Landysh
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 Landysh in Bolshoy Kamen, 2015 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 Russia | |
| Name | Landysh |
| Builder | Amur Shipbuilding Plant |
| Laid down | 1997 |
| Commissioned | 2000 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement | 3,900 |
| Length | 65 m (213 ft 3 in) |
| Beam | 23.4 m (76 ft 9 in) |
| Height | 6.6 m (21 ft 8 in) |
| Draught | 3.5 m (11 ft 6 in) |
| Crew | 46 |
Landysh (Russian: Ландыш, lit. 'Lily of the Valley'; known as Suzuran in Japan[1]) is a floating facility for processing contaminated water produced when decommissioning nuclear submarines. It was built in Russia with funds from Japan as part of an agreement on nuclear arms disposal, but has not left the wharf. Japan requested that Russia send Landysh to help in the aftermath of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.[2][3]
In 1972 the Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter was held and in 1975 the Soviet Union ratified the agreement to limit the dumping of high-level radioactive wastes in the oceans. In 1983 many Convention members signed a voluntary moratorium on all dumping of radioactive wastes at sea, but the USSR did not sign and continued to dispose of low-level radioactive reactor coolant water from its nuclear submarines. Leaks and intentional releases of radioactive materials from Russian facilities in the Far East prompted Japan to offer financial aid for Russia to build facilities to treat low-level radioactive water in 1994. By 1996 a design for a floating processing facility was accepted and contracts issued to the Tomen Corporation (Japan), Babcock & Wilcox (USA) and the Amur Shipbuilding Plant (Russia).[4] Landysh was built at the Amur shipyard in Komsomolsk-on-Amur,[5] completed in 1998 and commissioned in 2000.[4] Landysh remained at Zvezda shipyard in Bolshoy Kamen until 2011.[2][5] As of 9 May 2011 discussions between Rosatom, the Russian nuclear agency, and Japan concerning the dispatch of Landysh to Japan were still ongoing. Japanese reluctance to accept Russian assistance may be linked to the Kuril Islands dispute between Russia and Japan.[6]