477 



J2S JANE S INTELLIGENCE REVIEW July 1992 — INTERNATIONAL 



Submarine Safety — 



The Soviet/Russian Record 



Joshua Handler 



Since the 1950s the debate over the 

 threat posed by the former Soviet 

 submarine fleet has been one of quanlity 

 versus quality Did the force s large size, 

 coupled with its unusual technologies 

 such as titanium hulls iiquid-metal 

 reactors etc. compensate lor Its 

 geographical disadvantages and overall 

 inferior quality'' Because of the lack of 

 reliable open information this question 

 was never satisfactorily answered 

 Western analysts however, generally 

 erred on the side of caution and 

 concluded that the strengths of the 

 Soviet submarine fleet outweighed its 

 weaknesses 



Glasnosi and the controversy over the 

 Sinking of the fvlike submarine m April 

 1989 have provided new information that 

 allows a preliminary reassessment of the 

 quality versus quantity debate to take 

 place New. and at times dramatic, 

 information about submarine accidents 

 has recently appeared m the Soviet 

 press In addition visits to submarine 

 bases and facilities have been able to 

 corroborate many of these reports and 

 provide further insights 



It IS well known that accidents have 

 frequently afflicted the Soviet submarine 

 force Fires, collisions, radiation 

 exposure, and sinkings are the regular 

 fare of Soviet submariners Western 

 surveys of Soviet naval accidents from 

 1945 to 1989 catalogued some 60 

 incidents involving Soviet submarines ' 



The testimonies of officials before the US 

 Congress indicate this is the tip of the 

 iceberg In 1975-85 the then Chief of 

 Naval Operations Admiral James 

 Watkins, told Congress that the Soviets 

 had over 200 submarine accidents . 

 seme of which he noted were very 

 serious ' 



Soviet reports together with on-site 

 visits have added another 30 accidents 

 10 the 60 reported up to 1989 The Soviet 

 reporls have also extensively discussed 

 submarine safety and problems with 

 construction It is still impossible, 

 however, to evaluate statistically the 

 safely of the Soviet submarine fleet 

 compared to its Western counterparts 

 Clearly, its nuclear force has had more 

 maior disasters IVIoreover, the economic 

 chaos in the former USSR is increasing 

 the possibility of accidents 



Radiation Safety Problems 



l\/lost intriguing of all the Soviet 

 submarine problems has been the safety 

 of Soviet naval nuclear-powered 

 submarines II was known quite early-on 

 that the Soviet Navy was having troubles 

 wilh lis nuclear reactors In 1961. only 

 three years alter the lirst Soviet nuclear- 

 powered submarines went to sea. the 

 New York Times reported that there is no 

 evidence that any of them have cruised 

 the high seas, and there is some belief 



that the Russians have encountered 

 difficulties with their nuclear reactors' ' 



Since then. Western reports have 

 repeatedly underscored the weakness of 

 the Soviet naval nuclear propulsion 

 programme IVIost recently, on 7 April 

 1992. Admiral Bruce Del^lars Head of 

 the US Navy s Propulsion Programme, 

 revealed to Congress that Soviet naval 

 reactor accidents are to blame lor 

 approximately 80 deaths since the early 

 1960s, and the loss or retirement of a 

 number of ships ' A number of cases of 

 radiation accidents were also recorded m 

 CIA reporls. and a list of Soviet nuclear 

 submarine accidents was provided by 

 the US Navy to Congress m 1982 ' But 

 new details about reactor accidents and 

 nuclear safely problems are now coming 

 10 light providing additional basis lor 

 Admiral Delvlars s observations 



The most serious accident yet 

 uncovered occurred on 10 August 1985 

 when the reactor of a Victor class 

 submarine exploded while undergoing 

 refuelling at the Chazma Bay facility near 

 Vladivostok Soviet naval officers based 

 there said the explosion resulted from the 

 reactor going critical because the control 

 rods were inadvertently removed from a 

 new fuel core as the reactor lid was 

 being lifted after being improperly placed 

 the first time The explosion killed 10 men 

 m the reactor compartment instantly and 

 elected highly radioactive materials onto 

 the surrounding land and into the water 



The submarine repair yard at Severodvinsk. Russian press reports claim that a tire in a submarine (K-t1) reactor caused a realease of 

 radiation back in February 1965. {Photograph: Bjorn Jorgensen) 



