Soviet submarine K-27

K-27 was the only submarine of Projekt 645 in the Soviet Navy. Projekt 645 did not have its own NATO reporting name; it was a test attack submarine, incorporating a pair of experimental VT-1 reactor plants using liquid-metal coolant (lead-bismuth alloy) into a modified hull of a November class submarine (Project 627A).

The keel of K-27 was laid down on 15 June 1958 at Severodvinsk Shipyard No. 402. She was launched on 1 April 1962 and went into service as test attack submarine on 30 October 1963. K-27 was officially commissioned into the Red Banner Northern Fleet on 7 September 1965 (the submarine was included into 17^th submarine division, based on Gremikha).

The VT-1 reactors were troublesome from the first criticality, but "K-27" was able to continue operations for five years. On 24 May 1968, however, one reactor's power output suddenly dropped sharply, radioactive gases were released into the reactor compartment, and radiation levels throughout the boat increased dangerously - by 1.5 Gy/h (mostly gamma and neutron, with some alpha and beta from the gasses), in the reactor compartment. The crew's training was inadequate; they did not recognize that their reactor had suffered extensive fuel element failures. By the time they abandoned their attempts to repair the reactor at sea, nine crewmen had been fatally exposed.

About one-fifth of the core had experienced inadequate cooling caused by uneven coolant flow. The hotspots had ruptured, releasing nuclear fuel and fission products into the liquid metal coolant, which circulated them throughout the reactor compartment.

K-27 lied up in Gremikha Bay since 20 June 1968 with cooling reactors and different experimental works were made aboard till 1973 (including successful starting of starboard reactor up to 40% of maximal power, plans to cut off the reactor compartment and to replace it with a new one equipped with standard VM-A water-cooled reactors, etc.). But rebuilding or replacement of the port-side reactor was considered too expensive and inappropriate procedure as more modern nuclear-powered submarines entered service already. [http://ruspodlodka.narod.ru/book/k-27.htm Книга памяти. Посвящается экипажу К-27 (Book of Remembrance. Dedicated to K-27 crew)] ] The submarine was decommissioned on 1 February 1979 and her reactor compartment was filled with special solidifying mixture of furfurol and bitumen in summer 1981 to avoid sea nuclear pollution (the work was performed by Severodvinsk shipyard No. 893 "Zvezdochka"). K-27 was towed to a special training area in the Kara Sea and scuttled there on 6 September 1982 in the point 72°31'N 55°30'E (north-east coast of Novaya Zemlya, Stepovoy Bay) at a depth 33 m only, the naval rescue tug rammed the stern of submarine to achieve its right submergence because K-27's nose touched the sea bottom whereas the stern was afloat. That operation was performed in contempt of IAEA requirement which asked to scuttle the submarine somewhere at a depth not less than 3,000-4,000 m. [ [http://www.rg.ru/anons/arc_2000/1125/hit.shtm К-27 - навечно подводная лодка? (Is K-27 a submarine forever?)] ] The last scientific expedition of the Russian Ministry of Emergencies in the Kara Sea examined the K-27 site in September 2006, samples of water, bottom and fauna were taken and analyzed; it was reported that radiation environment was stable. [ [http://www.mchs.gov.ru/news/detail.php?ID=3664 В Карском море пройдет обследование затонувших опасных подводных объектов (The Survey of Submerged Dangerous Objects in the Kara Sea)] ]

Any lessons learned from Projekt 645 were applied in Projekt 705 and 705K - the Alfa class submarines, which were equipped with similar liquid-metal-cooled reactors.

References

* [http://www.dissident-media.org/infonucleaire/K27.html Le K27: un Tchernobyl sous-marin qui sommeille] fr icon

See also

* November class submarine