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Associated Press MOSCOW (Aug. 30) - An aged Russian nuclear submarine being towed to a scrapyard sank in a gale in the Barents Sea Saturday, killing nine of the 10 crew aboard in an accident that raised concerns of environmental damage and further dented the deteriorating navy's prestige.
The storm tore off pontoons attached to the K-159 submarine for its trip to the dismantling point. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov also said the ship's conning tower had been left open, and he fired the commander of the submarine division that included the K-159.
The two nuclear reactors of the 40-year-old submarine have been shut down since it was decommissioned in 1989 and radiation levels remained normal after it sank about 3 nautical miles northwest of Kildin Island near the entrance to Kola Bay, Russian military officials said.
Navy deputy chief Adm. Viktor Kravchenko said one sailor was rescued and the bodies of two others were pulled out of the 50-degree waters. Ivanov said Saturday evening that ``I'm forced to recognize ... that it is impossible to find any of the remaining seven crew members alive.''
Although the navy insisted that the K-159's nuclear reactors posed no environmental hazard, environmentalists quickly warned of a possible radiation leak that could contaminate the busy fishing area.
The K-159 sank about 4 a.m. local time in waters 560 feet deep after four pontoons attached for the towing operation were ripped of the sub during a battering storm.
In contrast to the Kursk disaster, when the government issued scarce and conflicting information, the Defense Ministry quickly reported the K-159 accident. ``Our military and political leadership has at least learned some lessons from the Kursk tragedy,'' retired Capt. Igor Kurdin, the head of the St.Petersburg-based Submariners' Club, said in a telephone interview.
The K-159 entered service in 1963. A November-class submarine, it was intended for attacking enemy ships with conventional or low-yield nuclear torpedoes. ``It was a workhorse of the Cold War,'' Kurdin said.
The storm tore off pontoons attached to the K-159 submarine for its trip to the dismantling point. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov also said the ship's conning tower had been left open, and he fired the commander of the submarine division that included the K-159.
The two nuclear reactors of the 40-year-old submarine have been shut down since it was decommissioned in 1989 and radiation levels remained normal after it sank about 3 nautical miles northwest of Kildin Island near the entrance to Kola Bay, Russian military officials said.
Navy deputy chief Adm. Viktor Kravchenko said one sailor was rescued and the bodies of two others were pulled out of the 50-degree waters. Ivanov said Saturday evening that ``I'm forced to recognize ... that it is impossible to find any of the remaining seven crew members alive.''
Although the navy insisted that the K-159's nuclear reactors posed no environmental hazard, environmentalists quickly warned of a possible radiation leak that could contaminate the busy fishing area.
The K-159 sank about 4 a.m. local time in waters 560 feet deep after four pontoons attached for the towing operation were ripped of the sub during a battering storm.
In contrast to the Kursk disaster, when the government issued scarce and conflicting information, the Defense Ministry quickly reported the K-159 accident. ``Our military and political leadership has at least learned some lessons from the Kursk tragedy,'' retired Capt. Igor Kurdin, the head of the St.Petersburg-based Submariners' Club, said in a telephone interview.
The K-159 entered service in 1963. A November-class submarine, it was intended for attacking enemy ships with conventional or low-yield nuclear torpedoes. ``It was a workhorse of the Cold War,'' Kurdin said.