During its period of service 1934 to 1988, the Lepse served as a refuelling vessel for the nuclear icebreaker fleet. When the ship was taken out of service it held 639 damaged and distorted spent nuclear fuel assemblies representing a serious radiological hazard for the region which includes Murmansk, a city of 300,000 people.
As many spent fuel assemblies could not be moved, the decision was taken to dismantle the ship.
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