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Accident on Russian nuclear sub suffocates 20

 
 Bookmarks Print By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer Vladimir 
Isachenkov, Associated Press Writer – 46 mins ago Play Video AP  – Russian 
sub accident kills 20 

 Slideshow: Russian submarine accident kills 20  AP – The Nerpa (Seal), one 
of Russia's Shchuka (Pike) class (NATO reporting name: Akula) nuclear 
submarines, … MOSCOW – The fire safety system on a brand-new Russian nuclear 
submarine accidentally turned on as the sub was being tested in the Sea of 
Japan, spewing a gas that suffocated 20 people and sent 21 others to the 
hospital, officials said Sunday.

The Russian Navy said the submarine itself was not damaged in Saturday's 
accident and returned to its base on Russia's Pacific coast under its own 
power Sunday. The accident also did not pose any radiation danger, the navy 
said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081109/ap_on_re_eu/eu_russia_submarine

Yet it was Russia's worst naval accident since torpedo explosions sank 
another nuclear-powered submarine, the Kursk, in the Barents Sea in 2000, 
killing all 118 seamen aboard.

Overcrowding may have been a significant factor on Saturday.

The submarine being tested had 208 people aboard, including 81 seamen, 
according to Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo. Yet Russian news 
agencies said a sub of this type normally carries only a crew of 73.

"A submarine is the most vulnerable during trials. With both navy and 
civilian personnel on board, it's very dificult to keep such a large number 
of people organized," Gennady Illarionov, a retired submarine officer, told 
the RIA Novosti news agency.

The victims suffocated after the submarine's fire-extinguishing system 
released Freon gas, said Vladimir Markin, an official with Russia's top 
investigative agency. He said forensic tests found Freon in the victims' 
lungs.

Seventeen civilians and three seamen died in the accident and 21 others were 
hospitalized after being evacuated to shore, Dygalo said, adding that none of 
the injuries were life-threatening.

"The submarine's nuclear reactor was operating normally and radiation levels 
were normal," Dygalo said, explaining that the accident affected two sections 
of the submarine closest to the bow.

Markin's agency, the Investigative Committee under the Prosecutor General's 
office, has launched a probe into the accident, which he said will focus on 
what activated the firefighting system and possible violations of submarine 
operating rules.

Lev Fyodorov, a top Russian chemical expert, agreed that the Freon pushed 
oxygen out, causing those inside to die of suffocation. But he wondered why 
the individual breathing kits that everyone on board is supposed to have did 
not keep people from dying.

"People on board the sub may have failed to use their breathing equipment 
when they found themselves in an emergency," he told the AP.

Igor Kurdin, a retired navy officer who heads an association of former 
submariners, told Ekho Moskvy radio that the high death toll probably 
resulted from shipyard workers who lacked experience in dealing with the 
breathing kits.

A siren warning the crew that the firefighting system was turning on also may 
have failed, RIA Novosti quoted an unidentified navy official as saying, so 
those on board might not have realized that Freon was being released until it 
was too late.

The submarine returned Sunday to Bolshoi Kamen, a military shipyard and a 
navy base near Vladivostok. Officials at the Amur Shipbuilding Factory said 
they built the submarine and it is called the Nerpa. Dygalo said it was to be 
commissioned by the navy later this year.

Construction of the Nerpa, an Akula II class attack submarine, started in 
1991 but was suspended for years because of a shortage of funding, they said. 
Testing on the submarine began last month and it submerged for the first time 
last week.

The U.S.-based intelligence risk assessment agency Stratfor said the Akula is 
an established design, with the Nerpa being the 11th ship of the class.

"Such a catastrophic accident calls into question the way the Russian navy 
has sustained its institutional knowledge in terms of design expertise, not 
to mention issues of quality control, both in fabrication and inspection," 
Stratfor said. 

Saturday's accident came as the Kremlin is seeking to restore Russia's naval 
reach, part of a drive to show off the nuclear-armed country's clout amid 
strained ties with the West. A naval squadron is heading to Venezuela for 
joint exercises this month in a show of force near U.S. waters. 

Despite a major boost in military spending during Vladimir Putin's eight 
years as president, Russia's military is still hampered by decrepit 
infrastructure, aging weapons and problems with corruption and incompetence. 

Illarionov said the accident appeared to reflect the loss of crucial skills 
in conducting sea trials. 

"During the Soviet times, we commissioned three to five submarines a year, 
and now we get just one in five years," Illarionov was quoted by RIA Novosti 
as saying. "People forgot caution and lost their skills." 

The Kremlin said President Dmitry Medvedev was told about the accident 
immediately and ordered a thorough investigation. Putin, now prime minister, 
was criticized for his slow response to the Kursk disaster. 

In 2003, 11 people also died when a Russian submarine that was being taken 
out of service sank in the Barents Sea. 

____