Soviet submarine K-27
Encyclopedia
The K-27 was the only submarine of Projekt 645 in the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
. Project 645 did not have or need its own NATO reporting name
NATO reporting name
NATO reporting names are classified code names for military equipment of the Eastern Bloc...
. That project produced just one test model nuclear submarine
Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
, one which incorporated a pair of experimental VT-1
VT-1 reactor
The VT-1 reactor was the nuclear fission reactor used in a pair to power Soviet submarine K-27 as part of the Soviet Navy's Project 645 Кит-ЖМТ. It is a liquid metal cooled reactor , using highly enriched uranium-235 fuel to produce 73 MWt of power....
nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
s that used a liquid-metal coolant (a bismuth-lead alloy), placed into the modified hull of a November class submarine
November class submarine
The Project 627 class submarine was the Soviet Union's first class of nuclear-powered submarines. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization used the standard radio communication phonetic alphabet to denote submarine classes...
(Project 627A).
The keel of the K-27 was laid down on 15 June 1958 at Severodvinsk
Severodvinsk
Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...
Shipyard No. 402. She was launched on 1 April 1962, and she went into service as an experimental "attack submarine" on 30 October 1963. The K-27 was officially commissioned into the Soviet Northern Fleet on 7 September 1965. The K-27 was assigned to the 17th submarine division, headquartered at Gremikha
Ostrovnoy
Ostrovnoy , also known as Murmansk-140 , is a closed town in Murmansk Oblast, Russia. Population: The first Naval base was established here in 1915. There is no rail link to Ostrovnoy and the settlement is reachable by coastal ship, helicopter or small plane in winter.-References:...
).
The nuclear reactors of the 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 gases were released into her engine room; and the radiation
Radioactive decay
Radioactive decay is the process by which an atomic nucleus of an unstable atom loses energy by emitting ionizing particles . The emission is spontaneous, in that the atom decays without any physical interaction with another particle from outside the atom...
levels throughout the K-27 increased dangerously – increased by 1.5 grays per hour
Gray (unit)
The gray is the SI unit of absorbed radiation dose of ionizing radiation , and is defined as the absorption of one joule of ionizing radiation by one kilogram of matter ....
. This radiation consisted mostly of gamma ray
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
s and thermal neutrons, with some alpha radiation and beta radiation in addition – generated by the released radioactive gasses such as radon
Radon
Radon is a chemical element with symbol Rn and atomic number 86. It is a radioactive, colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, occurring naturally as the decay product of uranium or thorium. Its most stable isotope, 222Rn, has a half-life of 3.8 days...
, gassified radioactive isotope
Isotope
Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...
s of iodine
Iodine
Iodine is a chemical element with the symbol I and atomic number 53. The name is pronounced , , or . The name is from the , meaning violet or purple, due to the color of elemental iodine vapor....
, cesium, xenon
Xenon
Xenon is a chemical element with the symbol Xe and atomic number 54. The element name is pronounced or . A colorless, heavy, odorless noble gas, xenon occurs in the Earth's atmosphere in trace amounts...
, and krypton
Krypton
Krypton is a chemical element with the symbol Kr and atomic number 36. It is a member of Group 18 and Period 4 elements. A colorless, odorless, tasteless noble gas, krypton occurs in trace amounts in the atmosphere, is isolated by fractionally distilling liquified air, and is often used with other...
in her reactor compartment.
The training of her crew by the Soviet Navy had been inadequate, and these sailors did not recognize that their nuclear reactor
Nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
had suffered from extensive fuel element failure
Fuel element failure
A fuel element failure is a rupture in a nuclear reactor's fuel cladding that allows the nuclear fuel or fission products in the form of dissolved radioisotopes or hot particles to enter the reactor coolant or storage water....
s. By the time they gave up their attempts to repair her reactor at sea, nine of her crewmen had accumulated fatal radioactive exposures.
About one-fifth of her reactor core had experienced inadequate cooling
Loss of coolant
A loss-of-coolant accident is a mode of failure for a nuclear reactor; if not managed effectively, the results of a LOCA could result in reactor core damage...
caused by uneven coolant flows. Hot spots in the reactor had ruptured, releasing nuclear fuel and nuclear fission
Nuclear fission
In nuclear physics and nuclear chemistry, nuclear fission is a nuclear reaction in which the nucleus of an atom splits into smaller parts , often producing free neutrons and photons , and releasing a tremendous amount of energy...
products into the liquid-metal coolant, which circulated them throughout her reactor compartment.
The K-27 was laid up in Gremikha Bay starting on 20 June 1968. The cooling-off of her reactors and various experimental projects were carried out aboard her through 1973. These included the successful restarting of her starboard reactor up to the 40% of maximal power production. Plans were considered to slice off her reactor compartment and then to replace it with a new one containing standard VM-A water-cooled reactors. The rebuilding or replacement of her port nuclear reactor was considered to be too expensive, and also to be inappropriate because more modern nuclear submarine
Nuclear submarine
A nuclear submarine is a submarine powered by a nuclear reactor . The performance advantages of nuclear submarines over "conventional" submarines are considerable: nuclear propulsion, being completely independent of air, frees the submarine from the need to surface frequently, as is necessary for...
s had already entered service in the Soviet Navy
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy was the naval arm of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy would have played an instrumental role in a Warsaw Pact war with NATO, where it would have attempted to prevent naval convoys from bringing reinforcements across the Atlantic Ocean...
.
The K-27 was officially decommissioned on 1 February 1979 and her reactor compartment was filled with a special solidifying mixture of furfuryl alcohol
Furfuryl alcohol
Furfuryl alcohol, also called 2-furylmethanol or 2-furancarbinol, is an organic compound containing a furan substituted with a hydroxymethyl group. It is a clear colorless liquid when pure, but becomes amber colored upon prolonged standing. It possesses a faint burning odor and a bitter taste. ...
and bitumen during the summer of 1981 to seal the compartment to avoid pollution of the ocean with radioactive products. This work was performed by the Severodvinsk
Severodvinsk
Severodvinsk is a city in the north of Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia, located in the delta of the Northern Dvina River, west of Arkhangelsk. Administratively, it is incorporated as a town of oblast significance . Municipally, it is incorporated as Severodvinsk Urban Okrug. The city was founded as...
shipyard No. 893 "Zvezdochka".
Then the K-27 was towed to a special training area in the eastern Kara Sea
Kara Sea
The Kara Sea is part of the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia. It is separated from the Barents Sea to the west by the Kara Strait and Novaya Zemlya, and the Laptev Sea to the east by the Severnaya Zemlya....
, and she was scuttled there on 6 September 1982 near the location 72°31'28"N., 55°30'09"E. off the northeastern coast of Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
(at Stepovoy Bay), at a depth of just 33 meters. It was necessary for a naval salvage tug to ram the stern of the K-27 to pierce her aft ballast tank
Ballast tank
A ballast tank is a compartment within a boat, ship or other floating structure that holds water.-History:The basic concept behind the ballast tank can be seen in many forms of aquatic life, such as the blowfish or argonaut octopus, and the concept has been invented and reinvented many times by...
s and sink her, because the K-27's bow had impacted the seafloor while her stern was still afloat. This scuttling was performed contrary to the International Atomic Energy Authority's requirement that nuclear-powered submarines and surface ship
Surface ship
A surface ship is any type of naval ship that is confined to the surface of the sea. The term is primarily used to mean any modern vessel type that is not a submarine; although a "surface ship" may range in size from a cutter to an aircraft carrier, the weapons and tactics have some commonality,...
s must be scuttled at depths not less than 3,000 meters.
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 the analyzed. The final report stated that the radiation levels of the area were stable.
Lessons in nuclear submarine construction and safety learned from Projekt 645 were applied in Projects 705 and 705K – that produced the Soviet Alfa class submarine
Alfa class submarine
The Soviet Union/Russian Navy Project 705 was a class of hunter/killer nuclear powered submarines. The class is also known by the NATO reporting name of Alfa...
s. These were equipped with similar liquid-metal-cooled reactors.