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Nuclear Dangers
Last Updated 11/9/99
| Date | Place | Category | Danger |
| November 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Y2K | The U.S. State Department issues an "authorized voluntary departure policy" for U.S. Embassy personnel during the New Year holiday in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova. Officials do not believe that Y2K problems will be serious, though there may be "power outages and communications failures."87 |
| November 1999 | Sosnovy Bor, Russia | Security at Nuclear Power Plant | Environmental group Green World alleges that even after the Nuclear Ministry's September order to increase safety at nuclear sites, the nuclear power plant at Sosnovy Bor (LAES) is still largely accessible. Trucks have been allowed into the town unchecked, guards have been seen drunk on duty, over the past two years plant officials have confirmed at least three LAES employees were heroin addicts, and a temporary entrance to the overburdened and leaking spent fuel storage area is unprotected.86 |
| October 28, 1999 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Nuclear Power Plant | A generator at the Leningrad nuclear power plant short-circuits overnight, and is shut down for urgent repairs. This is the second incident of this kind in the past two years.85 |
| October 26, 1999 | Washington, D.C. | "Nuclear Suitcases" | Cambridge University professor Christopher Andrew and former KGB London Chief of Station Col. Oleg Godievsky testify before the House Armed Services military research and development subcommittee. Andrew and Vasili Mitrokhin, who worked as an archivist for the KGB, believe that the Soviets pre-positioned arms caches, like those found in Switzerland and Belgium, and possibly nuclear weapons on U.S. soil during the Cold War.84 |
| October 23, 1999 | Khasan Railroad Station, Russia | Alleged Transport of Radioactive Materials | Two Russian trains are detained at Khasan Station because radioactivity is detected on-board. Reportedly, both trains regularly operate between Khasan and Naijin-Sonbong, North Korea.83 |
| October 21, 1999 | Washington, D.C. | Y2K | The CIA informs Congress that it is "highly confident" Y2K won't cause the accidental launch of a ballistic missile. The CIA is still concerned over aging nuclear power plants in Russia and the Ukraine. The reactors could develop computer problems which may be aggravated by potential power failures. Furthermore, these older reactors have "inherent design problems" and lack total containment systems.82 |
| October 18, 1999 | Krasnodar, Russia | Unprotected Radioactive Waste | Russian public television reports on a closed research institute located within the city of Krasnodar. The institute was the site of testing for the possibility of agricultural work in the conditions created by atomic war. The facility is located within 1.5 km of the city's canal; its fields yield readings of up to 10 million-roentgen per hour. Unused radioactive material is stored in unguarded warehouses and deteriorating sarcophagi.81 |
| October 12, 1999 | Kiev, Ukraine | Nuclear Smuggling | Police find a highly radioactive container with Strontium-90 in a Kiev apartment while investigating a September smuggling case. Investigators previously said that the smuggling operation was carried out by an international group illegally transporting nuclear substances out of Russia.57 |
| October 1999 | near Barnaul, Russia | Russian Military | Soldiers from the Sirbirksy military settlement in western Siberia seize control of the local electric power plant for nearly 10 days after energy officials threaten to cut off power due to unpaid bills. Some military analysts fear this seizure of civilian infrastructure is a dangerous precedent.80 |
| September 1999 | Washington/Moscow | Y2K/Early Warning | American and Russian specialists locate "millennium bug" related problems with six of the seven nuclear security hotlines. The US government has promised to give Y2K compliant computers and software to Russia in case communication lines get disconnected.56 |
| September 20, 1999 | Tbilisi, Georgia | Nuclear Smuggling | Georgian officials confiscate a kilogram of low-enriched Uranium-235 fuel pellets just miles from the Turkish border. Georgian scientists claim that the material did not originate in their country; the material may have come from Russia or Ukraine.54, 55 |
| September 14, 1999 | Washington, D.C. | Y2K | The State Department releases Y2K preparedness report cards for 194 countries and territories. The report cautions that failures in Russia are "likely to occur in the key sectors of electrical power, heat, telecommunications, transportation, financial and emergency services." The Gartner Group Inc., an analyst firm in Stamford, CT, last month identified Russia as the highest risk for Y2K failures.53 |
| September 10, 1999 | Northern Fleet | Nuclear Submarines/ Theft | Thieves strip palladium filtration powder from the ventilation units in one of the Northern Fleet's nuclear submarines. The crew would have suffocated if the theft hadn't been discovered.52 |
| September 2, 1999 | Vladivostok, Russia | Attempted Sale of Radioactive Material | Undercover agents arrest a woman who tried to sell them 6.6 pounds of a radioactive uranium alloy from a base that services the Pacific fleet's nuclear submarines. Five co-conspirators were arrested as well.50, 51 |
| July 23, 1999 | Kazakhstan | Attempted Sale of Radioactive Material | A Russian officer is arrested in possession of highly radioactive substances that police say had been stolen from Baikonur space center. The officer was attempting to smuggle the materials to Uzbekistan.49 |
| July 20, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Power Cut | Units in charge of Russia's nuclear forces in the Far East report being left without power because the utility bill has not been paid. The cutoff temporarily incapacitates military radar in the Khabarovsk region.48 |
| July 19, 1999 | Kiev, Ukraine | Nuclear Power Plant | Two workers at Chernobyl are exposed to radiation during safety checks at the plant's only operational core. The device the two were using, which emits gamma rays, fell out of its protective case.47 |
| July 15, 1999 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Attempted Sale of Radioactive Material | Two employees from one of Russia's nuclear-powered ships in the port of Murmansk are arrested while trying to sell radioactive material. The Californium 252 is used in Russia's nuclear-powered ice-breaker fleet.46 |
| July 13, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Y2K | Alexander Ivanov, head of the Russian state committee for telecommunications, states that Russia has fixed fewer than a third of possible millennium bug problems. Officials told a government meeting that Russia was behind schedule and underfinanced in dealing with the problem, but that it would still be resolved in time. Russian Finance Minister Mikhail Kasyanov states that government ministries and agencies, which had collectively requested $370 million to combat the problem, have agreed that $187 million will be enough, with priority funding for defense applications.45 |
| July 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Condition of the Russian Military | Russia has promised to spend $6.7 billion, or 28.5% of its budget, to boost its aging military. Both conventional and nuclear forces are crumbling, and Russian forces will not get any new weapons before 2005. Soldiers are short of food, clothing and other necessities, and crime is rampant among the troops. Seventeen generals and admirals were convicted of corruption in 1998.44 |
| July 2, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Y2K | In speaking of the Y2K threat, Sergey Zykov, principal deputy executive director of the Moscow-based International Science and Technology Center, states "we'll never be 100 percent sure there will be no problems, our organization can't satisfy all the needs of this critical time." He says that in some cases the Soviet-era programmers who designed the computer systems have emigrated to better-paying jobs.43 |
| July 1999 | Nuclear Submarines | Russia calls for the U.S. to fund a $160 million project to transport spent fuel from Northern and Pacific nuclear-submarine fleets, or Russian leaders will violate every nuclear-disarmament treaty. The radioactive material in the decaying Pacific fleet could severely threaten Alaskan fishing waters.42 | |
| June 1999 | Near Iceland | Russian military exercises | Two Russian strategic bombers fly near the Icelandic coastline, within striking distance of the US, during military exercises (West '99). "The move was the latest in a pattern of perplexing Russian military actions in recent weeks that have prompted concern in Washington and elsewhere about President Boris Yeltsin's control over his government and armed forces."41 |
| June 28, 1999 | Smolensk, Russia | Nuclear Power Plant | Two workers are irradiated at the Tomsk-7 nuclear reactor while replacing plutonium reactors.40 Fire alarm goes off at the Smolensk nuclear power plant due to a fusion in a sleeve coupling of a fan's feeding cable.39 |
| June 24, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Y2K | The Russian Duma unanimously passes a law obliging government and private entities to work out plans for averting chaos at midnight on December 31, 1999. Government experts have said that the country needs $2-3 billion dollars to tackle the millennium bug. Military experts say they have just $4 million to spend on upgrading the nuclear arsenal's computer brains.38 |
| June 22, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Nuclear Submarines | First Deputy Prime Minister Nikolay Aksenenko says that the breaking up of written-off ships in the Northern Fleet poses an urgent problem. He states that the Defense Ministry and the Russian government will work to resolve the problem.37 |
| June14, 1999 | Seversk, Tomsk Region, Russia | Radioactive Leak | Two Russian workers suffer exposure to high doses of radiation at the Siberian Chemical Plant after the failure of the emergency prevention system.36 |
| June 11, 1999 | Murmansk, Russia | Nuclear Submarines | Military experts' investigation confirms that the sailor who shot eight, barricaded himself in the torpedo room, and threatened to blow up a Russian submarine in September, 1998, did threaten the Russian north with a nuclear disaster. The only change to the system used to guard nuclear weapons is that there are now two people on watch instead of one at the Gadzhiyevo docks where the incident occurred.35 |
| April 1999 | Kola Peninsula, Russia | Nuclear Waste Management | US and European agencies monitoring nuclear safety target problems in Russia's nuclear waste management in the Kola Peninsula: discarded reactors of dismantled submarines still contain their fuel elements, concrete tanks in which spent fuel is stored are cracked and run-down, some storage facilities have become so overcrowded that nuclear elements are stored in the open, sea water is corroding the hulls of decommissioned nuclear submarines, and the level of cobalt-60 in sea sediments is alarming.34 |
| March 15, 1999 | Russia | Y2K | Sergei Fradkov, a former Soviet satellite control technician says "Russia is extremely vulnerable to the Year 2000 problem...if the data shifts to 0 for a brief moment...that fools the system into thinking there is a high probability of an attack in progress."33 |
| March 5, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Nuclear Submarines | The Russian State Nuclear Oversight Committee issues a warning that more than 100 decommissioned nuclear submarines rusting in Russia's Arctic ports threaten to leak radioactive waste because the government cannot afford to unload spent fuel quickly enough.32 |
| March 4, 1999 | US/Russia | Y2K | The US and Russia reach an agreement to set up a center to ensure that neither country launches a nuclear attack erroneously if computers' early warning systems are adversely affected by the Y2K problem. The US Defense Department plans to locate the Center for Year 2000 Strategic Stability in Colorado Springs.31 |
| March 2, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Y2K | Vladimir Dvorkin, head of a Defense Ministry department in charge of missile-warning systems, insists that Russia would be less likely to retaliate to a false alarm caused by the millennium bug if the US and NATO heeded Moscow's demands about bombing Iraq and Yugoslavia. He says that "the risk of making a wrong decision is higher when international tensions escalate" and that 74 control centers of Russia's Strategic Nuclear Forces were judged to be in "critical" condition because of their unpreparedness for the Y2K glitch.30 |
| March 2, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Y2K | Russia's military says that the country has less than US $2 million available to tackle the Y2K problem, but vows that everything is under control.29 It has been estimated that it will cost $3 billion to tackle the Y2K problem in Russia.28 |
| February 1999 | Washington, D.C. | Nuclear Disarmament Projects | The GAO releases a study which states that many of the Russian nuclear disarmament projects funded by the DOE have gone awry. Some of the funding has subsidized scientists working on weapons of mass destruction. The study concludes: "Some 'dual-use' projects may have unintentionally provided defense-related information-an outcome that could negatively affect U.S. national security interests."27 |
| February 1999 | Murmansk, Russia | Nuclear Theft | A naval conscript steals and sells components containing precious metals from a nuclear submarine of the Northern Fleet. The sailor stole 24 coils of palladium-vanadium alloy wire. Instruments which control the submarine's reactor were disabled in the process.59 |
| February 17, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Y2K | Alexander Krupnov, head of the Russian state communication committee, says Russia needs up to $3 billion to tackle Y2K problem, six times the original estimate. The Russian Defense Ministry inventory of computer-controlled military systems reveals that only 22% are equipped for the year 2000, and that there is no money to upgrade the computers, some of which are 20 years old.28 |
| February 11, 1999 | Moscow, Russia | Early Warning | According to Russian and Western security analysts, Russia's early-warning defense against missile attack is deteriorating because Moscow cannot replenish the array of satellites it needs to monitor US missile silos and submarines, increasing the risk of a response to a false alert.26 |
| February 3, 1999 | Washington, D.C. | Proliferation Dangers | In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, CIA Director George Tenet says that Russia has increased help to Iran for producing longer-range missiles that could carry WMD. The Russian Duma voted in October to increase military cooperation with Iran. Tenet states that Russia, North Korea, and China continue to trade cash for expertise and materials for producing WMD.25 |
| January 1999 | Washington, D.C. | Proliferation Dangers | The U.S. lodges trade penalties against three more Russian institutions (in addition to seven last July) for allegedly providing sensitive missile and nuclear assistance to Iran. The U.S. suspects these institutions provided Iranians with material that might be used for elements of a ballistic missile, training in ballistic missile design, or consulting services for the development of ballistic missiles.24 |
| December 17, 1998 | Chelyabinsk region, Russia | Stolen Radioactive Material | The Federal Security Service announces that it has foiled a theft of 18.5 kg of radioactive material suitable for "the production of nuclear weapons components" from a facility in the Chelyabinsk region. (If this material was really plutonium or HEU, as the report implied, this would be by far the largest theft of directly weapons-usable material on record -- enough at one stroke for a nuclear bomb.)79 |
| December 1998 | Belgium & Switzerland | Soviet-Era Arms Caches | Officials in Belgium and Switzerland locate Soviet arms caches using secret documents smuggled out of Moscow by former KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin.84 Swiss investigators found a bomb88, while Belgian officials uncovered three caches containing radio sets dating from the 1960s.89 |
| November 19, 1998 | Chelyabinsk-70, Russia | Unpaid Workers | 3,000 workers stage a one-day strike over unpaid wages at Chelyabinsk-70, one of Russia's premier nuclear weapons design laboratories, complaining of "constant undernourishment, insufficient medical service, inability to buy clothing and footwear for children or to pay for their education.78 |
| October 1998 | Russia | Unpaid Workers | A Strategic Rocket Forces officer at a base for Topol-M ICBMs is quoted on Russian television as saying that he had received his pay only through July, despite promises that back wages would be paid in October.77 |
| October 12, 1998 | Russia | Russian Nuclear Security | Sergei Ushakov, a spokesman for Russia's Chief Military Prosecutor's Office, reports that some twenty servicemen serving in the Strategic Rocket Forces were discharged during 1997-1998 after being diagnosed with psychiatric disorders, and that some of these were responsible for guarding nuclear arsenals. The office issued a report indicating the Strategic Rocket Forces, of all the services in Russia's military, had the most rapid increase in its crime rate, 25 percent higher in 1997 than in 1996.76 |
| October 9, 1998 | Russia | Unpaid Troops | General Igor Volynkin, commander of the 12th Main Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, in charge of security for nuclear weapons, tells a press conference that Russia is fully capable of protecting its nuclear weapons, but acknowledges that the directorate's troops have not been given any higher priority in receiving pay than other troops, that they have received the paychecks due them only through July, and that the directorate is helping officers to collect vegetables and potatoes for the winter in lieu of cash.75 |
| October 1998 | Russia | Smuggling | Russian customs intercepts five "Hip C" assault transport helicopters with weapons pods, apparently stolen by military officers, bound for North Korea. The helicopters, valued at $300,000 each, were reportedly being sold for $20,000 apiece.74 |
| October 1998 | Russia | Russian Nuclear Security | At some nuclear facilities, MVD guards are leaving their posts to forage for food. Others have been reluctant to patrol facility perimeters because they do not have winter uniforms to keep them warm on patrol. At some facilities, recently installed security equipment is not being used because there is no money to maintain it; at others, guards who have not been paid in months are expected to man unheated posts in sub-freezing conditions.71 At some facilities, entire security systems -- alarms, surveillance cameras, portal monitors, etc. -- have been shut down because the facilities' electricity has been cut off for non-payment of bills.72 At other facilities, guards have intentionally turned off alarm systems, or even cut their cables, because they were annoyed by frequent false alarms.73 |
| September 1998 | Krasnoyarsk-26, Russia | Power Cut | At the closed Siberian nuclear city, home to enough plutonium for hundreds or thousands of nuclear bombs, the heat is shut off for weeks, because lack of money delayed shipments of fuel to the reactor that heats the city, and workers staged a protest over unpaid wages at the plutonium processing facility. Shortly before this incident, the facility director wrote to Ministry of Atomic Energy headquarters in Moscow, warning that "wage payments are three months behind schedule…The social tension in the shops and factories has reached the critical level, and its consequences are unpredictable."70 |
| September 1998 | Moscow, Russia | Russian Nuclear Security | A U.S. team visiting the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow is shown a building containing 100 kilograms of highly enriched uranium -- potentially enough for several nuclear bombs -- that is totally unguarded, because the Institute can not afford the $200-a-month salary for a guard.69 |
| September 20, 1998 | Mayak, Russia | Russian Nuclear Security | A Ministry of Internal Affairs (MVD) sergeant at the Mayak facility, where over 30 tons of separated weapons-usable civilian plutonium is stored, shoots two of his MVD comrades and wounds another before escaping with an assault rifle and ammunition. The incident reportedly leads President Yeltsin to order a review of nuclear security at the site.68 |
| September 17, 1998 | Russia | Nuclear Industry Workers Strike | The Nuclear Industry Workers stage a week of protests and strikes. The staff has gone unpaid for five months, and is demanding immediate payment plus compensation for the high rate of inflation. Deputy chairman of the Russian Union of Nuclear Industry Workers Ivan Gradobitov warns, "I'm very scared of a nuclear explosion."23 |
| September 11, 1998 | Murmansk, Russia | Nuclear Submarines | A 19-year-old Russian sailor attacks and kills a sentry aboard a Russian nuclear submarine, kills 7 others, and locks himself in the torpedo bay before taking his own life.22 |
| September 1998 | Russia | Unpaid Workers | Minister of Atomic Energy Evgeniy Adamov informs nuclear workers protesting months of unpaid wages that the government owes the ministry over $170 million, and has not provided a single ruble in two months.66 Some 47,000 unpaid nuclear workers join in protests at various locations around the country, over what the nuclear workers' trade union say is over $400 million in back wages to workers in the nuclear sector.67 |
| September 5, 1998 | Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site, Russia | Russian Nuclear Security | Five soldiers from the 12th Main Directorate at Novaya Zemlya kill a guard at the facility, take another guard hostage and attempt to hijack an aircraft. After seizing more hostages, they are disarmed by other Ministry of Defense forces and Federal Security Service commandos.65 |
| September 3, 1998 | Krasnoyarsk, Russia | Unpaid Workers | Russian radio reports that the mayor of Krasnoyarsk-45, one of Russia's closed "nuclear cities," where enough HEU for hundreds or thousands of bombs is located, has written to Krasnoyarsk Governor Alexander Lebed and Atomic Energy Minister Evgeniy Adamov warning that unless urgent action is taken, a social explosion in the city is unavoidable. Due to a cutoff in payments from the Atomic Ministry's bank, public sector workers were not paid in August, and even basic medical supplies could not be purchased.64 |
| August 1998 | Russia | Condition of the Russian Military | Defense Minister Igor Sergeyev issues an order to all military officers to "look for additional sources [of sustenance for the winter] and assume personal control." The Defense Ministry announced that trips would be organized for all soldiers and officers to take to the fields to harvest mushrooms, berries, and other sources of food for the winter. In the Far East region of Khabarovsk, the territorial administration has reportedly stopped providing bread to military units, due to non-payment of debts.63 |
| July 1998 | Kemerovo region, Russia | Nuclear Cargo Detained | Miners block the railroad near Yurga station and refuse to allow a train carrying radioactive uranium to pass. The miners blocked the Trans-Siberian Railroad for several days to protest nonpayment of wages.60 |
| July 1, 1997 | Vladivostok, Russia | Nuclear Submarines | 300 employees of Russia's Far East nuclear submarine-servicing plant block the Trans-Siberian railway, demanding their wages and saying that they have not been paid for 10 months.21 |
| May 30, 1997 | Moscow, Russia | Nuclear Submarines | A 1970's vintage Russian nuclear submarine, taken out of service in 1993 and stored offshore waiting to be scrapped, sinks.20 |
| May 30, 1997 | Chita, Russia | Russian Military | A Russian soldier kills one officer and six soldiers guarding military stores and escapes from his Siberian unit.19 |
| May 1997 | Washington, D.C. | Alleged Missing Nuclear Weapons | Aleksandr Lebed alleges that the Russian government cannot account for 80 small atomic demolition munitions (ADMs) in testimony before a US congressional delegation. In September when the charges become public, the Russian government denies that Soviet ADMs were ever manufactured. While Lebed's accusations cannot be confirmed, there is evidence that the Russian government is not being completely candid about the issue.18 |
| May 1996 | Krasnoyarsk, Russia | Manufacture/Export of Nuclear Materials | A scientist employed by a Krasnoyarsk-based research facility is criminally prosecuted for manufacturing and exporting radioactive materials.61 |
| 1996 | Nuclear submarines | Retired Russian naval officer and environmentalist Alexander Nikitin and Thomas Nilsen of Bellona release a report on the dangers posed by "leaky subs and mountains of spent nuclear fuel" in Russia's Northern Fleet. Nikitin was later charged with treason for the report.17 | |
| 1995-1996 | Chechnya, Russia | Russian Military | Weakness of Russia's conventional forces is exposed during a large scale military operation against rebels in Chechnya. A 1996 CIA report that looks at the unauthorized use of nuclear weapons by Russian strategic forces raises the prospect that civilian leaders could lose control of the nuclear arsenal to the military. A separate US intelligence report reveals that Moscow quickly escalated to the use of battlefield nuclear weapons during a war game because of the poor state of conventional forces. Another report says that Russian leaders questioned whether there are adequate controls on the nuclear arsenal, and that in one case a computer glitch caused nuclear missile crews to go on higher than normal alert.16 |
| November 1995 | Moscow, Russia | Nuclear Smuggling/ Terrorism | Chechen rebels leave a container of radioactive Cesium-135 at Izmailovsky Park and inform Russian secret services through journalists. The stunt demonstrates that the rebels have access to nuclear materials.58 |
| September 21, 1995 | Off the coast of Northern Russia | Nuclear Submarines | Kola Peninsula power company cuts electricity to Northern Fleet submarine base over the fleet's failure to pay a $4.5 million bill. The submarines' backup power system fails, causing reactors to nearly overheat.15 |
| April 19, 1995 | Poprad, Slovakia | Nuclear Smuggling | Authorities arrest nine people and confiscate over 100 pounds of nonfissile uranium-238. Officials at the IAEA have identified nuclear reactors and weapons plants of the former USSR as the "chief source of radioactive materials being smuggled to the West."14 |
| January, 1995 | Early Warning | Norwegian sounding rocket launch, of which Norway notified Russia one month in advance, is detected by Russian early warning systems and prompts security alert and activation of President Yeltsin's nuclear briefcase.13 | |
| December 14, 1994 | Prague, Czech Republic | Nuclear Smuggling | Prague police stop a Czech nuclear scientist and discover nearly six pounds of enriched uranium in the back seat. The uranium is traced back to the Russian nuclear research center at Obninsk.12 |
| August 24, 1994 | Russia | Nuclear Smuggling | Russian authorities arrest two men possessing 21 pounds of industrial uranium-238. The material was stolen from a secret nuclear center.11 |
| August 13, 1994 | Munich, Germany | Nuclear Smuggling | German officials seize 500 grams of weapons-grade plutonium smuggled in from Russia.10 The material may have originated in Obninsk.9 |
| June 1994 | Sevmorput, Russia | Attempted Sale of Nuclear Materials | A suspicious co-worker notifies the authorities. The thieves are caught with 4.5 kg of highly enriched uranium from the Naval Shipyard at Sevmorput.9 |
| June 13, 1994 | Landshut, Germany | Nuclear Smuggling | Undercover German police catch thieves in sting operation. The suspects possess 800 mg of highly enriched uranium, which may have originated in Obninsk.9 |
| May 10, 1994 | Tengen, Germany | Theft of Nuclear Materials | Police in suspect's apartment stumble upon cache of 6.15 g of plutonium. The material may have originated at Arzamas-16.9 |
| 1994 | En route to North Korea | Proliferation Dangers | Russian state security department intercepts North Korean passenger plane with over 20 Russian missile experts on board, said to be on their way to North Korea to take up posts at a missile research institute.8 |
| July 29, 1993 | Andreeva Guba, Murmansk Region, Russia | Theft of Nuclear Material | Russian security forces arrest thieves with 1.8 kg of highly enriched uranium before they can smuggle the material out of Russia. The material was stolen from the Naval base storage facility at Andreeva Guba.9 |
| May 1993 | Vilnius, Lithuania | Nuclear Smuggling | Detectives in Lithuania discover over 4 tons of beryllium in bank vaults in Vilnius and Kaunas. Russian organized crime is found to be behind the shipment.7 |
| April 1993 | Tomsk, Russia | Nuclear Explosion | A tank holding radioactive waste explodes at the Tomsk-7 nuclear weapons facility. The incident is rated as a "serious incident" by the IAEA; Russian officials call it the most serious nuclear accident in the Former Soviet Union since Chernobyl.62 |
| March 20, 1993 | Barents Sea, near Kola Peninsula, USSR | Nuclear Submarines | Russian Delta III class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine carrying 16 SS-N-18 nuclear armed missiles is struck by the US nuclear-powered attack submarine USS Grayling, and sustains minor damage.6 |
| October 9, 1992 | Podolsk, Russia | Theft of Nuclear Material | Russian police intercept a smuggler with 1.5 kg of highly enriched uranium in the Podolsk train station. The material was stolen from Luch Scientific Production Association. 9 |
| March 1992 | St. Petersburg, Russia | Radioactive Leak | A Finnish scientist discovers iodine in air samples gathered about 85 miles north of the Russian nuclear power plant at Sosnovy Bor. The sample indicates that the plant may have been leaking radioactive iodine for five days before the accident reported earlier in the month.5 |
| February 11, 1992 | Off the coast of Murmansk, Russia | Nuclear Submarines | USS Baton Rouge and Russian Sierra class nuclear-powered submarine collide.4 |
| 1991 | Nuclear Power Plants | The IAEA studies the drawbacks of VVER-230 Soviet-type reactors, operating at ten plants in Slovakia, Russia, Bulgaria and Armenia. The study finds 100 safety defects including "no viable emergency system for cooling the core, inadequate fire protection and the lack of a containment structure to keep radiation from escaping in case of an accident." The IAEA also calls for immediate closure of 15 RBMK reactors in Russia, Ukraine and Lithuania.3 | |
| September 27, 1991 | White Sea, USSR | Nuclear Submarines | Missile misfires aboard Soviet Typhoon class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine during a training exercise. The submarine is able to return to base, but the accident had the potential to sink the submarine, along with its two nuclear reactors and nuclear-armed missiles and torpedoes.6 |
| April 7, 1989 | Norwegian Sea | Nuclear Submarines | Soviet Mike class nuclear-powered submarine sinks following on-board fires and explosions. The submarine was powered by one nuclear reactor and carried two nuclear torpedoes.6 |
| October 6, 1986 | Atlantic Ocean north of Bermuda | Nuclear Submarines | Soviet Yankee class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine armed with16 SS-N-6 missiles and possibly two nuclear torpedoes sinks after an explosion in one of the missile tubes. 34 nuclear warheads are estimated to have been on board.6 |
| April 26, 1986 | Kiev, USSR | Nuclear Power Plant | Unauthorized experiment at Chernobyl nuclear power plant leaves 31 dead and spreads radioactive material over much of Europe.2 |
| August 10, 1985 | Vladivostok, USSR | Nuclear Submarines | The reactor of a Soviet Victor-I class submarine at the Chazhma Bay naval yard goes critical during refueling operations because the control rods are incorrectly removed when the lid is raised. The resulting explosion releases large amounts of radioactivity, contaminating an area of 6 km. Ten workers are killed.1 |
| September 8, 1977 | Pacific Ocean, near Kamchatka, USSR | Nuclear Submarines | Soviet Delta I nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine accidentally jettisons a nuclear warhead after a build-up of pressure in the missile launch tube.6 |
| April 8-11, 1970 | Atlantic Ocean, 300 miles northwest of Spain | Nuclear Submarines | Soviet November class K-8 nuclear-powered attack submarine sinks. The submarine is powered by two nuclear reactors and carries two nuclear torpedoes.6 |
| 1970 | Nizhny Novgorod, USSR | Nuclear Submarines | New Soviet Charlie class submarine in Krasnoe Sormovo shipbuilding yard experiences an uncontrolled start up of the ship's reactor, leading to a fire and a release of radioactivity.1 |
| March 8-10, 1968 | Pacific Ocean, 750 miles northwest of Oahu, Hawaii | Nuclear Submarines | Soviet Golf II class diesel-powered ballistic missile submarine, armed with three nuclear SS-N-5 missiles, sinks.6 |
| February, 1965 | Severodvinsk, USSR | Nuclear Submarines | While the reactor core of a Russian November class submarine is being removed, the reactor lid is opened and lifted without first securing control rods, resulting in the release of radioactive steam. Work is suspended, but the incorrect conclusions are drawn as to the cause. This is attempted again February 12, resulting in the release of more steam and a fire.1 |
| July 4, 1961 | North Atlantic | Nuclear Submarines | Soviet Hotel class ballistic missile submarine develops a leak in the primary cooling circuit. The crew is exposed to radiation while improvising a system to provide coolant to the reactors, 8 die as a result of radiation sickness.1 |
| October 7, 1957 | Kasli, USSR | Chemical Explosion | Chemical explosion in tanks containing nuclear waste spreads radioactive material and forces major evacuation.2 |
End Notes
(NOTE: Due to the quickly changing nature of news websites, some links may no longer be valid.)
1. Thomas Nilsen, Igor Kudrik and Alexander Nikitin, "The Russian Northern Fleet Nuclear Submarine Accidents," Bellona Report nr. 2:96, (http://www.bellona.no/e/russia/nfl/nfl8.htm), (6/10/99).
2. "Notable Nuclear Accidents," The World Almanac and Book of Facts (1995), downloaded from University of Nebraska at Omaha, (http://cid.unomaha.edu/~ajuska/SOC3850/nuclear.htm), (6/10/99).
3. Tony Wesolowsky, "The Next Chernobyl," In These Times, September 19, 1999, p. 3.
4. Eugene Miasnikov, "Submarine Collision off Murmansk: A Look from Afar," downloaded from Center for Arms Control, Energy, and Environmental Studies, (http://www.armscontrol.ru/subs/collisions/db080693.htm), (6/10/99).
5. Mara Rose Williams, "World in Brief," The Atlanta Journal Constitution, March 26, 1992, p. A15.
6. "Selected Accidents Involving Nuclear Weapons, 1950-1993," Greenpeace, (http://www.greenpeace.org/~comms/nukes/ctbt/read3html), (6/10/99).
7. Tim Zimmermann and Alan Cooperman, "The Russian Connection," U.S. News & World Report, October 23, 1995, Vol. 119, No. 16: 56.
8. "Russians Sanguine About Y2K," Reuters, March 2, 1999.
9. Emily S. Ewell, "NIS Nuclear Smuggling Since 1995: A Lull in Significant Cases?" The Nonproliferation Review, Spring/Summer 1998: 119-125.
10. "German police put a dent in nuclear smuggling from Russia," The Houston Chronicle, August 14, 1994, p. 23A.
11. "Russians Seize Stolen Uranium," Chicago Tribune, August 25, 1994, p. 1C.
12. Gregory Katz, "Uranium smuggling ring still eluding Czech investigators," The Dallas Morning News, February 11, 1998, p. 10A.
13. Rep. Curt Weldon, "Anti-Missile Defense System Protects Country Against Rogue States and Accidental Launches," Roll Call, April 29, 1996.
14. Christine Spolar, "Slovakia Holds 9 in Uranium Plot; Car From Ukraine Said to Bring in 100 Pounds of Nuclear Material," The Washington Post, April 22, 1995, p. A25.
15. "Russia Narrowly Averts Nuclear Disaster," Times-Picayune, September 22, 1995, p. A22.
16. Bill Gertz, "Russian Troop Deployments Stir Fear of Instability," Washington Times Exclusive, July 21-27, 1999, (http://www.washtimes-weekly.com:80/stories/exclusive.html), (6/21/99).
17. Andrew Meier, "Kept Out in the Cold; A warning about the dangers of Russia's rotting nukes trapped Alexander Nikitin in a legal maze," Time, November 16, 1998: 32.
18. Scott Parrish and John Lepingwell, "Are Suitcase Nukes on the Loose? The Story Behind the Controversy," Center for Nonproliferation Studies, (http://www.cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/lebedst.htm), (10/18/99).
19. "Russian Soldier Kills Six Comrades Before Escaping From His Unit," Associated Press, May 30, 1997, International News.
20. "Russian Nuclear Submarine Sinks at Naval Base," Agence France Presse, May 30, 1997, International News.
21. "Russian Workers Block Rail, Demanding 10 Months' Pay," Seattle Times, July 1, 1997, p. A10.
22. Richard C. Paddock, "Loose Cannons?" Star Tribune, October 7, 1998, p. 15A.
23. "Scared of a nuclear explosion," Foreign Report, No. 2512, September 17, 1998.
24. Paul Mann, "Russia-Iran Link Fuels Nuke/Missile Threat," Aviation Week and Space Technology, January 18, 1999, Vol. 150, No. 3: 22.
25. Rowan Scarborough, "Tenet Warns US Faces Threats on Many Fronts," Washington Times, February 3, 1999.
26. David Hoffman, "Old Satellites Give Russia Dangerous Blind Spots," International Herald Tribune, February 11, 1999, (http://www.iht.com:80/IHT/TODAY/THU/FPAGE/nuke.2.html), (2/16/99).
27. Jacob Heilbrunn, "Just Say Nyet," The New Republic, March 22, 1999:22.
28. Dorthea Huelsmeier, "Russia's Nuclear Forces Struggle With Computer 2000 Problem," Deutche Presse-Agentur, February 17, 1999, International News.
29. "Russians Sanguine About Y2K, Reuters, March 2, 1999.
30. Anna Dolgov, "Official: Tensions With NATO Raise Danger of False Missile Warnings," Associated Press, March 2, 1999, International News.
31. Bob Brewin, "U.S./Russian Y2K Center to Avoid Nuclear Exchange," Cable News Network, March 4, 1999.
32. "Russians Concede Threat From Retired Subs," Washington Post, March 5, 1999, p. A28, World in Brief.
33. Kevin Sanders, "What if the World's Y2K Computer Problems Aren't Fixed in Time?" The Nation, March 15, 1999, (http://www.thenation.com:80/issue/990315/0315sanders.shtml), (3/4/99).
34. Al Venter, "Russian nuclear neglect may cause next Chernobyl," Jane's Defense Weekly, Vol. 31, No. 14, April 7, 1999.
35. "Nuclear Incident Narrowly Averted in Russian Northern Fleet," British Broadcasting Corporation, June 11, 1999, BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political.
36. "Radioactive Leak Reported in Russian Plant," Xinhua, June 28, 1999.
37. Michael Wines, "Russia's First Deputy PM Says Written-Off Nuclear Ships Pose Urgent Problem," British Broadcasting Corporation, June 23, 1999, BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union - Political.
38. "Wake Up To Y2K Bug, Duma Tells Russia," Reuters, June 25, 1999, (http://www.russiatoday.com:80/news.php3?id=75472), (6/25/99).
39. "Russian Nuclear Reactors Registered No Accidents In June," Itar-Tass, July 1, 1999.
40. "Two People Irradiated at Siberian Nuclear Reactor," Agence France Presse, June 29, 1999, (http://www.russiatoday.com:80/news.php3?id=76025), (6/29/99).
41. Dana Priest, "Russian Bombers Make Iceland Foray," The Washington Post, July 1, 1999, p. A01.
42. Timothy W. Maier, "Russian Armada Poisons the Seas," Insight on the News, July 5, 1999: 14.
43. "Russia Hustles to Avoid Year 2000 Nuclear Disasters," Bloomberg, July 2, 1999.
44. Barry Renfrew, "Russian government tries to save crumbling military," The Associated Press, July 3, 1999, International News.
45. "Russia Behind Schedule on Millennium Bug," Reuters, July 13, 1999, (http://www.russiatoday.com:80/news.php3?id=78589), (7/13/99).
46. "Two Arrested in St. Petersburg With Radioactive Material," Reuters, July 15, 1999, (http://www.russiatoday.com:80/news.php3?id=79174), (7/19/99).
47. Viktor Luhovyk, "2 Exposed to Radiation at Chernobyl," Associated Press, July 19, 1999, (http://search.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WAPO/19990719/V000409-071999-idx.html), (7/21/99).
48. Sharon LaFraniere, "Power to Russian Nuclear Forces is Shut Off," Washington Post, July 21, 1999, p. A15, (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1999-072199-idx.html), (7/21/99).
49. "Russian Officer Smuggles Nuclear Materials In Central Asia," Agence France Presse, July 23, 1999, (http://www.russiatoday.com:80/news.php?id=80940), (7/23/99).
50. "Russia police report bust of nuclear smuggling ring," Reuters News Service, September 2, 1999.
51. Anatoly Medetsky, "Uranium Sellers Arrested," Vladivostok News, September 3, 1999.
52. "Thieves Disabled Nuclear Sub, Report Says," Tribune News Service, September 12, 1999.
53. "U.S. government warns citizens of Y2K failures overseas," CNN, (http://www.cnn.com/TECH/computing/9909/14/warnings.y2k.o2/index.html), (9/15/99).
54. "Government Nabs Stolen Uranium," Chicago Tribune, September 26, 1999, p. 9.
55. Michael R. Gordon, "Low-Level Nuke Pellets Confiscated in Ex-USSR," The New York Times News Service, September 25, 1999.
56. "The Millennium Bug Problem May Affect the Hotlines of Nuclear Security Connecting the Kremlin and the White House," Defense and Security, SECURITY, October 4, 1999.
57. "Police find Strontium-90 container in Kiev apartment," AP Worldstream, International News, October 12, 1999.
58. "Be Prepared For Nuclear Terrorism," What The Papers Say, (Source: Itogi, No. 41, 12 Oct. 1999, pp. 34-35), October 19, 1999.
59. "Sailor steals parts from nuclear submarine's reactor control room," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, (Source: ‘Kommersant', Moscow, 18 Feb 1999), February 24, 1999.
60. Simon Saradzhyan, "Miners Ignore Warnings, Block Train of Uranium," The Moscow Times, July 15, 1998.
61. "INTERNAL AFFAIRS; Counterintelligence arrests illegal exporter of nuclear material," BBC Summary of World Broadcasts, (Source: ITAR-TASS news agency (World Service), Moscow, 7 May 1996), May 7, 1996.
62. Michael Dobbs, "Blast at Siberian Plant Called ‘Worst Since Chernobyl,'" The Washington Post, April 8, 1993, p. A31.
63. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Russian Army Sells Arms to Pay for Food: Global Intelligence Update Red Alert," GlobalBeat (http://www.nyu.edu/globalbeat/index.html) October 9, 1998.
64. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. Radio Russia, Moscow, in Russian, 0400 Greenwich Mean Time, September 3, 1998, translated in "Bank Default Threatens Social Explosion in Krasnoyarsk," British Broadcasting Corporation, September 4, 1998.
65. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Yeltsin Orders Nuclear Security Probe," op.cit.; see also "Underlying Reason: Crime in the Russian Army Has Rolled up to Nuclear Munitions Units, But the Ministry of Defense Believes Russia Is Capable of Controlling Weapons of Mass Destruction Without Foreign Intervention," Vladimir Georgiev, Moscow Nezavisimoye Voyennoye Obozreniye, September 11-13, 1998, No. 34, p. 1, translated in Foreign Broadcast Information Service, Central Eurasia, September 23, 1998.
66. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Russia's Nuclear Force Sinks With the Ruble: Economic Crisis Erodes Strategic Arsenal," David Hoffman, The Washington Post, September 18, 1998.
67. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Nuclear Center Staffers to Join Nation-Wide Protest," Itar-Tass, September 11, 1998, and "Fund Arrears Imperil Russia's Nuclear Sites," Kevin O'Flynn, The Moscow Times, September 8, 1998.
68. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Yeltsin Prders Nuclear Security Probe," Bill Gertz, The Washington Times, October 21, 1998.
69. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Where Nuclear Peril Lies Waiting," Elisabeth Rindskopf, Chicago Tribune, October 12, 1998.
70. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Special Report: The Hidden City: Hard Times at Russia's Once-Pampered Nuclear Centers," Michael R. Gordon, The New York Times, November 18, 1998.
71. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Prospects for U.S.-Russian Cooperation for Nonproliferation in the Post-Cold War Era," William C. Potter, presentation to the Defense and Security Committee of the North Atlantic Assembly, 44th Annual Session, Edinburgh, November 10-13, 1998.
72. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Preventing the Proliferation of Russian Nuclear Materials: Limits of the Current Approach," Todd E. Perry, paper prepared for the Annual Meeting of the International Security Studies Session (ISSS), International Studies Association (ISA), Monterey, California, November 8, 1998.
73. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Nuclear Weapons Threat Lurks in Russia: Poorly Paid Guards Are a Security Concern," Barbara Slavin, USA Today, November 24, 1998; "Russian Nuclear Security Called Lax: Easy Access to Fuel, Failure to Pay Wages Alarm U.S. Experts," David Hoffman, The Washington Post, November 27, 1998.
74. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. Interfax, October 7, 1998, cited in "Russian Army Sells Arms to Pay for Food: Global Intelligence Update Red Alert," Global Beat (http://www.nyu.edu/globalbeat/index.html) Ocotber 9, 1998.
75. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Russia is capable to ensure its security, general," Mikhail Shevtsov, ITAR-TASS, October 9, 1998. (Note: According to Russian officials a statement in October that troops have only received pay for July means that they are receiving paychecks with some regularity, but that the paychecks they received recently only bring them up to what they were supposed to have been paid by July; it does not necessarily mena that they have received no pay at all since July.)
76. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Problems in Military Blamed on Incompetent Recruiting," RFE?RL, October 16, 1998.
77. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "Stretched Russian Army Faces Stark Choice," Reuters, October 28, 1998.
78. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. Yevgeni Tkachenko, "Ural Nuclear Workers on Strike, Demanding Wage Arrears," ITAR-TASS, November 19, 1998.
79. Contributed by Matthew Bunn. "FSB Agents Prevent Theft of Nuclear Materials in Chelyabinsk," Itar-Tass, December 18, 1998.
80. Oksana Yablokova, "Army Intervenes in Civilian Power Plant," The St. Petersburg Times, November 5, 1999.
81. "Abandoned Radioactive Research Facility Threatening Southern Russian Town," Russian Public TV, Moscow (in Russian), October 18, 1999.
82. Associated Press, "Year 2000 Flaws Still Threaten Soviet-Era A-Plants, C.I.A. Says," The New York Times, October 22, 1999, p. A5.
83. "'Radioactive' trains said heading for North Korea's special economic zone," from KBS Radio, Seoul (in Korean), October 23, 1999.
84. Catherine MacRae, "KGB Official Says Soviets Hid Nukes In U.S.; Weldon Demands Inquiry," Inside the Pentagon, October 28, 1999, p. 4.
85. "Russia: Leningrad nuclear power plant said back to normal," ITAR-TASS News Agency, Moscow (in English), October 28, 1999.
86. Anna Badkhen, "Could Terrorists Hit Sosnovy Bor," The St. Petersburg Times, November 2, 1999.
87. "U.S. Embassy in Moscow allows some staff to leave to avoid Y2K problems," The Associated Press, November 8, 1999.
88. "Soviets buried explosives across US, Europe: former KGB spy," Agence France Presse, September 12, 1999.
89. "KGB caches discovered in Belgium," Agence France Presse, September 15, 1999.
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