nuclear-news

Russian government lied over danger of nuclear submarine fire

Report: Russian sub carrying nuclear missiles during fire; govt had said none aboard , Washington Post, By Associated Press,   February 13 MOSCOW — A fire at a drydocked Russian nuclear submarine in December could have sparked a radiation disaster because it was carrying nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles and other weapons, despite official
statements to the contrary, a Russian news magazine reported Monday.

The respected Kommersant Vlast said the fire aboard the Yekaterinburg could have triggered powerful explosions that would have destroyed the submarine and scattered radioactive material around a large area. When the fire erupted on Dec. 29, Russia’s Defense Ministry said all weapons had been unloaded before the submarine was moved to a drydock
for repairs at the Roslyakovo shipyard in the Murmansk region.

The ministry declined immediate comment on the magazine’s claim.

It took hundreds of emergency workers more than 20 hours to extinguish
the massive blaze that shot orange flames up to 66 feet (20 meters)
into the air. The Defense Ministry said an unspecified number of crew
members remained inside the sub during the fire and that seven crewmen
were hospitalized after inhaling carbon monoxide fumes from the
blaze…… The magazine said that an explosion of torpedoes, each
carrying 660 pounds (300 kilograms) of TNT would likely have destroyed
the bow and could have triggered a blast of nuclear-tipped missiles in
the midsection and the vessel’s two nuclear reactors.

“Russia was a step away from the largest catastrophe since Chernobyl,”
Komersant Vlast said, referring to the 1986 explosion at a nuclear
power plant in then-Soviet Ukraine.

The magazine said that weapons are normally removed from submarines
before repairs, but the navy wanted to save time on a lengthy
procedure to unload the missiles and torpedoes. It said the repairs
were supposed to be relatively minor and the Northern Fleet wanted the
Yekaterinburg to be quickly back to service.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/report-russian-sub-carrying-nuke-missiles-during-fire-defense-ministry-had-said-none-aboard/2012/02/13/gIQAdGbXAR_story.html

February 14, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Russia, secrets,lies and civil liberties