General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
Kursk:risk of nuclear explosion!
Posted by:
Nonny
()
Date: July 15, 2001 07:58PM
<HTML>
Nuclear Danger In Raising The
Kursk
By Amelia Gentleman in Moscow
The Guardian - London
[www.guardian.co.uk]
7-14-1
A team of divers will arrive above the wreckage of the Kursk
tomorrow night to launch the critically dangerous first stage in
the fraught operation to raise the nuclear submarine from the
Arctic ocean floor.
Within the next few days they will begin work with robotic
cutting instruments to saw off the badly damaged front section
of the Kursk, which is loaded with an unknown quantity of
torpedoes.
Despite a powerful public relations campaign aimed at
reassuring Russia and its neighbours that the salvage exercise
will be relatively safe, there is some concern that safety
standards are being sacrificed in the rush to fulfil a presidential
commitment to raise the hull.
The condition of the front section of the submarine is uncertain
after almost 11 months lying corroding in the salty currents of
the Barents sea, but salvage experts warned that unless it was
removed, the whole lifting manoeuvre would be destabilised.
Any mistake during the sawing-off process could trigger a
torpedo explosion, further damaging the wreck and reigniting
fears of radiation contamination from the submarine\'s two
nuclear reactors. Senior naval officials have conceded that
weapons could explode during the slicing open of the vessel.
\"Everything is possible, considering that we are dealing with a
submarine loaded with torpedoes,\" naval commander Vladimir
Kuroyedov said recently.
The Norwegian environmental group Bellona, which specialises
in monitoring the nuclear problems of the Russian navy,
accused officials yesterday of rushing the work. \"Even this first
step of operation is flawed,\" said a spokesman, Igor Kadrik.
\"We estimate that there are some seven tonnes of TNT
explosives scattered around the bow of the submarine and a
new explosion could be provoked when they try to cut away
this section, which could cause damage to the reactors.
\"The equipment they are using has never been tried in this kind
of operation and some of it has never been tested underwater.
This is what we define as rushed.\"
Working in temperatures around zero, divers will set up
equipment to wash out the sand and silt which has accumulated
within the wreck in preparation for removing the submarine\'s
nose. Once separated, the front section will be left on the
seabed while the rest of the hull is lifted; officials have not
decided whether or when the front section will be retrieved.
The arrival of the international team of Russian, British,
Norwegian and Dutch divers marks the beginning of a hugely
expensive, extremely risky operation on an unprecedented
scale, due to be completed, if everything goes smoothly, by late
September, when the wreckage of the submarine is scheduled
to be dragged to shore.
Political pressure has spurred the navy to seize the small
window of calm weather this summer. In the emotional
aftermath of the accident last August, during a meeting with the
widows and relatives of the 118 submariners who died,
president Vladimir Putin gave a firm pledge that the submarine
would be raised, and the remaining bodies recovered. He has
adhered to this promise, in the face of concerns about the £55m
cost and the feasibility of lifting the 14,000 tonne vessel from
the seabed.
Unless the Kursk is raised by autumn, another year will pass,
leaving the relatives little chance of ever burying their dead. Mr
Putin, who was harshly criticised for his slow response to the
disaster, is anxious not to disappoint them.
The desire to establish what caused the two explosions in the
Kursk\'s torpedo bay - a technical fault, a collision with a mine,
or another vessel - initially added urgency to the operation.
Officials said no conclusions could be made until the wreck was
studied, but the decision to leave the weapons arsenal on the
seabed means that a full assessment of what happened will not
be possible this year.
Russia is under pressure to lift the wreck to avoid the risk of
polluting the fishing area with radiation, which could start
leaking once the nuclear reactors begin to disintegrate.
\"There is also a desire not to leave military secrets lying
abandoned on the seabed, in a spot theoretically accessible to
foreign navies,\" a military commentator, Yury Gladkeyevich,
said.
The rapidly organised consortium of Russian and international
engineering firms has had little time to prepare. The deal with
Dutch company Mammoet and Smit International was signed
only two months ago, after an earlier consortium of
international engineers pulled out, saying it was not ready to
compromise safety in order to finish the work this year.
Norway is particularly uneasy about the dangers that a rushed
operation bring.
\"There is a risk of the raising operation itself going wrong, that
they could, for example, lose the submarine. That could result
in the reactor being more damaged,\" a spokesman for Norway\'s
Nuclear Protection Board said. \"The Barents sea is one of the
world\'s cleanest oceans and it is not desirable to have any kind
of uncertainty about the important fisheries resources in that
area.\"
Government websites have set out to allay concerns, providing
detailed information about the salvage plans. A massive floating
platform, named the Giant, is being modified in Rotterdam,
equipped with 26 thick lifting cables, each of which is strong
enough to lift 900 tonnes.
Over the summer, divers will cut 26 holes in the hull of the
Kursk using powerful underwater jets. When the Kursk is ready
to be lifted, the cables will be lowered from the platform and
anchored in these holes, using large steel clamps.
Sometime around September 15, when the weather permits, the
submarine will be dragged by the cables about 100 metres to
just below the floating platform, and later towed slowly towards
the port at Murmansk. The actual lifting stage is expected to
take no more than about 10 hours.</HTML>
Nuclear Danger In Raising The
Kursk
By Amelia Gentleman in Moscow
The Guardian - London
[www.guardian.co.uk]
7-14-1
A team of divers will arrive above the wreckage of the Kursk
tomorrow night to launch the critically dangerous first stage in
the fraught operation to raise the nuclear submarine from the
Arctic ocean floor.
Within the next few days they will begin work with robotic
cutting instruments to saw off the badly damaged front section
of the Kursk, which is loaded with an unknown quantity of
torpedoes.
Despite a powerful public relations campaign aimed at
reassuring Russia and its neighbours that the salvage exercise
will be relatively safe, there is some concern that safety
standards are being sacrificed in the rush to fulfil a presidential
commitment to raise the hull.
The condition of the front section of the submarine is uncertain
after almost 11 months lying corroding in the salty currents of
the Barents sea, but salvage experts warned that unless it was
removed, the whole lifting manoeuvre would be destabilised.
Any mistake during the sawing-off process could trigger a
torpedo explosion, further damaging the wreck and reigniting
fears of radiation contamination from the submarine\'s two
nuclear reactors. Senior naval officials have conceded that
weapons could explode during the slicing open of the vessel.
\"Everything is possible, considering that we are dealing with a
submarine loaded with torpedoes,\" naval commander Vladimir
Kuroyedov said recently.
The Norwegian environmental group Bellona, which specialises
in monitoring the nuclear problems of the Russian navy,
accused officials yesterday of rushing the work. \"Even this first
step of operation is flawed,\" said a spokesman, Igor Kadrik.
\"We estimate that there are some seven tonnes of TNT
explosives scattered around the bow of the submarine and a
new explosion could be provoked when they try to cut away
this section, which could cause damage to the reactors.
\"The equipment they are using has never been tried in this kind
of operation and some of it has never been tested underwater.
This is what we define as rushed.\"
Working in temperatures around zero, divers will set up
equipment to wash out the sand and silt which has accumulated
within the wreck in preparation for removing the submarine\'s
nose. Once separated, the front section will be left on the
seabed while the rest of the hull is lifted; officials have not
decided whether or when the front section will be retrieved.
The arrival of the international team of Russian, British,
Norwegian and Dutch divers marks the beginning of a hugely
expensive, extremely risky operation on an unprecedented
scale, due to be completed, if everything goes smoothly, by late
September, when the wreckage of the submarine is scheduled
to be dragged to shore.
Political pressure has spurred the navy to seize the small
window of calm weather this summer. In the emotional
aftermath of the accident last August, during a meeting with the
widows and relatives of the 118 submariners who died,
president Vladimir Putin gave a firm pledge that the submarine
would be raised, and the remaining bodies recovered. He has
adhered to this promise, in the face of concerns about the £55m
cost and the feasibility of lifting the 14,000 tonne vessel from
the seabed.
Unless the Kursk is raised by autumn, another year will pass,
leaving the relatives little chance of ever burying their dead. Mr
Putin, who was harshly criticised for his slow response to the
disaster, is anxious not to disappoint them.
The desire to establish what caused the two explosions in the
Kursk\'s torpedo bay - a technical fault, a collision with a mine,
or another vessel - initially added urgency to the operation.
Officials said no conclusions could be made until the wreck was
studied, but the decision to leave the weapons arsenal on the
seabed means that a full assessment of what happened will not
be possible this year.
Russia is under pressure to lift the wreck to avoid the risk of
polluting the fishing area with radiation, which could start
leaking once the nuclear reactors begin to disintegrate.
\"There is also a desire not to leave military secrets lying
abandoned on the seabed, in a spot theoretically accessible to
foreign navies,\" a military commentator, Yury Gladkeyevich,
said.
The rapidly organised consortium of Russian and international
engineering firms has had little time to prepare. The deal with
Dutch company Mammoet and Smit International was signed
only two months ago, after an earlier consortium of
international engineers pulled out, saying it was not ready to
compromise safety in order to finish the work this year.
Norway is particularly uneasy about the dangers that a rushed
operation bring.
\"There is a risk of the raising operation itself going wrong, that
they could, for example, lose the submarine. That could result
in the reactor being more damaged,\" a spokesman for Norway\'s
Nuclear Protection Board said. \"The Barents sea is one of the
world\'s cleanest oceans and it is not desirable to have any kind
of uncertainty about the important fisheries resources in that
area.\"
Government websites have set out to allay concerns, providing
detailed information about the salvage plans. A massive floating
platform, named the Giant, is being modified in Rotterdam,
equipped with 26 thick lifting cables, each of which is strong
enough to lift 900 tonnes.
Over the summer, divers will cut 26 holes in the hull of the
Kursk using powerful underwater jets. When the Kursk is ready
to be lifted, the cables will be lowered from the platform and
anchored in these holes, using large steel clamps.
Sometime around September 15, when the weather permits, the
submarine will be dragged by the cables about 100 metres to
just below the floating platform, and later towed slowly towards
the port at Murmansk. The actual lifting stage is expected to
take no more than about 10 hours.</HTML>
| Subject | Written By | Posted |
|---|---|---|
Kursk:risk of nuclear explosion!
|
Nonny | 07/15/2001 07:58PM |
|
not a risk of a nuclear explosion
|
kurt | 07/16/2001 12:29AM |
|
RE: not a risk of a nuclear explosion
|
Ray | 07/16/2001 12:19PM |
|
RE: not a risk of a nuclear explosion
|
walter M. | 07/16/2001 01:01PM |
|
RE: not a risk of a nuclear explosion
|
Ray | 07/16/2001 02:06PM |
|
RE: not a risk of a nuclear explosion
|
walter M | 07/16/2001 02:31PM |
|
NO risk of a nuclear explosion
|
Dietzsch | 07/17/2001 05:19AM |