(Bloomberg) -- Russia broke days of secrecy and confirmed that a submersible research vessel on which a fire broke out that killed 14 sailors is nuclear-powered.
The nuclear reactor on board the vessel is “completely sealed off,” Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin in a meeting shown on state TV on Thursday. Crew members “took all the necessary measures to protect the power plant, it's fully operational,” Shoigu said.
The fatal fire on Monday began in the submersible's battery compartment, and the vessel will be repaired and returned to service fairly quickly, Shoigu said.
Russian authorities had previously refused to say whether the country's worst naval incident in more than a decade involved a nuclear-powered vessel. They have also refused to say what type of craft was involved, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov calling the information “absolutely classified.” Neighboring Norway contacted Russia for more details though it said it hadn't detected any increased radiation levels.
Secret Project
The vessel is linked to a secret nuclear submarine project known as Losharik, RBC news website reported, citing a person it didn't identify. Russia said the sailors died from smoke inhalation after the fire started while the deep-water submersible was exploring the sea bed in its territorial waters. The craft was later taken to the Russian Northern Fleet's Severomorsk base on the Barents Sea coast.
Putin described it as an “unusual vessel” on Tuesday, adding that the victims included seven captains first rank and two decorated Heroes of Russia.
The fire was Russia's most serious naval incident since 20 people died on a Nerpa nuclear submarine in 2008. The Losharik submarine can operate at a depth of 6,000 meters (20,000 feet), according to RBC. The submarine has a titanium housing and had been used for research on the continental shelf, Izvestia newspaper reported in 2012.
Russia's worst post-Soviet naval disaster occurred early in Putin's presidency, in August 2000, when 118 crew died on the Kursk nuclear submarine that sank in the Barents Sea after an explosion.
To contact the reporter on this story: Henry Meyer in Moscow at hmeyer4@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gregory L. White at gwhite64@bloomberg.net, Henry Meyer, Tony Halpin
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