Russia Still To Unload Fuel From 50 Submarines

A NTV screen capture shows a decommissioned submarine in 2003 (epa) 23 November 2005 -- A senior official at the Russian Atomic Energy Agency, Rosatom, says Russia still has to unload nuclear fuel from 50 decommissioned submarines.

Sergei Antipov, Rosatom deputy director, said Russia has so far decommissioned 195 nuclear submarines of its Northern and Pacific Fleets and that nuclear fuel has been unloaded from 145 of them.

Antipov, speaking on a visit to Tokyo, said Russia and Japan agreed that Japan will help Russia dismantle five nuclear submarines decommissioned from the Pacific Fleet at the cost of $5 million to $15 million per submarine. He said Japan was ready to allocate $100 million for dismantling submarines and another $100 million for dismantling the Russian weapon-grade plutonium.

Antipov said Russia has invited Japan to join the construction of a long-term storage facility for nuclear reactors from dismantled Russian submarines in the sea port of Vladivostok.

(ITAR-TASS/BBC)