Nuclear Fuel to Be Discharged From Kursk Submarine

After January 20th, the nuclear fuel will be discharged from the Kursk submarine, Rostislav Rimdenok, the chief engineer of the Nerpa plant (the Murmansk Region) said.

He said that the heat carrier - water that transmitted heat from the heat-generating units - is being taken out now and the equipment placed on the top of the nuclear plant is being dismantled. The engineer said that the work is being carried out under schedule.

Within a week the heat-generating units will be taken out. The nuclear fuel will be transshipped to the Imandra floating technical station and then delivered to the Mayak production association to be reprocessed.

The chief engineer pointed to the two specifics of the operation. It will be the first time when spent nuclear fuel will be discharged from a wrecked submarine and unloaded in Nerpa's dry slipway rather than in the sea.

The Kursk submarine wrecked in the Barents Sea in August 2000.