The Typhoon Class Submarine is the largest ballistic missile nuclear submarine ever built. Russia started building the submarines for the Navy in the early 1980s. With the Cold War officially over, Russia is at the biggest challenge yet, to break down the Typhoons. The submarine had a submerged displacement of 48,000 tons, making the challenge even harder.
Russia canceled the Typhoon modernization program in 2012 because of a simple reason: modernization of one Typhoon would cost as much as building two new Borei class submarines, a step smaller than the Typhoon. For comparison, building of one Borei class submarine costs around $890 million, while one Typhoon costs $2 billion.
To understand how challenging the breaking down process is, one must understand the building schematics of the Typhoon, the world’s biggest ballistic missile nuclear submarine.
The submarine is powered by two, not one nuclear reactors and inside them there is radioactive fuel and liquid nuclear waste. One mistake, and the Typhoon could turn into Chernobyl Part 2, not only killing the workers, but also contaminating local population.
How was the Typhoon demolished? Check the video to see how the captain and the crew managed to design a plan to break down the largest ballistic missile nuclear submarine ever built.
