Canada in the World: Canadian International Policy

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Video Interview

Note: The opinions presented are not necessarily those of the Government of Canada.

An Overview of the Dismantlement of Nuclear Submarines - Duration 0:57

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An Overview of the Dismantlement of Nuclear Submarines

Canada was head of the G8 in Kananaskis in 2002. It decided to initiate the Global Partnership initiative to try to secure any weapons and materials of mass destruction.

These submarines are a classic example, where we have two large nuclear reactors in each submarine, and each submarine is fuelled with highly enriched uranium, bomb-grade material effectively.

The Russians at the time were suffering badly economically, and large numbers of submarines were lying around waiting to be dismantled—an environmental threat, a security threat and a proliferation threat. So the international community has banded together to basically try to dismantle these submarines by the year 2010, if we can.

We have Canada, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States and Italy now all engaged in dismantling submarines here in northwest Russia.

Last Updated:2006-12-28

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