Yet the Russians always seemed to have the upper hand. For decades they played hide and seek with their American counterparts as the two sides sought to outdo each other in stealth and firepower. While not as dangerous as the used uranium at their cores, the submarine reactor compartments were still highly radioactive, and required storage at Sayda Bay a former military facility near Murmansk, which was retrofitted to keep them safe.Īnd now the last three of those compartments will finally be taken off the water and put onshore for storage by the end of next year, the semi-official Russian newspaper Izvestiya reports this week– marking a quiet end to one of the most dramatic, and contentious, international nuclear security efforts ever.Īt the height of their power, the Soviet Navy’s 200 nuclear submarines were the terror of the Cold War seas, able to submerge for months at a time and approach targets with little warning. What has remained of the fearsome Cold Warriors, after they were cut to pieces by enormous saws and their spent nuclear fuel sent to safer storage, was a flotilla of irradiated reactor compartments, held buoyant in enormous steel cylinders at piers along Russia’s Arctic coast. Russian submarines, ships and aircraft in the area appear to be conducting surveillance of the gas pipelines, Norwegian officers said.It took about 25 years of Russian elbow grease and billions of dollars in foreign funding, but as of six years ago, the dilapidated remains of the once-feared Soviet nuclear submarine fleet, one of the gravest environmental threats facing Northwest Russia and the world, was finally dismantled. The new Belgorod submarine is designed to carry massive 80-foot-long nuclear torpedoes, as well as smaller mini-submarines capable of carrying out rescues or research, but military experts say the smaller submersibles also could be used to cut cables or pipelines along the ocean floor. Russia has invested heavily in its submarine fleet, making its boats quieter and more lethal, analysts say. The imagery also depicts Tupolev TU-142 and Ilyushin II-38 surveillance planes designed to track submarines. The videos released to NBC News show one submarine’s periscope peeking out of the water, and include footage of the latest Yasen-class attack submarines and a Borei-class submarine designed to carry 16 nuclear-armed ballistic missiles. they’re largely unaffected by the war in Ukraine. “The submarines and the maritime and air capabilities of the (Russian) northern fleet. But, Andersen said, Russia’s nuclear-powered submarine fleet, much of it based at its Murmansk military base near Norway, remains a formidable threat. In Ukraine, Russia’s military has suffered serious setbacks and Western officials say it remains plagued by logistical and morale problems. “We are prepared for everything,” she added. “Now we really need to protect the whole infrastructure system and also the installations at sea.” “After the explosions, we have actually increased our presence over these installations,” Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said in an interview in Oslo. And since an unexplained attack last year on the Nord Stream gas pipeline linking Russia and Germany, Norway - backed by its NATO allies - stepped up security for the vast network of pipelines and communication cables off its coast. After a drastic drop in the flow of Russian natural gas to Europe, Norway replaced Russia as the top supplier to the continent. The uptick in military activity came as tensions between NATO and Russia soared following the invasion of Ukraine. A NBC News team accompanied a Norwegian Coast Guard ship, the KV Sortland, on patrol for three days last week in the North Sea, as the 25-member crew kept a close eye on gas installations while contending with heavy winds, frigid temperatures and rough seas.
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