Section G.1: How are old nuclear submarines being disposed of?
Disposal of nuclear-powered submarines has become a major issue. When nuclear-powered submarines were first built, little thought was given to disposing of the reactors at the end of the submarines’ service life. It was generally assumed that the reactors could simply by dumped at sea. The United States disposed of the original reactor from Seawolf (SSN 575) at sea; the Soviet Union disposed of several reactors in the same way. Many old submarines were laid up in reserve, with their reactors in place, pending a suitable means of disposal. Now the US Navy has a comprehensive disposal program for nuclear submarines, and Russia is taking the first steps towards disposing of their old nuclear submarines.
