Nuclear Submarine Dismantling Programme
Dismantling Soviet nuclear submarines was one of the Global Partnership’s original 2002 priorities. All but one of the 120 decommissioned submarines in the Northern Fleet have now been dismantled.
The UK contributed to this achievement through GTRP’s Submarine Dismantling Programme, which closed in 2009 having successfully dismantled four nuclear powered submarines (NPS) on time and on budget. The last of these was co-funded with Norway and, following dismantlement, the single compartment reactor unit was transferred to the German-funded long term storage facility at Saida Bay.
From 2003 the UK also participated in the Arctic Military Environmental Co-operation (AMEC) programme. Originally established by the US, Norway and Russia to address Cold War legacy environmental issues in the Arctic, it became a UK/Russia naval bilateral arrangement when the US and Norway assumed observer status. The programme is currently inactive owing to organisational changes within the Russian Federation Ministry of Defence. Technical equipment supplied through past AMEC projects, such as pontoons for the safe towing of fragile Russian submarines to shipyards for decommissioning, continues to be put to good use.
You can find more information in the Global Threat Reduction Programme annual progress reports on the Reports and Publications page.