Norway has started work to remove the wreck of an old Soviet warship from rocks off the Norwegian coast where it ran aground in 1994, national television reported on Thursday.
The Norwegian authorities decided to remove the Murmansk, a Sverdlov class light cruiser, in 2008 after experts discovered that it contained radioactive materials.
A temporary dry dock will be constructed around the hull so the wreck can be cut to pieces and salvaged for scrap metal, NRK television said, adding that the work should be completed by the end of 2011. The channel said the operation would cost Norway more than 42 million euros.
The Murmansk entered service with the Soviet Northern Fleet in 1955 and was decommissioned in 1989. In 1994 the ship was sold to India for scrapping but ran aground off the Island of Soroya (northern Norway) during the transfer.
Residents of the neighboring fishing village Sorvaer have complained for years about signs of radioactive pollution around the wreck.
MURMANSK, June 2 (RIA Novosti)
