The derelict nuclear submarine that sank in the fish-rich Barents Sea while en route to a scrapyard cannot be raised until at least next year, a Russian naval chief said today.

Nuclear fuel and waste still pose a hazard in Serbia, despite a secret anti-terrorist project financed by the US that moved most of the weapons grade fuel to Russia, experts said today.

Russia’s lower house of parliament convened today for a final vote on a controversial proposal that would permit the import of other countries’ nuclear waste for reprocessing.