NUCLEAR-POWERED SOVIET SATELLITE IS EXPECTED TO CRASH THIS MONTH

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640062-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 20, 2012
• Sequence Number: 62
• Publication Date: January 6, 1983
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

STAT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640062-2
Anicrx PAGE
NEW
NEW YORK TIM
6 JANUARY 1983
Nuclear-Powered Soviet Satellite
Is Expected to Crash- This Month
U.S. Used Different Type
President Carter, at a news confer-
ence on Jan. 30, said, "I think we need
to have more rigid safety precautions
assured among all nations in earth-or-
biting satellites; in tact, we would be
glad to forgo the deployment of any
such satelliths altogether, and we will
By BERNARD GWERTIMAN pursue that -option with the Soviet
Spada! to The New Yet Thar Union."
WASHINGTON, Jan. 5? The United
States said today that a nuclear-pow-
ered Soviet reconnaissance satellite
bad apparently run into problems and
would probably crash somewhere on
the earth's surface before the end of the
month.
A statement issued by the Defense
Department said the satellite, known as
Cosmos 1402, was similar to an earlier
Cosmos satellite that crashed in an
uninhabited area of northern Canada in
January 1978, causing minor radiation
contamination. Administration officials
said the Cosmos 1402 was believed to
contain about 100 pounds of enriched
uranium for a reactor that provides
electricity for its radar, which observes
American naval operations.
Officials emphasized that the danger
of the satellite was not from the possi-
bility of an explosion but from the radio-
activity of its nuclear-fission products.
Strontium 90, for example, builds up in
the reactor as its uranium fuel is con-
sumed.
If it came down in a densely popu-
lated area, it could cause radiation !
problems for those in the immediate vi-
cinity, offidals said. But as of today,
they said, it was impossible to predict
, exactly where it would land or the exact ,
date.
The brief Pentagon statement said:
"A portion of a Soviet Cosmos mili-
tary satellite which we believe contains
a nuclear reactor as its power supply
will probably re-enter the earth's at-
mosphere in late January. At this time,
we do not know where it will land nor do
we know precisely when to expect. re-
entry. A similar satellite landed. in
Canada in early 1978. We Imre
monitoring this situation cssefully:1.7
- Moscow Is Asked for Informadorr ?
Administration officials said foreign
governments had already been advised
of the faulty Soviet satellite and the
Soviet Governmen,t ha been asked for
Information. Oneofficial said the Soviet
Unio'n bad confirmed that its ground
controllers had lost control of Cosmos
1402.
Traveling in an orbit with an Inclina-
tion of 64.9 degrees relative to the equa-
tor, the satellite passes over most of
_ .
North America south of Fairbanks
Alaska, most of the Soviet Union, and
all of China, Africa, South America and
Australia, The Associated Press report.'
ed. ? ? ?
The North American Aerospace 68.
tense Command in Colorado Springs
routinely monitors the location of all
Soviet vehicles in space and, late last
month, an official said, there were thl
tial Signs of trouble involving the Cos-
mos 1402, which was launched on Aug.
30, 1962. ,
? Officials said Cosmos reconnaissance
satellites are usually put into orbit be-
tween 150 and 170 miles from the earth.
The satellites usually stay on station
for several months and when they finish
their mission are split up on command
from Soviet stations. The nuclear reac-
tor is boosted into an orbit more than
500 miles high, where it can remain in
space for hundreds of years while the
'radioactive material slowly decays, of.
said. ,
Information From Britain
Officials did not provide details on
bow they learned of the satellite's prob-
lems, but a private British astronomer,
Geoffrey Perry, who makes a hobby of
tracking satellites from Kettering, Eng-
land, said that "the Cosmos malfuno.:
boned on Dec. 28." '
"It split into three component parts
as normal," he said, "but instead of the
nuclear reactor being raised to the
'safe' orbit at 950 kilometers, on this 0C-
cgs ion it remained in the low orbit at 250
kilometers, from where it will decay
naturally in the next few weeks unless
the Itneninne are able to remedy the
fault." The higher orbit is 590 miles
high and the lower one is 155 miles high.
He said that if it landed in an inhab-
ited area, "it could prove very- danger-
ous, but I don't want to speculate
much On that."
On Jan. 24,49714- the Cosmos 954 satel-
lite crashed in a remote area of Cana-
da's Northwest Territories more than a
month after the Carter Administration
first received intelligence information
suggesting that the satellite would eater
the atmosphere instead of being
boosted into a high orbit.
The Administration, to reduce the
possibility of panic, did not tell the pub-
lic of the malftmction until just before
the satellite washed.
Although the United States at one
time used nuclear material as a heat
source to generate electricity in such
satellites, It no longer does, officials
said. American efforts to obtain agree-
ment on banning such satellites got no-
where, officials said.
President Reagan was informed of
the satellite malfunction on Tuesday,
an official said.
There were no plans to make a public'
sumotnicement on the satellite at this
time, a State Department official said,
because where it would land. But a statement
was issued aftei some reports=
learned of it from officials, he said. '
After the crash of Cosmos 954, the
Canadian Government made a major ?
de-
bris that was scattered over several
the uncertainty
Inmdred square miles.
yearserfAortragoton:verafthen;tbsepalitesmanvietthe radm:ofonsacit: ewlaladtwod:
to pay $3 million of the cleanup cost,
which was estimated at $6 million. The
spokesman said that "thousands" of
radioactive fragments were recovered
and isolated.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/09/20: CIA-RDP90-00965R000302640062-2