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more russian sub info
Here is an update from the Russian sub accident from an
environmentalist web site.
Mike Baker ... mcbaker@lanl.gov
===============================================================
Nuclear submarine incident in Zapadnaya Litsa:
One person died yesterday in the evening
Five persons were injured during an incident onboard a
nuclear-powered submarine at the naval base in Zapadnaya
Litsa in the morning of January 26. In the evening of
January 28 one of the crew members died having received
most serious injuries. The Northern Fleet press-center
kept denying both the fact of the incident and the
casualty up till today's afternoon.
In the interview to Murmansk Radio yesterday evening, January 28,
Vaycheslav Popov, vice-admiral in the Northern Fleet Head
Quarters, stated that the crew was conducting overall test
proceeders on board one of the nuclear submarines based in
Zapadnaya Litsa. While start up of the reactor installation
one of the pipe lines in the cooling system broke up, leading to
escape of ammoniac and nitrogen gases. Five crew members were
injured, one of them seriously. According to the official
returns, the incident did not result into release of radioactivity
into the environment. The incident took place in the morning on
Monday this week, on January 26. In the evening of January 28,
Sergey Solovjov, the captain of the 3-d rank, died from received
injuries in the Northern Fleet hospital.
In spite of the statement from the high ranking Northern Fleet
officer, the press-center of the Northern Fleet kept denying
both the fact of the accident and the casualty till today's
afternoon. The information was released by Russian official
ITAR-TASS news agency only at 12:30 G.M.T.
According to the Northern Fleet press-center spokesman, the
submarine where the incident took place, is a recently commissioned
multipurpose nuclear powered submarine.
Oscar-II
Presumably, this is the brand new Oscar-II class nuclear-powered
submarine "Tomsk" which arrived from Severodvinsk shipyard at
Zapadnaya Litsa (Bolshaya Lopatka) on August 25 1997.
Oscar-II (pr.949 A) is multipurpose nuclear-powered submarine with
two pressurized water reactors. The submarine carries 24 Granit
type SS-N-19 nuclear missiles.
Originally, "Tomsk" was scheduled to be commissioned by the end of
1996. Accordingly, the state supervising committee confirmed the
readiness of the boat for active service December 1996. But the Navy
decided otherwise; apparently finding the vessel not operational.
The supervising committee was compiled of representatives of the ship-
building industry.
-- In the end of December 1996, Severodvinsk yard was celebrating
the commission of the new submarine "Tomsk" (Oscar-II class). The
submarine is still in Severodvinsk pending its "final exams". In
other words, the construction of the submarine is still not
completed, said rear admiral Alexandr Smelkov at a meeting with
Murmansk journalists in June last year.
The rear admiral was telling the truth, since by now it took 8
months "to examine and complete the particular systems and mechanisms
of the boat, to complete the final testing cycle of the whole vessel"
by August 1997 as it was officially put by Sevmash yard in Severodvinsk,
which constructed "Tomsk".
Zapadnaya Litsa is the largest and most important submarine base of
the Northern fleet. It is located on the westernmost point of the Kola
Peninsula, about 45 kilometers from the Norwegian border. There are
four naval facilities at Zapadnaya Litsa: Malaya Lopatka, Bolshaya
Lopatka, Nerpich'ya and Andreeva Bay. Nuclear powered submarines are
based at Bolshaya Lopatka and Nerpich'ya. More than 30 nuclear-powered
submarines operate from Zapadnaya Litsa. Active service submarines of
Oscar, Victor, Sierra and Typhoon classes have their home base there.
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Last updated: 1998-01-28
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