The Nuclear Accident Aboard a Nuclear Submarine in Chazhma Bay: Event Reconstruction and Analysis of the Consequences

Abstract

The authors analyzed events related to the largest nuclear accident in the history of the Soviet Navy, which occurred on the nuclear submarine K-431 on August 10, 1985, during scheduled operations at a dockyard in Chazhma Bay near Vladivostok. For reasons of security, the aftermath of these events remained unknown to a wide circle of specialists and public for over 30 years, prompting ambiguous interpretations and conjectures. This article describes the findings, including the collection, generalization, and systematization of surviving incomplete and limited data; numerical and model calculations; and the analysis of the accident’s causes and development. The radioactive and radioecological consequences, rehabilitation measures, and the disposal of the formed radioactive waste and the damaged nuclear submarine are considered. The consequences of the radioactive release into the Sea of Japan, the cloud traveling to the north along the Russian–Chinese border, and the transborder transfer of radioactive substances for the populations of the neighboring countries are evaluated for the first time.