Kirov's reactor accident and failed revival

Kirov entered service in 1980 and joined the Northern Fleet, initially receiving the NATO label BALCOM I. A reactor accident during a Mediterranean deployment sent her into reserve, where inadequate funding prevented repairs and likely encouraged use as a spare-parts source. Later dismantling and reactivation proposals repeatedly changed direction, but decades of minimal maintenance made safe reactor work and a return to service increasingly implausible. Spent-fuel removal remained hazardous after decades of minimal reactor maintenance, complicating both revival and rapid disposal.