ST. PETERSBURG, November 30 (RIA Novosti - Northwest, Olga Vtorova) - Workers at a shipyard in the town of Severodvinsk on the Barents Sea have begun the process of decommissioning the Volgograd nuclear submarine, the enterprise said Wednesday.

This is the fourth Viktor-3 class submarine whose decommissioning has been funded by Canada under the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction program, which was approved by the Group of Eight industrialized nations at the 2002 summit in Kananaskis, Canada, and, among other problems, addresses nuclear security issues.

Under the program, the Zvezdochka shipyard is expected to decommission 12 more multi-purpose nuclear-powered submarines.

The decommissioning of the Volgograd sub, which is currently in the docks, will be completed in about six months, according to the enterprise.

The Volgograd was phased out of Russia's Northern Fleet after 25 years in service.