Ranking among the biggest and most recognizable post-Cold War swords-to-ploughshares programs is Russia’s conversion of its Soviet-era Typhoon and Delta ballistic missile submarines into underwater cargo ships & hydrocarbon fuel carriers. Financed with the help of western partners like Norway, the project has allowed Russian companies to ship commercial goods and natural resources like oil and gas beneath the Arctic icecaps all year round regardless of surface weather conditions.
Despite the admirable aims of turning nuclear launch platforms to peaceful commercial uses, the conversion program is not without its detractors: environmentalists have concerns about increased risk of oil spills and nuclear accidents, economists lament the reduced cargo volume of merchant nuclear submarines vs that of conventional tankers and cargo ships, and civilian port authorities get headaches from the legal & bureaucratic red tape each time a nuclear-powered commercial vessel wants to dock with them.
What if Russia never went ahead with this program? How would northern Russian seaside cities look like today? What would be the impact on the environment? Global shipping? Commercial ties?
Despite the admirable aims of turning nuclear launch platforms to peaceful commercial uses, the conversion program is not without its detractors: environmentalists have concerns about increased risk of oil spills and nuclear accidents, economists lament the reduced cargo volume of merchant nuclear submarines vs that of conventional tankers and cargo ships, and civilian port authorities get headaches from the legal & bureaucratic red tape each time a nuclear-powered commercial vessel wants to dock with them.
What if Russia never went ahead with this program? How would northern Russian seaside cities look like today? What would be the impact on the environment? Global shipping? Commercial ties?