Atomic reactors from decomissioned submarines are reliably guarded

The fact of receiving financial aid by Russia for scrapping military atomic reactors does not mean that they are poorly guarded, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said at a meeting with reporters in the Center for Defense Information in Washington.

"The fact that we receive with gratitude aid from different countries for scrapping atomic reactors from the decommissioned submarines does not mean that the reactors are poorly guarded.

"The problem is that Russia, regrettably, is paying for near-sighted policy of the cold war times. We have built too many submarines, too many reactors - we don't need so many and they should be scrapped', Ivanov said.

"To create a nuclear-based sophisticated system is cheaper than to scrap it," the Russian minister added.

In his words, the funds that Russia gets from the international programs are channeled precisely for waste utilization.

In equal measure this also refers to the chemical weapons large stocks of which piled up during the cold war times.