Russia`s nuclear complex

0: Module 3

Module 3, four interconnecting cascade halls was originally a gas diffusion hall but has been converted into a centrifuge enrichment facility. source: Oleg Bukharin, Russia's Gaseous Centrifuge Technology and Uranium Enrichment Complex, Jan 2004

1: Module 4

Originally a gaseous diffusion enrichment facility, Module 4 was the first cascade hall to be used for industrial scale centrifuge enrichment facility. source: Oleg Bukharin, Russia's Gaseous Centrifuge Technology and Uranium Enrichment Complex, Jan 2004

2: Module 0

Module 0 is no longer used for enrichment but it contained the first pilot-plant centrifuge enrichment facility, which was installed in 1957. source: Oleg Bukharin, Russia's Gaseous Centrifuge Technology and Uranium Enrichment Complex, Jan 2004

3: Module 1

Used for uranium enrichment using gas centrifuge technology. source: Oleg Bukharin, Russia's Gaseous Centrifuge Technology and Uranium Enrichment Complex, Jan 2004

4: Module 2

Used for uranium enrichment using gas centrifuge technology. source: Oleg Bukharin, Russia's Gaseous Centrifuge Technology and Uranium Enrichment Complex, Jan 2004

5: Possible entrance to the underground reactors

6: Approximate location of Krasnoyarsk-26

Krasnoyarsk-26 / Zheleznogorsk Mining and Chemical Combine [MCA] N 56°22' E 93°41' Krasnoyarsk-26, currently Zheleznogorsk, was established in 1950 to produce plutonium for weapons. The facility’s original name was the Combine 815. At present it is known as the Mining and Chemical Combine. Krasnoyarsk-26 is located on the Yenisei river approximately 50 km northeast of Krasnoyarsk. The production facility is located approximately 10 km north of the residential area. Facility workers are shuttled to work from the residential area by an electric train. Krasnoyarsk-26 has a population of 100,000. Of them 8,000 work at the nuclear complex. Several more thousand are employed by the Production Association of Applied Mechanics [NPO-PM] producing communication satellites. The Krasnoyarsk-26 industrial production area (a fenced off area on the surface) is about 17 km2. The sanitary-protection area is 131 km2. The plutonium production complex comprises the reactor plant, the radiochemical plant, the reactor coolant preparation plant, the partially completed RT-2 radiochemical plant, and the engineering plant. A distinctive feature of the plutonium production complex in Krasnoyarsk-26 is that the reactor plant, radiochemical plant, laboratories, and storage facilities are located 200-250 m underground, in a multi-level system of underground tunnels inside a mountain, which include water supply and ventilation systems are located in the mountain. To the north-west of the underground complex are underground reprocessing waste injection wells (the Northern test site). The Krasnoyarsk-26 reactor plant consisted of three graphite reactors (AD, ADE-1, and ADE-2). Two graphite-moderated, light-water-cooled reactors, similar to the U.S. plutonium production reactors at Hanford, WA, were installed more than 200 meters into a mountainside. Both reactors were cooled by water directly from the Yenisey River. The first went into operation on 25 August 1958, and the second in 1961, producing plutonium-239 for nuclear weapons. In 1964, a third reactor went into operation with a closed-loop cooling system, not directly discharging into the river. The AD and ADE-1 reactors, which started in 1958 and 1961, were shut down in 1992. The third reactor generates heat and electricity for the local populations and cannot be shutdown before a replacement source of power becomes available. In 1964, a reprocessing plant began operation at Krasnoyarsk-26. (Between 1958 and 1964, irradiated fuel was reprocessed by the radiochemical plants in Chelyabinsk-65 and/or Tomsk-7). The major process flow of the radiochemical plant includes metal uranium dissolution in nitric acid, multi-stage extraction to separate uranium and plutonium, their decontamination from radioactive fission products and plutonium concentrate sorption. Plutonium dioxide – the final product of the Combine – was transferred to the chemical and metallurgical plants in Chelyabinsk-65 and/or Tomsk-7 for conversion to metal and fabrication into nuclear weapon components. Since October 1994, separated plutonium is stored on-site as plutonium dioxide. The medium- and low-level waste is transported to Severny storage site for deep-well injection into geological formations. The Severny storage site has been used for deep-well injection of low-level waste since 1962 and for medium-level waste since 1967. In 1972, the Soviet Union began the construction of a complex to store and reprocess fuel from light-water power reactors. The construction of the fuel storage facilities, which are located between the old underground complex and the waste injection wells, was completed in 1976. source: globalsecurity.org

7: RT-2 reprossessing plants (?)

The RT-2 Plant was intended to produce MOX-fuel elements and recovered uranium. The designed capacity of the plant is 1,500 tons of spent fuel per year, which means spent fuel reprocessing from the NPP of total 50–80 million kilowatts. The first facility of the plant is the spent nuclear fuel storage that was commissioned in 1985. The storage facility can receive and store 6,000 tons of spent fuel. The construction of the reprocessing plant itself started in 1984 but was halted in 1989 due to the lack of funding and public opposition. The RT-2 reprocessing plant will probably never be completed.

8: Reactors ADE-4 and ADE-5

Reactors ADE-4 and ADE-5 share a common reactor building. These reactors have a projected operating life through 2013

9: I-1, EL-2, AD-3 reactors

All three reactors have been shut down

10: Tomsk-7 Plutonium and Uranium Production Facility

The Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK), located in Seversk (formerly known as Tomsk-7), is one of the principal nuclear materials production sites in the MINATOM complex, with uranium processing facilities, production reactors, a spent fuel reprocessing plant, a uranium enrichment plant, and a variety of other processing and storage facilities. Tomsk-7 was established in 1949 to produce and process fissile materials for the nuclear weapons program. The Siberian Chemical Combine (originally the Combine 816) is Russia’s largest plutonium production and fissile material management complex. Tomsk-7 is located on the Tom’ river in Tomsk oblast, about 12 km northwest of the city of Tomsk. The Tomsk-7 sanitary protection area is approximately 200 km2. The industrial areas are located north-east of Seversk and include: the fuel complex and a fossil fuel plant, a UF6 conversion and enrichment plants, two reactor areas, chemical and metallurgical plant, a reprocessing plant, waste injection wells (sites 18 and 18a), and support and storage areas. Tomsk-7 has a population of 119,000. Of them, approximately 15,000 work at the nuclear complex. The production of plutonium took place in the reactors I-1, EI-2, ADE-3, ADE-4, and ADE-5, which were brought into operation in the period from 1955 to 1967. The first three reactors were shut down between August 1990 and August 1992. The ADE-4 and ADE-5 reactors are still in operation and produce heat and electricity for the nuclear complex, as well as provide heat to Seversk and the nearby oil and chemical complex. Irradiated reactor fuel is reprocessed at the radiochemical plant, which was brought into operation in 1956. Until recently, plutonium was transferred to the chemical and metallurgical plant where it was converted to metal and fabricated into warhead components. Since October 1, 1994, newly produced plutonium is converted to plutonium dioxide and is placed in storage. The chemical and metallurgical plant also was designed to manufacture HEU warhead components. In 1994, the plant began to convert HEU weapons components into HEU oxide that is subsequently downblended to low-enriched uranium reactor fuel under the U.S.-Russian HEU agreement. In 1996, an HEU fluorination and downblending facility was brought into operation in Tomsk-7 as well. The Tomsk-7 enrichment plant was built and brought into operation in 1953 and was USSR’s second enrichment facility. Presently, the plant accounts for 14 percent of Russia’s total enrichment capacity. It also is involved in HEU downblending under the U.S.-Russian HEU agreement. In addition, Tomsk-7 operates one of Russia’s two large conversion facilities producing UF6, the feed material for enrichment facilities. (There might have been no conversion plant in Tomsk-7 during the Corona program period.) In 1994 the US and Russia signed a 20-year $12-billion covering the purchase of 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) recovered from Russian weapons. The uranium will be blended down to low-enriched uranium (LEU) and shipped to the US for use in commercial power reactor fuel. The transparency protocols for the HEU purchase are intended to confirm for the US that the shipped material is derived from Russian weapons material, and to confirm for Russia that the LEU is not used the US weapons program. This requires access to the uranium processing facilities of both sides. US monitors are allowed access to the three principal Russian plants involved in the conversion of HEU to LEU. At the plant in Seversk, HEU metal is processed into an HEU oxide before being shipped to the electrochemical plants in Novouralsk or Zelenogorsk. In these facilities, the oxide is fluorinated and combined with a slightly enriched blending material to turn it into LEU suitable for civilian power reactor fuel. Monitoring at Seversk and Zelenogorsk is confined to periodic visits, but monitors have continuous access to the Novouralsk plant through the US Permanent Presence Office there, which Lawrence Livermore manages for DOE. At all three plants, US monitors have access to relevant documentation and accountability records. The Russian Reactor Core Conversion project, directed by a Gore-Chernomyrdin signed agreement, is a high priority of the Administration. This project will stop Russian production of weapons grade plutonium and improve operational safety by converting the reactor core design configuration of the reactors at Seversk and Zheleznogorsk. Currently, each of the three reactors can produce up to a total of 1.5 metric tons of plutonium per year. These reactors also provide critically needed district heat and electricity to Seversk and Zheleznogorsk. Total project costs including the value of the uranium is estimated in October 1998 to be $310 million. Due to the financial situation in Russia, the DoD intends to request additional funding for the design of converting the cores; improvements in safety systems; and infrastructure and materials needed to assure the actual conversion of the reactors; acceptance testing; and, regulatory approval. The Siberian Chemical Combine (SKhK) joined the the Laboratory-to-Laboratory Nuclear Material Protection, Control, and Accounting Program (Laboratory-to-Laboratory MPC&A Program) in the Summer of 1995, with the signing of a contract to begin technical cooperation on portal monitors. In October 1995, the scope of the portal monitoring work was expanded to include equipping the entire Combine with new portal monitors, specifically pedestrian radiation monitors, metal detectors, and handheld radiation monitors. As of July 1996, all of the pedestrian radiation monitoring equipment had been delivered; most of it had already been installed, with the rest to be completed within a few months. Twenty-seven metal detectors had been ordered from Eleron, a Russian vendor, and were delivered and installed. Vehicle monitors (a total of twelve) were also part of this project, but because of the need to assure their performance under Siberian winter weather conditions, the schedule for their installation was later than for the pedestrian monitors. All of these portal monitoring enhancements were scheduled for completion in 1996. Additional work on MPC&A enhancements was planned at several facilities. The first of these was the Radiochemical Plant, i.e., the reprocessing plant, which was also the focus of an International Science and Technology Center Project (ISTC-40) on materials control and accounting. The Laboratory-to-Laboratory work, which complements the ISTC project, started with a plutonium storage facility at the Radiochemical Plant, and then proceeded to other locations at the Radiochemical Plant and eventually to the entire Combine. The cooperation encompassed bar codes, computerized accounting, seals, measurement methods (neutron counting, gamma spectroscopy, and others), enhanced access control (e.g., an upgraded badge system), physical protection upgrades, MPC&A system effectiveness assessments, video surveillance systems, statistical analysis of inventory data, and transportation security. Because of the scale and complexity of the SKhK's nuclear operations, this joint work was expected to continue for several years. The Department of Energy’s (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) has awarded a total of $466 million to US firms Washington Group International and Raytheon Technical Services to begin work to shut down the last three remaining weapons-grade plutonium production reactors in Russia. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham announced the contracts at a May 27, 2003, press conference with Russian Ambassador to the United States Yuri Ushakov at DOE Headquarters, Washington, DC. On March 12, 2003, in Vienna, Austria, Secretary Abraham and Russian Minister of Atomic Energy Alexander Rumyantsev signed an agreement to reduce the threat from weapons of mass destruction by stopping plutonium production at the Russian reactors. As part of the agreement, DOE, working with its partners in Russia, will provide replacement fossil-fuel facilities to produce energy for heat and electricity currently produced by the reactors serving the cities of Seversk and Zheleznogorsk. At Seversk, the US will assist in refurbishing an existing fossil fuel plant. Major work will include refurbishing or replacing existing coal-fired boilers, providing one new high pressure coal-fired boiler, replacing turbine generators, completing con-struction of the fuel supply system, and refurbishing the industrial heating unit and ancillary systems. The refurbishment work is estimated to take five years, at which time the plutonium production reactors will shut down. source: globalsecurity.org

11: Krasnoyarsk-45 Uranium enrichment facility

The closed city of Krasnoyarsk-45, currently Zelenogorsk, was established in the late 1950s – early 1960s to produce enriched uranium for the Soviet nuclear weapons program. The construction of a gaseous diffusion plant probably began in the early 1960s and the plant started to produce enriched uranium in 1964. (In 1964, the U.S. intelligence community predicted that the plant would reach its design capacity in 1967.) In parallel, the construction of a large fossil fuel and hydro-electric plant (GRES-2) began to provide the enrichment complex and the town with heat and electricity. In the 1960s, the Soviet Union began to replace the gaseous diffusion machines with centrifuges. The last gaseous diffusion cascade in Krasnoyarsk-45 was shut down in 1990. Currently, the Electrochemical Plant in Krasnoyarsk-45 accounts for 29 percent of Russia's enrichment capacity. In addition to uranium, the complex also separates isotopes of tungsten, molybdenum, krypton, xenon, germanium, iron, sulfur, oxygen, and carbon. Since 1997, the facility has been involved in down-blending HEU from dismantled weapons under the U.S.-Russian HEU agreement. Krasnoyarsk-45 is located on the River Kan, approximately 70 km east of Krasnoyarsk. Krasnoyarsk-45 has a population of 67,000. Of them, an estimated 10,000 work at the enrichment complex. The ECP produces enriched uranium for domestic Russian power reactors and for export. Using the same basic technology, but optimized for lighter elements, ECP produces a wide range of stable isotopes for sale worldwide. Additionally as part of the Russian demilitarization program, ECP manufactures audio and video tapes for the Russian and CIS markets. Depleted Zinc (DZ) production capacity at the Russian facility is more than adequate to meet current and projected customer demands worldwide. The active DZ production can be ramped up to meet orders from utilities desiring to enter into long-term supply agreements based to ensure timely deliveries and attractive prices. DZ is used as an additive in nuclear power plants to reduce corrosion and cracking of key components and to reduce radiation exposure to plant workers. Pursuant to an agreement which runs through 2002 between Isonics Corporation of San Jose CA, ECP, and Techsnabexport (Tenex, the trading arm of the Russian Ministry of Atomic Energy), Isonics has exclusive rights to market and sell DZ processed by ECP to nuclear power plants and other North American-based companies. In 1994 the US and Russia signed a 20-year $12-billion covering the purchase of 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) recovered from Russian weapons. The uranium will be blended down to low-enriched uranium (LEU) and shipped to the US for use in commercial power reactor fuel. The transparency protocols for the HEU purchase are intended to confirm for the US that the shipped material is derived from Russian weapons material, and to confirm for Russia that the LEU is not used the US weapons program. This requires access to the uranium processing facilities of both sides. US monitors are allowed access to the three principal Russian plants involved in the conversion of HEU to LEU. At the plant in Seversk, HEU metal is processed into an HEU oxide before being shipped to the electrochemical plants in Novouralsk or Zelenogorsk. In these facilities, the oxide is fluorinated and combined with a slightly enriched blending material to turn it into LEU suitable for civilian power reactor fuel. Monitoring at Seversk and Zelenogorsk is confined to periodic visits, but monitors have continuous access to the Novouralsk plant through the US Permanent Presence Office there, which Lawrence Livermore manages for DOE. At all three plants, US monitors have access to relevant documentation and accountability records.

12: Angarsk Uranium enrichment facility

Angarsk Electrolyzing Chemical Combine (AEKhK) N 52°28' E103°52' The Angarsk Electrolyzing and Chemical Combine (AEKhK) was established in the late 1950s to produce enriched uranium for the Soviet nuclear program. The gaseous diffusion plant in Angarsk attained its full capacity in 1964 and, at the time, was believed to be the most efficient of the existing Soviet enrichment facilities. The enrichment plant in Angarsk has never produced HEU. Instead, its partially enriched uranium product was probably sent to other Soviet enrichment facilities to produce HEU. At present, the Combine accounts for 8 percent of Russia’s enrichment capacity. In addition, the complex operates one of Russia’s two large conversion facilities producing UF6, the feed material for enrichment facilities. Uranium hexafluoride production technology began to be developed in the USSR in 1947. The first, relatively ineffective, fluorination processes involved uranium oxide dissolution in sulfuric acid, electrolytic uranium sulfate reduction, and hydrofluorination. In 1965, the technology of fluorination in a vertical plasma reactor was created and is still in use today. Conversional plants in Russia are located at the same sites as uranium concentration mills: in Sverdlovsk-44 / Novouralsk (close to Yekaterinburg) and Angarsk. The productivity of conversion enterprises matches that of concentration mills, and the uranium enrichment on average is 2.18%. Uranium hexafluoride is then transported to concentration mills located at Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Angarsk, and Sverdlovsk-44. The facility is located in the open city of Angarsk, approximately 30 km north-west of Irkutsk and 50 km north of the western tip of Lake Baikal. source: globalsecurity.org

13: Sverdlovsk-44

Sverdlovsk-44 / Novouralsk Combine 813 / Urals Electrochemistry Combine N 57°17' E 60°05' Sverdlovsk-44, currently Novouralsk, was established in 1945 to produce highly-enriched uranium for the nuclear weapons program. The Urals Electrochemistry Combine (originally the Combine 813) is the oldest and largest uranium enrichment facility in Russia. Uranium hexafluoride production technology began to be developed in the USSR in 1947. The first, relatively ineffective, fluorination processes involved uranium oxide dissolution in sulfuric acid, electrolytic uranium sulfate reduction, and hydrofluorination. In 1965, the technology of fluorination in a vertical plasma reactor was created and is still in use today. Conversional plants in Russia are located at the same sites as uranium concentration mills: in Verkhniy-Vyansk (close to Yekaterinburg) and Angarsk (30 km northwest of Irkutsk). The productivity of conversion enterprises matches that of concentration mills, and the uranium enrichment on average is 2.18%. Uranium hexafluoride is then transported to concentration mills located at Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, Angarsk, and Verkhniy-Vyansk. The enrichment facility was sited near Verkh Neivinsk, also known as Verkhniy-Vyansk, to take advantage of the existing nearby rail- and power lines, two large artificial lakes (Demidov Ponds) to provide cooling water, and a large, unfinished building of a proposed aviation plant. The construction of the gaseous diffusion plant, D-1, began in January 1946. Its first phase was brought into operation in 1948. Because of technical difficulties, however, the production 90-percent uranium did not begin at the D-1 plant until 1950. The plant operated until 1955 when it was shut down and dismantled because of low efficiency. Three newer and larger gaseous diffusion plants – D-3, D-4 and D-5 – were brought into operation by 1953. Sverdlovsk-44 also was USSR’s pioneer of the centrifuge enrichment technology. The development of the gas diffusion concentration technology ran into serious technical difficulties, and eventually the industry management decided to attach a higher priority to the development of centrifuge technologies. A pilot-scale centrifuge plant was commissioned on 4 October 1957. The first industrial-scale centrifuge plant was built in 3 phases from 1962 to 1964. During the 1960s and 1970s, all gaseous diffusion machines were replaced by centrifuges (installed in the existing buildings). The industry has designed and put into operation five generations of centrifuge plants. Currently, machines of the sixth generation are being built and prepared for launch. At present, uranium is enriched in four buildings (modules). The Building 0 (the original D-1 plant) is no longer used for enrichment. The Buildings 1, 2, 3 and 4 have a combined capacity of 10 million SWU/y and account for approximately 50 percent of Russia’s enrichment capacity. The combine is involved in downblending HEU from weapons under the U.S.-Russian HEU agreement. Sverdlovsk-44 has a gas-operated power plant supplying energy to both the production facilities and the city. The Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Plant (located near Yekaterinburg) is another major source of electricity for the production facilities. Sverdlovsk-44 is located in the Sverdlovsk region, approximately 40 km north-west of Yekaterinburg. Its population is 96,000. As of the early 1990s, approximately 15,000 (including support personnel and farmers) were employed at the enrichment complex. In 1994 the US and Russia signed a 20-year $12-billion covering the purchase of 500 metric tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) recovered from Russian weapons. The uranium will be blended down to low-enriched uranium (LEU) and shipped to the US for use in commercial power reactor fuel. The transparency protocols for the HEU purchase are intended to confirm for the US that the shipped material is derived from Russian weapons material, and to confirm for Russia that the LEU is not used the US weapons program. This requires access to the uranium processing facilities of both sides. US monitors are allowed access to the three principal Russian plants involved in the conversion of HEU to LEU. At the plant in Seversk, HEU metal is processed into an HEU oxide before being shipped to the electrochemical plants in Novouralsk or Zelenogorsk. In these facilities, the oxide is fluorinated and combined with a slightly enriched blending material to turn it into LEU suitable for civilian power reactor fuel. Monitoring at Seversk and Zelenogorsk is confined to periodic visits, but monitors have continuous access to the Novouralsk plant through the US Permanent Presence Office there, which Lawrence Livermore manages for DOE. At all three plants, US monitors have access to relevant documentation and accountability records. Regional Context Yekaterinburg, with a population of about 1.5 million people, is the capital of the Sverdlosk Region [Oblast]. In many ways the city, formerly known as Sverdlovsk, also acts as the capital of the entire Urals region. For the past century, Yekaterinburg has been a major stop on the famed Trans-Siberian Railway. Yekaterinburg is the heir to an industrial tradition that originated in the early 1700s and continues today. The city of Yekaterinburg has a long association with military activities. During the 1720s Peter the Great developed the region as a source of raw materials for weapons production. The Tsar subsequently named the city after his wife Catherine. The city of Yekaterinburg was created to produce cannons and other heavy industrial products needed for the Tsar's military build-up. The invasion of Russia by the Germans during the second World War led to the decision to evacuate much of the Soviet Union's industrial capacity from Ukraine and western Russia to safer locations east of the Ural Mountains. This transfer of industry to cities west of the Urals caused Yekaterinburg to grow exponentially. Yekaterinburg was a closed city until December 1991. As the first city in the Urals to "open", Yekaterinburg has taken the lead in reforming its economy and opening communications links to the outside world.

14: Possible site of uranium enrichment facility

15: possible site of UF6 container storage

16: Novaya Zemlya--Northern Test Site

Novaya Zemlya Northern Test Site N 73°23' E 54°45' Novaya Zemlya was the site of extensive Soviet atmospheric and underground testing, including the largest thermonuclear device ever tested, a 58 megaton air-dropped bomb detonated October 23, 1961. Of the 42 underground explosions at Novaya Zemlya, 25 were accompanied by release of radioactive inert gases. There were three underwater explosions, each less than 20 kiloton, but most of the radionuclides remained in the water and sediments. A total of 17 reactors were dumped in the Barents Sea, to the west of Novaya Zemlya, including seven containing spent nuclear fuel. Sub-critical hydrodynamic experiments with separate elements of nuclear ordnance are currently conducted at the Novaya Zemlya testing range. At least four or six such studies are conducted on Novaya Zemlya. These tests allow evaluation of criteria under which it is possible to store, transport and use nuclear ordnance safely. In late June 2002, Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev and Economic Development and Trade Minister Herman Gref visited the Arkhangelsk Region together with Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. The visit to the nuclear testing range on the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago was another important aspect of the working visit of the ministers to the Arkhangelsk Region. Ivanov announced that Russia was not going to restart real nuclear tests, but the President had issued an order "to maintain the testing range in working order and to develop its infrastructure." On the eve of his trip to Novaya Zemlya, Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev did not rule out the possibility of nuclear explosion test organization on Novaya Zemlya. "There is no issue of restarting of nuclear tests on the agenda yet. However, if such a task is set, it will be fulfilled," explained Rumyantsev. When the governmental commission visited the testing range in June 2002 it discussed a possibility to bury nuclear waste there. Some officials of the Atomic Energy Ministry and Economic Development and Trade Ministry proposed this idea, saying that this may be a normal commercial project. Initially, it is planned to bury liquid and solid wastes of the 190 nuclear submarines discarded by the Defense Ministry in the wells drilled in rocks of the archipelago. After that it is planned to bury waste of nuclear stations, including stations from other countries, in the same way. The Atomic Energy Minister stated that he was against such an idea.Defense Minister Ivanov is also averse to the project for construction of a nuclear waste storage facility on Novaya Zemlya. source: globalsecurity.org

17: Chelyabinsk-65 USSR's plutonium production facility

Mayak Chemical Combine is located near Ozersk, a closed city in the Southern Urals. Until 1992 the city was known only by its post office box number Chelyabinsk-65, and prior to 1990, as Chelyabinsk 40. The city is situated approximately 15 km east of the city of Kyshtym and about 70 km north of Chelyabinsk, a city with a population of about one million people in the Asian part of Russia. The reactor area is located about 10 km from Ozersk, a city with a population of 85 600. Construction of the Mayak Chemical Combine (MCC) began in November 1945, and the first reactor became operational in June 1948. Seventy thousand inmates from 12 different work camps laboured in the construction of Mayak's different facilities. The complex itself covers an area of approximately 90 km2 and employs 17 100 people. There used to be six operational reactors at Mayak Chemical Combine (MCC) for the production of weapons plutonium. Of these, five were graphite-moderated while the sixth was originally a heavy water reactor. These reactors have now been shut down. The heavy water reactor was later modified to a light water reactor which remains in operation today. An additional light water reactor produces isotopes for civilian use. There is a reprocessing facility (RT-1) in use at Mayak, a vitrification facility for liquid waste and about 100 storage tanks containing high level radioactive waste. The five water-cooled, graphite-moderated reactors at the Mayak Chemical Combine are located at two separate areas along the south-eastern bank of Lake Kyzyltash. All of the production reactors utilise an open cooling cycle whereby water from the lake is pumped directly through the reactor core and out again into the lakes. The temperature of the discharge water was about 70ºC. The A, IR and AV-1 reactors are located at Plant 156, whereas the AV-2 and AV-3 reactors are located in a different area within the complex. The A Reactor The first reactor, the A reactor, was a graphite-moderated production reactor. It had 1 168 channels with natural uranium enclosed within vertical aluminium tubes, and these were designed to operate at 100 MWt, but this thermal effect was later upgraded to 500 MWt. The core was 9.2 m high and 9.4 m in diameter. The top of the reactor was 9.3 m beneath the ground. Cement walls 3 m thick were built around the reactor, and these in turn were surrounded by large water tanks. The reactor was completed in 1948, only 18 months after the initial start of construction. The reactor was loaded with all the available uranium in the Soviet Union and began operation on June 19, 1948. The plutonium produced here was used in the first Soviet atom bomb which was tested at Semipalatinsk on August 29, 1949. The reactor was operational for 39 years, and was finally shut down in 1987. It is housed in Building 1 at Plant 156. The dismantling of the reactor is being carried out in three stages. During the first stage, the reactor was shut down and its fuel unloaded. The second stage, which is now in progress, entails the removal of the control and operating systems and filling the remaining empty spaces with cement. This procedure is expected to take about five years. The final stage, which is expected to take 20 to 25 years, will be a 'waiting period' until a decision is made to either bury the reactor on site or remove it altogether. The IR Reactor The IR reactor was used for the production of plutonium and to test the fuel of both the A-reactor and the RBMK reactors. Housed inside Building 701 near the A-reactor, the IR-reactor is a small graphite-moderated 65 MWt reactor with 248 channels. Construction of the reactor began on August 15, 1950, and it became operational December 22, 1951. The reactor was shut down after 36 years of operation on May 24, 1987. The AV-1, AV-2, and AV-3 Reactors The three large graphite-moderated production reactors AV-1, AV-2, and AV-3 probably all share the same design. Each has 2 001 channels. Of the three reactors, only the AV-2 reactor has been described in openly available literature. The core of the AV-2 reactor consists of a vertical cylinder 7.6 m high and 11.8 m in diameter. Radiological shielding is provided in that the active zone is protected by three layers. The first layer consists of sand and water 1.5 m thick and a 2 m thick concrete wall. On top of this is a 1.5 m thick layer consisting of a mixture of sand and bathite ore covered by a further layer of concrete 3 m thick. Finally there is a pool of water 1.5 m deep. AV-1 went into operation in 1955 and was shut down on August 12, 1989; AV-2 came on line in April 1951 and shut down in July 1990. AV-3 started up on September 15, 1952, and ceased operations on November 1, 1990. The AV-3 reactor is housed in Building 501 at Plant 156, and was the last of the five graphite reactors to be shut down. "Ruslan" The second reactor to be started at Mayak Chemical Combine was a heavy water moderated reactor known as "Ruslan". This reactor went into operation some time between the end of 1948 and 1951, and was active until about 1980. Towards the end of the 1980s, it was rebuilt to a light water reactor with a capacity of 1 000 MW. "Ruslan" is used to produce tritium for the Soviet hydrogen bombs and specific isotopes such as 238Pu. "Lyudmila" Another type of reactor which is still in use at Mayak is a light water reactor called "Lyudmila". Its power is 1 000 MW and this reactor is also used for the production of tritium and various other isotopes, including 238Pu. Total Plutonium Production at Mayak Chemical Combine Between the five graphite-moderated reactors at Mayak, a total of 58.3 tonnes of plutonium has been produced. Up until the end of 1992, the two remaining reactors are believed to have produced 14.7 tonnes, for a total plutonium production at Mayak Chemical Combine of 73 tonnes. Source: Bellona Foundation, http://www.bellona.no/imaker?sub=1&id=8223

18: Semipalatinsk-16

Semipalatinsk-16 Kurchatov N 50°23' E 80°11' Russian nuclear tests have been conducted in two major areas. The former Soviet Union’s largest nuclear test site was located near Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. The Semipalatinsk Test Site was founded in 1948 with the first nuclear explosion tested in 1949 and the last in 1989. Of the 467 nuclear detonations conducted there, 346 were underground, with the first of these underground experiments conducted in 1961. A total of 87 atmospheric and 26 surface nuclear detonations were also performed at the site between 1949 and 1989. Some tests involved multiple weapon detonations. During the early days of the atomic energy program in the former Soviet Union, some unfortunate events occurred. The country's first atomic test in Semipalatinsk in 1949 exposed over 25,000 people downwind from the blast to significant doses of fission products, especially 131I. Along with the problem of economic development, Kazakhstan must cope with some of the worst prevailing conditions of environmental pollution in the NIS, existing pollution inherited from the Soviet era. Major current environmental problems in Kazakhstan include radioactive and toxic chemical sites associated with former defense industries and test ranges which are found throughout the country, posing health risks for humans and animals. The environmental consequences of such activities as the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site The Pavlodar, Semipalatinsk, and the Balkhash Ore Mining and Metallurgical and Achisay Polymetal combines play major roles in surface water pollution. Following Kazakhstan’s independence, the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) committed to studying the environmental contamination and the resulting radiation exposure risk to the population in the Semipalatinsk and western areas of Kazakhstan.

19: Penza-19

Penza-19 / Zarechny Production Association "Start" N 53°12' E 45°12' The closed city of Penza-19, currently Zarechny, was established on July 20, 1954 as a site for a serial production facility to manufacture electronic and automatic components of nuclear warheads. The construction began in April 1955 and the plant produced its first output in 1958. In the 1960s, the plant was renamed the Penza Device-Building Plant. Later, on its basis, the Production Association "Start" was established. In addition to the Device-Building Plant, the "Start" complex includes the Kuznetsk Machine-Building Plant producing specialized equipment for the warhead production complex. Penza-19 is also a home to the Institute of Radio and Electronic Equipment (NIKIRET). NIKIRET is a branch of the Moscow-based Association Eleron, Minatom’s leading designer of physical security equipment. At present, "Start" manufactures detonation systems, permissive-action link devices, and other electro-mechanical and electronic components and subassemblies of nuclear weapons. In addition, the facility produces physical protection equipment and automated instrumentation and control systems. The town of Penza-19 is located less than 20 kilometers east of Penza. Its population is 64,000. Of them, approximately 10,000 work at the Start complex. The main production area is located east of the residential area. Approximately 3 km south-west of the main plant area is a complex of blast-resistant, bermed structures. Further to the south is a large fenced area containing what appears to be storage bunkers for chemical high-explosives. The presence of bermed structures and HE bunkers indicate the possibility of Penza-19’a involvement in operations with warheads and their components. Regional Context Penza is about ten hours southeast of Moscow by car. It is in the center of a broad, yet poor, farming region, where many farmers still use horse carts for transportation. Penza oblast's 43,000 square kilometers include 10 other smaller cities, and more than 1,500 villages. Penza itself is like a giant rural village, mainly made of old wooden homes, with a few Soviet-era government buildings and factories scattered around it or placed near its center. Sheep and goats owned by city residents sometimes wander onto the broad, modern walkways of the city's central park along the river. On the outskirts of the city, rows of modern style dachas are under construction. Penza is known for its watches and bicycles, which it exports around the world. Much of the population is employed in machinery building, metal-working, and electric energy production. Penza's leading employer is the ZIF Bicycle Factory. As of 1995, with the exception of the ZIF Bicycle Factory, most of Penza's old factories were working at far less than full capacity, and many Penza workers had gone unpaid for months. Most of Penza's industrial workers made only 25 dollars per month when they were paid, yet people appeared to be well-nourished, well-dressed, and content. Despite the industrial recession, there is considerable wealth in Penza, demonstrated by the extensive building of new dachas on the outskirts, and the striking success of Tarhany Bank in attracting large deposits from more than 30,000 local customers. This paradox is probably best explained by two factors: the extensive social services provided by Penza's factories and the region's rich farm land. Even when Penza's factories were not paying their workers, the factories extensive social services -- doctors, cafeterias, day care centers, sports centers -- still operated. Most Penza families, even in the city center, own small plots of land, where they raised vegetables and raise farm animals.

20: Sverdlovsk-45

Sverdlovsk-45 / Lesnoy Plant 418 / Combine "Electrochimpribor" N 58°39' E 59°47' The closed city of Sverdlovsk-45, currently Lesnoy, was established in 1947 as a home to the Plant 418 – an electromagnetic separation (calutron) facility to produce HEU. An industrial-scale separation facility, SU-20, was completed at the Plant 418 simultaneously with the Soviet first gaseous diffusion plant D-1 in Sverdlovsk-44. Initially, the SU-20 facility was used to increase the level of enrichment of uranium received from the D-1 plant from 70 to 90 percent uranium-235. Improvements in the gaseous diffusion technology have subsequently eliminated the need in electromagnetic separation of uranium isotopes and the SU-20 facility was redirected to enrich non-uranium isotopes. In the late 1950s, a portion of the Plant 418 was adopted to house a nuclear warhead assembly/disassembly facility – the Combine "Electrochimpribor." The Combine was established to duplicate the Electro-Mechanical Plant "Avangard" in Arzamas-16 in assembling physics packages and nuclear warheads. Eventually, it has become Russia’s largest warhead assembly complex. Sverdlovsk-45 is located near Nizhnyaya Tura, approximately 160 km north of Yekaterinburg. Its population is 58,000. Approximately 10,000 work at the warhead production complex. The warhead assembly/disassembly plant is located north-west of the residential area. The production complex is supported by two large national warhead stockpile storage sites, the nearest of which is located approximately 10 km west of the main production area.