Nuclear danger grows from dumped Soviet subs

[pampango]

Soviet-era submarines dumped more than 30 years ago in the Arctic Ocean are threatening a major nuclear catastrophe, according to a report by a German magazine.

“A creeping catastrophe has already begun. The longer these submarines are under water the greater the danger that more and more radioactivity will escape and contaminate the sea all around it,” said German nuclear security expert Wolfgang Renneberg .

In August, Russia released details of 19 subs, 14 nuclear reactors and thousands of other pieces of radioactive waste lying at the bottom of the ocean.

As well as key fishing grounds, the Kara Sea is thought to hold more than 37 billion barrels of oil.

http://www.euronews.com/2012/09/26/nuclear-danger-remains-over-dumping-of-damaged-soviet-submarines/

[benld74]

1. And who is nuts enough to try a salvage operation on these???

[bluedigger]

2. Ever hear of the Hughes Glomar Explorer and Project Azorian?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Azorian

[HopeHoops]

3. I'm more concerned with power reactors on fault lines. We've got our own share.

And on top of that, the designs were approved in the 60's and early 70's. They're antiquated. I worked on human factors engineering in nuke plants and it scared the fucking SHIT out of me. Yes, they're that obsolete. TMI is twelve miles from here. Reactor one shut down last week because one of the cooling systems failed. They have no clue what caused the failure, but it started working again and they restarted the reactor. It only takes one cooling system failure to send it into a dangerous condition.

Yes, the shit in the sea is frightening, but the shit on land is even worse. Under water, the subs may leak radioactive material, but that's also why we store spent fuel rods in "swimming pool" tanks. Water blocks it and nuclear materials are way too heavy to float. It's a regional disaster, but not likely to spread easily. Propagation through the food chain is the main worry.