Sub-fire in Severodvinsk
A serious fire started during decommissioning work on the nuclear powered submarine Kazan, at the Zvezdochka yard in Severodvinsk Tuesday afternoon.
The newspaper Argumenti i Fakti reports that the fire started at 17.35 and lasted for many hours. There are no reported victims and the Zvezdochtka yard assures in a press-release that there is no danger of radiation from the submarine.
The spent nuclear fuel from the submarine’s two reactors was unloaded in April this year. Kazan (K-403), a Yankee-class submarine, was commissioned in 1971 and served with intercontinental missiles for the Soviet Northern fleet until 1980. In 1980 the submarine was rebuilt and equipped with special hydro acoustic research systems. In 2004, the submarine was officially taken out of operation, and the decommissioning work goes on now.
In March this year, there was another fire in a submarine under decommissioning at Zvezdochtka. The fire in the submarine Orenburg started during work on cutting the hull of the submarine, as reported by BarentsObserver, with reference to a press-release posted at Zvezdochtka’s website.
Like Kazan that went on fire yesterday, Orenburg was also a special purpose submarine, a rebuilt Yankee class.
