467 



Greenpeace Vladivostok Report 

 6 November 1991 



Greenpeace's observations made over the past year in the Vladivostok region, 

 Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskii, Murmansk and Severodvinsk suggest that anti-nuciearism is alive and 

 well in Russia. In so far as popular wishes play a role in post-Soviet politics, pronouncements by 

 high elected leaders, well-known scientists, or other senior officials that a sizable, or even any, 

 military nuclear infrastructure will be maintained either in Russia or other republics, must be 

 treated with caution. 



There is another interesting development which may lead to more political pressure on 

 the military. At least people in the Vladivostok region are beginning to understand the adverse 

 impact of continued inilitary spending on their well-being, and that resources from the military 

 could be used to help the economy. As one local environmental committee member angrily 

 noted, 'Before they said there is no money, because we need to bufld submarines. Now they say 

 there is no money, and they still continue to build submarines." 



B. The Soviet Submarine Fleet: Sinister or Struggling? 



A quite different view of the Soviet submarine threat is beginning to emerge. Rather than 

 a sinisterly large submarine force, if the reports about accidents and enrichment levels of fuel are 

 true, the Soviet Navy may'have been struggling for many years just to keep an adequate number 

 of submarines operational 



1. Accidents 



One of the 6rst group of 30 students graduated from military schools in 1958 to operate 

 nuclear-powered submarines recently provided some interesting insights about the first Soviet 

 nuclear-powered submarines to a Soviet reporter. 



The first four submarines - K-3 Leninskiy Komsomol, K-S, K-5 and K-14 - were 

 constructed at the Severodvinsk yard. Only two were completed, and even then only poorly, 

 when they were sent in 1958 from Severodvinsk to the partially completed base at 'Zapadnaya 

 Litsa' or Severomorsk-7. They had to leave without being properly completed in order to fulfil 

 the plan. 



One of the submarines, the K-5 was given the nickname 'Automat' If the submarine left 

 the base, on average it took only one day to come back because of an accident, Le. it 

 automatically returned. The K-8 was dubbed "Half-Automat,* because it spent on average two 

 days at sea before it was forced to return due to malfunctions. Serious restrictions were put on 

 their area of operations. The submarines were not supposed to operate more than 200 kilometers 

 from the base. 



The 1985 accident was one of the worst of many accidents which have undermined the 

 potency of the Soviet submarine ticet Serious accidents have removed five submarines from the 

 fleet. Three have sunk: a November in 1970, a Yankee in 1986, and the Mike in 1989. Two 



13 



