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rusted old oil barrels

Russia intents to lift up two nuclear submarines who sunk in the Arctic. The submarines are the nuclear powered K-27 and K-159, who sunk in the Kara Sea and the Barents Sea.

Click here to see a map of sunken nuclear submarines in the Arctic.

The release of the strategic development of Russia's Arctic zone saw this proposal, but according to the draft several measurements are included to clean the Arctic waters of pollution.

There will also be action to remove dangerous waste left behind after the military units on Franz Josef Land, New Siberian Islands and Bely Island.

The K-27 submarine was dumped in the Kara Sea in 1980 and is lying on 75 meters depth. K-159 sank in the Barents Sea during towing in 2003 and could be laying up to 250 meters under the surface of the sea.

A joint Russian-Norwegian expedition to the K-27 earlier this autumn concluded that the submarine is not yet leaking radioactivity but that it is urgent to lift it for safe decommissioning.

International assistance will be needed since Russia does not the capacity to complete the operation on its own. When Kursk was raised in 2001 Dutch companies lifted the submarine.

Source:

Barents Observer

Izvestia