China's first nuclear submarine to be decommissioned

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China's first nuclear submarine to be decommissioned

(China Military Online) 08:39, October 30, 2013

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BEIJING, October 29 (ChinaMil) -- The first nuclear submarine of the Navy of the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLAN) to be decommissioned berthed quietly at a naval dock.

A group of workers from a museum boarded the submarine in line to carry out routine maintenance.

The submarine which has served over 40 years in the PLAN will leave the naval port and be open to the public as an exhibit in the near future.

The decommissioning of the PLAN's first nuclear submarine and the safe and complete disposal of its nuclear waste, nuclear reactors and related equipment mean a lot.

It means that China is in possession of full-life support capabilities covering development and production, use and management, and decommissioning and disposal of nuclear submarine.

Disposal of the decommissioned nuclear submarine is a difficulty for countries using nuclear ships all over the world.

Currently, several disposal methods are popular in the world, such as ocean disposal, desert disposal, berthing in deserted port and so on.

Those simple methods often cause pollution to the environment and leave behind hidden security dangers to the world.

A submarine base of the PLAN spent ten years to work out a disposal method with Chinese characteristics.

It's known to all that the disposal of nuclear reactor cabin, the heart of nuclear submarine, is the top priority of decommissioning project.

By using multiple protection technology, the researchers of the submarine base completed unloading and packaging of fuel assemblies, cutting and removal of radioactive components, and cleaning and final state processing of decommissioning environment under strong radioactive conditions.

It is learnt that China's first nuclear-powered submarine, the Long March No. 1, was launched in 1970. It was commissioned to the PLA navy in 1974.

The Long March 1 belongs to the Han Class nuclear-powered submarine(Type 091), which was produced based on technologies of the 1950s and 1960s and has short range weapons.

With a displacement of 5,000 tons, the class is usually equipped with six torpedo tubes.