RUSSIA’S MOST RADIOACTIVE SHIP………!!!!

The Lepse Service Ship, Once the most glaring Nuclear Hazard in the Murmansk Harbour, Will Now be emptied of nearly all of its Radioactive cargo by the end of this year.

During its career as a refueling vessel for Soviet Era Nuclear Icebreaker, The Lepse amassed 639 spent nuclear fuel assemblies some of them damaged creating an environmental danger that bobbed neglected at a Murmansk dock for decades; After it was taken out of service in 1988.

LEPSE’S STORY BEGINS IN 1934.........

When it was launched on Ukrainian Rivers as a Dry Goods Ship. After World War II, it sat unused for several years until it was retrofitted and pressed into service as a nuclear fuel service vessel in 1961.

For Nearly 3 Decades, it was responsible for loading and Unloading Uranium fuel at sea for Russia’s Nuclear Icebreaker Fleet.The Lepse participated in 14 refuelling operations aboard the Lenin as well as the nuclear icebreakers in Sibir & the Arktika.

In 1981, the vessel was again retrofitted, this time to so it could accommodate irradiated machine parts and other radioactive waste the nuclear icebreakers needed to offload.

THE SHIP LEPSE’S STORY TOOK A DARKER TURN......

When it was used to help dumb radioactive waste in the Kara and Barents Seas, contributing to Russia’s Cold War heritage of Nuclear and Radiation hazards strewn across the Artic Sea Floor, the extent of which is only beginning to be understood.

In the Early 1990’s the Lepse and the dangers it posed caught Bellona’s eye and the Organisation mobilised the European Union to allocate funding toward removing it from Murmansk arbor and safely dismantling it.

THE SHIP WAS FINALLY TOWED.

In September 2012, the ship was towed from Atomflot to the Nerpa Naval Shipyard, after more than a decade of Negotiations among Bellona.

The Russian Government & European Financial Institutions - Most Notably the European Bank of Reconstruction & Development - to ensure the Lepse’s safe disposal.

The EBRD-managed program is financed by the NDEP Nuclear Window, an International Fund with contributions from

• Belgium
• Canada
• Denmark
• The European Union
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• The Netherlands
• Norway
• United Kindom

The Bank is also helping finance the safe removal of some 22,000 spend Nuclear Fuel assemblies from Andreyeva Bay, A former technical base used to service Soviet Northern Fleet Submarines.