Using a robotic sub , a squad of investigator has notice tracing of radiation leak from Komsomolets — a Soviet atomic submarine that sank 30 years ago in the Norwegian Sea . The recorded radiation degree are unusually gamy , but scientists say it ’s not threatening humans or marine life .
On April 7 , 1989 , while cruising at a deepness of 380 meters ( 1,250 feet ) , a fervidness broke out in the aft segment of Komsomolets , a Soviet nuclear - power tone-beginning grinder out on its first patrol . Its captain deal to bring the beleaguered pigboat to the surface , but it sank about five hours by and by . All 42 sailors were killed in the incident , known as theKomsomolets disaster .
The 120 - metre - foresighted ( 400 - metrical foot ) nuclear Cuban sandwich still rest some 1,700 meters ( 5,575 base ) below the Earth’s surface of the Norwegian Sea , about 320 kilometers ( 200 mile ) north of the Norwegian mainland .
The bridge section of Soviet nuclear submarine Komsomolets, as photographed by an ROV.Image: (IMR)
Remote reflection of Komsomolets have been made per year since the 1990s , but the most recent expedition , which ends this week , is the most thorough investigation of the shipwreck to particular date . Normally , scientists take out sampling of water near the pigboat , but this time around the researchers deployed Aegir 6000 — a remotely operated vehicle ( ROV ) that was dispatched and supervise from the inquiry vessel G. O. Sars .
“ We have been want to do a resume with an ROV for a number of year , ” said expedition leader Hilde Elise Heldal in the press spill . “ Aegir 6000 allow us to see exactly where we are take samples around the wreck , and equally significantly we ’ve been capable to use its television camera to zoom in and study the whole nuclear submarine section by section . ”
former expeditiousness to the wreck by Russian team documented radiation syndrome leaks around a ventilation duct , grant to Heldal . Aegir 6000 was manoeuvre to the same spot , where it also detected high grade of radioactive atomic number 55 . So “ we were n’t surprised to find high floor here , ” she said .
ROV Aegir 6000 at work on the wreck.Image: (IMR)
By “ in high spirits level ” the researchers are talk about levels 800,000 time high than what ’s typically observed in the Norwegian Sea . That said , not all samples take near the vent bring about the same high solution , and measurements made just a few foot above the duct did not yield the same big levels of radioactivity , as Justin Gwynn , a research worker at DSA , explained in the jam handout .
A leak out radioactive sub sure sounds scary , but this research suggest the wreck is not currently endangering the Norwegian Sea and outlying area . commonly , radiation sickness levels in the Norwegian Sea are at 0.001 Becquerel ( Bq ) per l . Around the shipwreck , however , they are as high as 100 Bq per cubic decimetre . For reference point , the satisfactory amount of radiation in nutrient is 600 Bq per kilogram , as establish by the Norwegian government in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster .
“ The levels we notice were clear above what is normal in the ocean , but they were n’t alarmingly eminent , ” said Heldal . She also added that the crash is quite abstruse and the actinotherapy is thin promptly . And there are n’t many fish in this part of the ocean , so there ’s small danger of contaminating Norse seafood , Heldal allege .
Aegir 6000 also detected puffs of muddy body of water rising up from the duct and a nearby grille . This appeal the attention of the investigator , who are left enquire if it ’s somehow related to the radiation . These “ clouds , ” as they called them , are worth investigating in the future tense .
The submarine probe also took sample of brine , deposit , and tiny organisms confiscate to the wreck . These samples will be psychoanalyse in the lab , so the current results should be considered preliminary until that ’s done .
This news comes just over a week after another Russian sub experienced a similar calamity . In thelatest incident , a firing aboard a Russian navy “ inquiry ” Cuban sandwich killed 14 sailors . The fire was extinguish , and the vessel is now stationed at Severomorsk , according to the BBC .
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