(Newswire.net -- July 17, 2019) -- Radiation emissions were detected from a Soviet nuclear submarine that sank 30 years ago, but there is no risk to humans or fish, Norwegian researchers have said.
Hilde Elise Heldal of the Norwegian Marine Research Institute said that the source of the radiation leak is found but the level of radioactivity "is not alarmingly high."
The institute announced that radiation was measured at 100 bq (becquerels per liter), while in other parts of the Norwegian sea this value was about 0.001 bq.
Several samples collected from the vicinity of the ventilation openings of the wreck contained a significantly higher level of radioactive cesium compared to other parts of the Norwegian Sea, the statement said. However, in other samples taken at the same site there were no such values, reports AP.
Although the radiation is reportedly not dangerous to sea life, the institute states that there are not many fish in the submarine area.
A joint Norwegian-Russian expedition set off on Saturday, July 6, from Troms to Barents Sea and the place where the Submarine "Komsomolets" sank in 1989. Then 42 of the 69 crew members died in the fire that consumed the vessel.
On 4 August 1984 K-278 “Komsomolec” reached a record depth of 3,350 feet in the Norwegian Sea. Although it was developed mostly to test technology for fourth-generation nuclear submarines, it had full combat capabilities.
It sank on its first operational patrol, in 1989, after a fire broke out in the aft engineering compartment.
After the fire broke out, the Soviet K-287 was able to surface and remained afloat for approximately 5 hours before sinking so the sailors could escape the vessel. However, of the 42 crew members who lost their lives, only 4 were killed by the fire and smoke, while 34 died of hypothermia, drowning in the cold Norwegian Sea before help arrived.
Public enquiry was conducted after the accident and, as a result many formerly classified details were revealed by the Soviet news media.
The submarine still has a nuclear reactor and two atomic warheads.
The wreckage is at a depth of about 1,700 meters.
