''K-27'' was the only

nuclear submarine A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor, but not necessarily nuclear-armed. Nuclear submarines have considerable performance advantages over "conventional" (typically diesel-electric) submarines. Nuclear propulsion ...

of the Soviet Navy's Project 645. It was constructed by placing a pair of experimental VT-1

nuclear reactor A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a Nuclear fission, fission nuclear chain reaction. They are used for Nuclear power, commercial electricity, nuclear marine propulsion, marine propulsion, Weapons-grade plutonium, weapons ...

s that used a liquid-metal coolant ( lead-bismuth eutectic) into the modified hull of a Project 627A () vessel. A unique

NATO reporting name NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providi ...

was not assigned.

Launch and operations

The keel of ''K-27'' was laid down on 15 June 1958 at

Severodvinsk Severodvinsk (; ) is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina, west of Arkhangelsk, the administrative center of the oblast. As of the 2021 Census, the population was 157,213. Due to the p ...

Shipyard No. 402.K-27 Project 645
Deepstorm.ru. Retrieved on 8 November 2011. It was launched on 1 April 1962, and went into service as an experimental "attack submarine" on 30 October 1963. ''K-27'' was officially commissioned into the Soviet Northern Fleet on 7 September 1965. ''K-27'' was assigned to the 17th submarine division, headquartered at Gremikha. The nuclear reactors of ''K-27'' were troublesome from their first criticality, but the ''K-27'' was able to engage in test operations for about five years. On 24 May 1968, the power output of one of her reactors suddenly dropped sharply;

radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

gases were released into her engine room; and the

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'' consisting of photons, such as radio waves, microwaves, infr ...

levels throughout ''K-27'' increased dangerously – by 1.5 grays per hour. This radiation consisted mostly of

gamma ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares. It consists o ...

s and

thermal neutron The neutron detection temperature, also called the neutron energy, indicates a free neutron's kinetic energy, usually given in electron volts. The term ''temperature'' is used, since hot, thermal and cold neutrons are moderated in a medium wit ...

s, with some

alpha radiation Alpha decay or α-decay is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits an alpha particle (helium nucleus). The parent nucleus transforms or "decays" into a daughter product, with a mass number that is reduced by four and an atom ...

and beta radiation in addition – generated by the released radioactive gases such as

xenon Xenon is a chemical element; it has symbol Xe and atomic number 54. It is a dense, colorless, odorless noble gas found in Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts. Although generally unreactive, it can undergo a few chemical reactions such as the ...

and

krypton Krypton (from 'the hidden one') is a chemical element; it has symbol (chemistry), symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a colorless, odorless noble gas that occurs in trace element, trace amounts in the Earth's atmosphere, atmosphere and is of ...

in her reactor compartment. The training of the crew by the Soviet Navy had been inadequate, and these sailors did not recognize that their

had suffered from extensive fuel element failures. By the time they gave up their attempts to repair the reactor at sea, nine of the crewmen had accumulated fatal radioactive exposures. About one-fifth of the reactor core had experienced inadequate cooling caused by uneven coolant flows. Hot spots in the reactor had ruptured, releasing nuclear fuel and

nuclear fission Nuclear fission is a reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into two or more smaller nuclei. The fission process often produces gamma photons, and releases a very large amount of energy even by the energetic standards of radioactiv ...

products into the liquid-metal coolant, which circulated them throughout her reactor compartment. ''K-27'' was laid up in Gremikha Bay starting on 20 June 1968. The cooling-off of the reactors and various experimental projects were carried out aboard the submarine through 1973. These included the successful restarting of the starboard reactor up to 40% of maximal power production. Plans were considered to slice off the reactor compartment and replace it with a new one containing standard VM-A water-cooled reactors. The rebuilding or replacement of the nuclear reactor was considered to be too expensive, and also to be inappropriate because more modern

s had already entered service in the

Soviet Navy The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare Military, uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic planning in the event of a conflict with t ...

.Атомные подводные лодки типа К-27 (Nuclear-powered Submarines of K-27 Type)
. Atrinaflot.narod.ru. Retrieved on 8 November 2011.
. Ruspodlodka.narod.ru. Retrieved on 8 November 2011.

Disposal

''K-27'' was officially decommissioned on 1 February 1979. During the summer of 1981 her reactor compartment was filled with a special solidifying mixture of

furfuryl alcohol Furfuryl alcohol is an organic compound containing a furan substituted with a hydroxymethyl group. It is a colorless liquid, but aged samples appear amber. It possesses a faint odor of burning and a bitter taste. It is miscible with but unstabl ...

and

bitumen Bitumen ( , ) is an immensely viscosity, viscous constituent of petroleum. Depending on its exact composition, it can be a sticky, black liquid or an apparently solid mass that behaves as a liquid over very large time scales. In American Engl ...

, at

shipyard No. 893 "Zvezdochka", to seal the compartment and avoid pollution of the ocean with radioactive products. ''K-27'' was then towed to a special training area in the western

Kara Sea The Kara Sea is a marginal sea, separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and from the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya archipelago. Ultimately the Kara, Barents and Laptev Seas are all ...

, and scuttled on 6 September 1982, in a

fjord In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...

at Stepovoy Bay at a depth of just , near position 72°31'28"N., 55°30'09"E. off the northeastern coast of

Novaya Zemlya Novaya Zemlya (, also , ; , ; ), also spelled , is an archipelago in northern Russia. It is situated in the Arctic Ocean, in the extreme northeast of Europe, with Cape Flissingsky, on the northern island, considered the extreme points of Europe ...

. The bow sank, reaching the sea floor, while the stern remained afloat; a naval salvage tug rammed it to pierce the aft

ballast tank A ballast tank is a Compartment (ship), compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water, which is used as ballast to provide hydrostatic stability for a vessel, to reduce or control buoyancy, as in a submarine, to co ...

s and complete the sinking. This scuttling was performed contrary to the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

's requirement that nuclear-powered submarines and surface ships must be scuttled at depths not less than . The last scientific expedition of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies to the Kara Sea examined the site of the scuttling in September 2006. Numerous samples of the seawater, the seafloor, and the sealife were gathered and then analyzed. The final report stated that the

levels of the area were stable. Lessons in nuclear submarine construction and safety learned from Project 645 were applied in Projects 705 and 705K – that produced the Soviet s. These were equipped with similar liquid-metal-cooled reactors.

Recovery plans

Although a joint Russian and Norwegian mission in 2012 did not find alarming levels of radioactivity in the water and soil surrounding the submarine, an urgent consideration pertains to the dismantling of the nuclear reactors should the submarine be raised. Because the reactors were cooled by liquid metals, the nuclear rods became fused with the coolant when the reactors were stopped and conventional methods cannot be used for disassembling the reactors. However,

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

's Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission designed and donated special equipment for a dedicated dry-dock (SD-10) in Gremikha, which was used to dismantle the Alfa-class submarines that shared this design feature. However, since the last Alfa reactor was dismantled in 2011, this equipment is at risk. In 2017, plans were again mooted to raise the submarine, by 2022. The Krylov State Research Center of

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

announced that it was working on plans for a catamaran floating dock, capable of such heavy lifts from the seabed. In March 2020, Russian President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

issued a draft decree for an initiative to lift the ''K-27'' and and four reactor compartments from the Barents Sea.

References

General

Le K27: un Tchernobyl sous-marin qui sommeille
{{DEFAULTSORT:K-027 November-class submarines Ships built in the Soviet Union 1962 ships Cold War submarines of the Soviet Union Maritime incidents in 1968 Lost submarines of the Soviet Union Sunken nuclear submarines Shipwrecks in the Kara Sea Novaya Zemlya 1968 in the Soviet Union Maritime incidents in 1982 1982 in the Soviet Union Maritime incidents in the Soviet Union Nuclear accidents and incidents Nuclear submarines of the Soviet Navy

Launch and operations

Disposal

Recovery plans

See also

References

General