- Soviet submarine K-8
"K-8" was a
November class submarine of theSoviet Northern Fleet .Accidents
1960 Loss of Coolant
On
13 October 1960 , while operating in theBarents Sea , "K-8" suffered a ruptured steam generator tube, causing aloss of coolant accident . While the crew jury-rigged a system to supply emergency cooling water to the reactor, preventing a reactorcore meltdown , large amounts ofradioactive gas leaked out which contaminated the entire vessel. The gasradiation levels could not be determined because instrumentation could not measure such large scales. Three of the crew suffered visible radiation injuries, and many crewmen were exposed to doses of up to 1.8 – 2Sv (180 – 200 rem).1970 Bay of Biscay fire
According to news circulated by the controversial
Mario Scaramella , Russian officials allegedly confirmed in2004 that on10 January 1970 , "K-8" received orders to lay a number of tactical atomictorpedoes asnaval mine s in theBay of Naples , to be used against theUnited States Sixth Fleet cite news | title = Soviet Navy left 20 nuclear warheads in bay of Naples | url = http://www.sgpproject.org/Personal%20Use%20Only/TorpedoesNaples.html | work = The Independent | date = 2005-03-19 | accessdate = 2006-11-30] .Four months later, on
8 April 1970 , "K-8" suffered fires in two compartments simultaneously. Both nuclear reactors were shut down ["Inventory of accidents and losses at sea involving radioactive material",International Atomic Energy Agency 2001, online [http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/publications/PDF/te_1242_prn.pdf pdf version] ] . The captain ordered his crew to abandon ship but was countermanded. 52 crewmen, including the captain, re-boarded the submarine, and were lost when she sank in rough seas while being towed in theBay of Biscay .References
* The Bellona Foundation (http://bellona.no) — Bellona material is ©, but "reuse and reprint recommended provided source is stated."Additional Reading
*cite book
last =Norman Polmar and J.K. Moore
first =
authorlink =
title = "Cold War Submarines: The Design and Construction of U.S. and Soviet Submarines"
edition =
year = 2004
publisher = Washington, DC: Potamac Books, Inc
location =
id =ISBN : 1574885308 (paperback)
quote =
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