The OK-550/BM-40A (types 705/705K) reactor was a liquid metal reactor that suffered from the same problem that all reactors of this type have. That is, the metal cools at the far end of the loop, restricting and eventually eliminating flow of coolant.
Also, the small crew requirements created shortages in repair and maintainance abilities, and required the boats to operate with a level of automation that too far beyond the Soviet technologic capablities of the time.
With a test depth listed at only 400 meters (appox. 1300 ft.), the Alfa could, in fact, not operate at the 600-900 meters that was estimated by the US and British intelligence agencies.
EDIT: Source is Cold War Submarines, The Design and Construction of US and Soviet Submarines by Norman Polmar and K. J. Moore, 2004. Pgs 140-146.
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