9 nuclear reactors, 50 nuclear warheads on seabed: report

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

9 nuclear reactors, 50 nuclear warheads on seabed: report

WASHINGTON, Aug. 30 (Kyodo) - A U.S. nuclear policy researcher said 
Tuesday nine nuclear reactors and 50 nuclear warheads belonging to 
either the United States, Soviet Union or Russia currently lie on the 
seabed in different locations around the world. 

Joshua Handler, in a report on accidents involving the sinking of 
nuclear-powered submarines, said seven such vessels, including 
Russia's Kursk which sank on Aug. 12, have sunk to the bottom of the 
sea. 

The report says two U.S. submarines -- the Thresher in 1963 and the 
Scorpion in 1967 -- sank in the Atlantic Ocean, each carrying one 
nuclear reactor. The following five subs that sank were Soviet or 
Russian. 

A Soviet fast-attack sub went down off the coast of Spain in 1970 
with two reactors and two nuclear torpedoes aboard, and a cruise 
missile submarine sank off the Kamchatka Peninsula in 1983. The 
second one was successfully pulled up, but sank again a year later in 
a naval port near Vladivostok. 

A ballistic missile sub went down near Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean 
in 1986 with two reactors, 32 strategic nuclear weapons and two 
nuclear torpedoes, while a fast-attack vessel sank off Norway in 1989 
with one reactor and two nuclear torpedoes. 

The Kursk, which went down in the Barents Sea, had two reactors on 
board. 

Some nuclear warheads belonging to the U.S. military went down in 
accidents that did not involve the sinking of atomic-powered subs, 
the report said. 

Some of the information about these accidents have been reported by 
the media, but Handler said he obtained further data from the U.S. 
and Russian navies to put together his report. 

Handler said the U.S. and Russia have continued to keep information 
about their submarines secret, and warned that such attitudes must be 
changed to prevent future accidents and to realize the rescue of crew 
in the event of a mishap. 

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Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Division		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
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Costa Mesa, CA 92626                                      

Personal Website:  http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

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