at least in the US Ship/Submarine Recycling Program (SRP)

Anonymous

Maybe the bow and stern are welded together so that the non-reactor parts of the boat can float and be towed around or tied up to a pier until they can be scrapped?

Anonymous

That looks like some nice welding and painting work on the red cylinders.