正文翻译

俄罗斯核潜艇墓地的可怕历史

The equivalent of six-and-a-half Hiroshimas lies just beneath the ocean's surface.

相当于六个半的广岛位于海洋表面之下。

In the icy waters north of Russia, discarded submarine nuclear reactors lie deteriorating on the ocean floor—some still fully fueled. It’s only a matter of time before sustained corrosion allows seawater to eat its way to the abandoned uranium, causing an uncontrolled release of radioactivity into the Arctic.

在俄罗斯北部冰冷的海水中，废弃的潜艇核反应堆堆积在海床上，不断恶化，有些仍然装满了燃料。持续的腐蚀会使海水侵蚀到被遗弃的铀，导致放射性物质无法控制地释放到北极，这只是时间问题。

“Breach of protective barriers and the detection and spread of radionuclides in seawater could lead to fishing restrictions,” says Andrey Zolotkov, director of Bellona-Murmansk, an international non-profit environmental organization based in Norway. “In addition, this could seriously damage plans for the development of the Northern Sea Route—ship owners will refuse to sail along it.”

总部位于挪威的国际非营利环境组织贝洛娜·摩尔曼斯克的负责人安德烈?佐洛特科夫表示: “突破保护屏障、检测并扩散海水中的放射性核素，可能会导致渔业减产。”“此外，这可能严重损害北海航线的开发计划－－船东将拒绝沿着北海航线航行。”

News outlets have found more dire terms to interpret the issue. The BBC raised concerns of a “nuclear chain reaction” in 2013, while The Guardian described the situation as “an environmental disaster waiting to happen.” Nearly everyone agrees that the Kara is on the verge of an uncontrolled nuclear event, but retrieving a string of long-lost nuclear time bombs is proving to be a daunting challenge.

新闻媒体已经找到了更可怕的术语来阐述这个问题。英国广播公司在2013年提出了对“核连锁反应”的担忧，而《卫报》则将这种情况描述为“一场即将发生的环境灾难”几乎所有人都认为，卡拉号即将发生一场无法控制的核事故，但找回一连串失踪已久的定时核弹却是一项艰巨的挑战。

Nuclear submarines have a short lifespan considering their sheer expense and complexity. After roughly 20-30 years, degradation coupled with leaps in technology render old nuclear subs obsolete. First, decades of accumulated corrosion and stress limit the safe-dive depth of veteran boats. Sound-isolation mounts degrade, bearings wear down, and rotating components of machinery fall out of balance, leading to a louder noise signature that can be more easily tracked by the enemy.

考虑到核潜艇昂贵的费用和复杂性，它们的寿命很短。大约20-30年后，老化加上技术的飞跃，使得旧的核潜艇过时了。首先，数十年累积的腐蚀和压力限制了旧船的安全潜水深度。隔音支架降级，轴承磨损，机械的旋转部件失去平衡，导致更大的噪音信号，更容易被敌人跟踪。

The Soviet unx and Russia built the world’s largest nuclear-powered navy in the second half of the 20th century, crafting more atom-powered subs than all other nations combined. At its military height in the mid-1990s, Russia boasted 245 nuclear-powered subs, 180 of which were equipped with dual reactors and 91 of which sailed with a dozen or more long-range ballistic missiles tipped with nuclear warheads.

苏联和俄罗斯在20世纪下半叶建造了世界上最大的核动力海军，制造的原子动力潜艇比所有其他国家加起来还要多。在20世纪90年代中期的军事高峰时期，俄罗斯拥有245艘核动力潜艇，其中180艘配备了双反应堆，其中91艘配备了12枚或更多装载核弹头的远程弹道导弹。

The Soviet unx’s first nuclear-powered submarine was the K-3, the first of the NATO code-named November class (the Soviets called them the “Whale class”). The K-3 prototype sailed for the first time using nuclear power on July 4, 1958. All but one of the 14 November class vessels cruised with dual VM-A water-cooled nuclear reactors, with the final sub, the experimental K-27, powered by a pair of VT-1 liquid metal-cooled reactors.

苏联的第一艘核子动力潜艇是 K-3，它是北约代号为十一月的第一艘潜艇(苏联人称它们为“鲸鱼级”)。1958年7月4日，K-3原型机首次使用核动力航行。11月14日，除了一艘以外，所有的船都配备了双 VM-A 水冷核反应堆，最后一艘潜艇是实验性的 K-27，由一对 VT-1液态金属冷却反应堆提供动力。

The November class vessels were top-of-the-line attack submarines designed to locate surface vessels and opposing submarines using a powerful MG-200 sonar system. Once in range, Novembers would strike with ship-killing 533mm SET-65 or 53-65K torpedoes, each carrying up to 300 kilograms of hull-shattering explosives.

11月级舰艇是顶级的攻击潜艇，设计用来定位水面舰艇和使用强大的 MG-200声纳系统对抗潜艇。一旦进入射程，“十一月号”将用533毫米“ SET-65”或53-65K 鱼雷击沉船只，每枚鱼雷携带300公斤的炸药。

A majority of the Soviet’s nuclear submarine classes operated from the Arctic-based Northern Fleet, headquartered in the northwestern port city of Murmansk. The Northern Fleet bases are roughly 900 kilometers west of the Kara Sea dumping grounds. A second, slightly smaller hub of Soviet submarine power was the Pacific Fleet, based in and around Vladivostok on Russia’s east coast above North Korea. Additional Soviet-era submarines sailed from bases in the Baltic and Black Seas.

苏联大多数核潜艇都是由总部设在北极的北方舰队使用的，该舰队的总部设在西北部港口城市摩尔曼斯克。北方舰队基地位于喀拉海潜艇坟场以西约900公里处。苏联潜艇力量的第二个略小的中心是太平洋舰队，驻扎在朝鲜上游的俄罗斯东海岸符拉迪沃斯托克及其周边地区。其他苏联时代的潜艇从位于波罗的海和黑海的基地出发。

Mothballed nuclear submarines pose the potential for disaster even before scrapping begins. In October of 1995, 12 decommissioned Soviet subs awaited disposal in Murmansk, each with fuel cells, reactors, and nuclear waste still aboard. When the cash-strapped Russian military didn’t pay the base’s electric bills for months, the local power company shut off power to the base, leaving the line of submarines at risk of meltdown. Military staffers had to persuade plant workers to restore power by threatening them at gunpoint.

被封存的核潜艇甚至在开始拆毁之前就构成了潜在的灾难。1995年10月，12艘退役的苏联潜艇在摩尔曼斯克等待处理，每艘潜艇上都装有燃料电池、反应堆和核废料。由于资金短缺的俄罗斯军方几个月没有支付基地的电费，当地的电力公司切断了基地的电力供应，使得潜艇线路面临熔毁的危险。军方工作人员不得不用枪威胁核电站工人，要求他们恢复电力。

When it is time to dispose of the vessel’s reactors, crews cut vertical slices into the hull of the submarine and chop out the single or double reactor compartment along with an additional compartment fore and aft in a single huge cylinder-shaped chunk. Once sealed, the cylinder can float on its own for several months, even years, before it is lifted onto a barge and sent to a long-term storage facility.

当到了处理反应堆的时候，工作人员会在潜艇的外壳上切下垂直切片，将单个或双个反应堆舱连同前后一个巨大的圆柱形舱体一起切割出来。一旦密封，钢瓶可以自己漂浮几个月，甚至几年，然后再被提升到驳船上，送往长期储存设施。

But during the Cold War, nuclear storage in Soviet Russia usually meant a deep-sea dump job. At least 14 reactors from bygone vessels of the Northern Fleet were discarded into the Kara Sea. Sometimes, the Soviets skipped the de-fueling step beforehand, ditching the reactors with their highly radioactive fuel rods still intact.

但在冷战期间，苏联的核储存通常意味着在深海倾倒。至少有14个来自北方舰队旧船的反应堆被丢弃到喀拉海。有时候，苏联人会提前跳过卸燃料的步骤，直接抛弃高放射性燃料棒的反应堆。

According to the Bellona, the Northern Fleet also jettisoned 17,000 containers of hazardous nuclear material and deliberately sunk 19 vessels packed with radioactive waste, along with 735 contaminated pieces of heavy machinery. More low-level liquid waste was poured directly into the icy waters.

据贝罗纳报道，北方舰队还抛弃了17000个装有危险核材料的集装箱，并有意沉没了19艘装满放射性废料的船只，以及735件受到污染的重型机械。更多的低放射性液体废物被直接倒入冰冷的水中。

One of the most egregious and dangerous disposal capers was that of the K-27, the experimental November-class submarine with two liquid metal-cooled reactors. While at sea in 1968, one reactor aboard the K-27 suffered a leak and partial meltdown. Radiation exposure killed nine crewmen and sickened 83 more. The K-27 limped back to port, but after years of analysis, naval crews deemed it impossible to save. In 1981, tugs towed K-27 into the Kara and scuttled the hulk, sending everything—fuel, reactors, and other waste—to the bottom. Experts suggest safely sinking nuclear material to at least 3,000 meters. The K-27 lies at 50 meters.

其中一个最恶劣和危险的处置出现异常是 K-27，实验性的 N级核潜艇与双液态金属冷却反应堆。1968年在海上，K-27上的一个反应堆发生了泄漏和部分熔毁。辐射导致9名船员死亡，83人患病。K-27一瘸一拐地回到港口，但经过多年的分析，海军船员认为不可能挽救。1981年，拖船把 K-27拖进卡拉号，凿沉了这艘船，把所有的东西——燃料、反应堆和其他废物——都送到了海底。专家建议将核材料安全沉降至少3000米。但K-27位于50米处。

In 2012, a joint Norwegian/Russian inspection of the K-27 wreck revealed little deterioration—but naval experts think the sub might only stay intact until 2032.

2012年，挪威和俄罗斯对 K-27沉船的联合检查显示，它几乎没有老化，但海军专家认为，这艘潜艇可能只能完好无损地保持到2032年。

Another submarine is perhaps a bigger risk for a radioactive leak. K-159, a November class, suffered a radioactive discharge accident in 1965 but served until 1989. After languishing in storage for 14 years, a 2003 storm ripped K-159 from its pontoons during a transport operation, and the battered hulk plunged to the floor of the Barents Sea, killing nine crewmen. The wreck lies at a depth of around 250 meters, most likely with its fueled and unsealed reactors open to the elements.

另一艘潜艇也可能会有更大的放射性泄漏风险。11月份级的 K-159级，在1965年遭受了放射性物质泄漏事故，但一直服役到1989年。2003年的一场暴风雨在一次运输行动中将 K-159号船从浮筒上刮了下来，这艘破旧的船体跌落到了巴伦支海的地面上，造成9名船员死亡。沉船位于250米左右的深度，很可能是燃料反应堆和未密封反应堆已暴露。

Russia has announced plans to raise the K-27, the K-159, and four other dangerous reactor compartments discarded in the Arctic. As of March 2020, Russian authorities estimate the cost of the recovery effort will be approximately $330 million.

俄罗斯已经宣布了提取 K-27、 K-159和其他四个在北极丢弃的危险反应堆舱的计划。截至2020年3月，俄罗斯当局估计回收工作的费用约为3.3亿美元。

The first target is K-159. But lifting the sunken sub back to the surface will take a specially built recovery vessel, one that does not yet exist. Design and construction of that ship is slated to begin in 2021, to be finished by the end of 2026. Now, in order to avoid an underwater Chernobyl, the Russians are beginning a terrifying race against the relentless progression of decay.

第一个目标是 K-159。但是将沉没的潜艇打捞回水面需要一艘专门建造的回收船，这艘船目前还不存在。该船的设计和建造计划于2021年开始，2026年底完成。现在，为了避免水下的切尔诺贝利，俄罗斯人开始了一场可怕的竞赛，对抗不断恶化的腐朽。

【龙腾网】俄罗斯核潜艇墓地的可怕历史