Saturday, November 8, 2008

Accident on Akula II K-152 Nerpa?

So far reports of 20 dead:

Moscow, 08 November - RIA Novosti. More than 20 people dead as a result of an incident on a nuclear submarine in the Pacific Fleet according to the Navy Public Affairs officer, K1R Igor' Dygalo.

A malfunction of the automatic fire supression system during sea trials on one of the Pacific Fleet submarines killed more than 20 people today. Among the dead were shipyard workers and servicemen.

The boat wasn't damaged. THe reactor compartment is normal. Background radiation on the boat is within standards.

The Commander in Chief of the Navy has ordered a halt to testing. The decision to return the boat to its temporary base has been made.

Comment: The commenters at Live Journal user U-96's blog seem to think that the boat was Akula II K-152 Nerpa based on the fact that it was 1) during sea trials, and 2) shipyard workers were among the dead.

I'm sure we'll hear more about it later.

Update from U-96:

The incident which killed 20 people on board a Russian Pacific Fleet nuclear submarine occured in the bow of the boat. There is no threat to the reactor, which is located in the stern section of the boat a source in the Pacific Ocean Fleet Headquarters told RIA Novosti.

There were 208 people on board the submarine, 81 of them military. The BPK Admiral Tributs and the salvage tug Sayany are escorting the boat. Twenty one injured have been evacuated to the Tributs in various states of health.

U-96 comments: Two hundred and eight on board instead of the 73 normally assigned. Of course there weren't enough EBAs to go around. "In the bow section" must mean compartment one. Torpedo room.

Update 2: Novosti reports on the types of fire suppression systems found on Russian submarines:

Now there are two fire suppression systems on board nuclear submarines: air-foam and chemical.

The air-foam system is designed to extinguish local fires and consists of two stations located at either end of the boat. The foam reserve supports six foam stations. Each station can produce one cubic meter of foam which can be applied by means of a 10 meter long hose. The stations are placed such that they can deliver foam to any corner of the compartment.

The chemical system is designed to extinguish any type of fire in a space except for fuel and ammunition fires and consists of a fire supression station located in all compartments except the reactor compartment. The reactor compartment is covered by stations located in the 5th and 7th compartments.

The extinguishing agent is Halon 114B2. The system can deliver three shots of extinguishing agent to each space. The system can be activated remotely from the central command post or from a local control panel as well as manually from the station in the compartment.

(...)

Update 3: The traditional Russian reflex to find and punish the guilty kicks in as a criminal investigation is launched into the tragedy under Article 352 of the Criminal Codex - hazarding a military vessel leading to death.

Lots of cool shots of of Akulas underway in this video clip along with word that it was an accidental Freon discharge:



Update 4: Looking at the casualty list, except for two unidentified, it doesn't look like there were any Indian specialists on board.

Update 5: Footage purporting to be K-152 returning to port. The audio recaps what is known about the incident so far, adding that there will be a special commission to investigate the incident and that the President Dmitriy Medvedev is on top of making sure that families get help and compensation.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Unfortunate but not unusual. Hopefully the casualty quota for the year has been filled and there will be no more mishaps for a while.

Interesting to note that the 'boat wasn't damaged'. Did the fire suppression system just activate by itself or did something go off. Well why split hairs? Its good to know that everything is 'within normal parameters' and radiation is 'within standards'.

Anyway, let's not get carried away everyone knows Russian submarines are one of the most lethal weapons of war every made - especially for their own crews.

Unknown said...

Hope this is just a bad first report - lots of questions left to answer. It sounds like they set off halon (or the Russian equivalent) and suffocated a bunch of people - though that's postulation based on what little we know. Noticed that U-96 mentioned that this sub was ordered by the Indians. This could get complicated.

Anonymous said...

To my knowledge Halon suppression does not require evacuation (at least not immediately).

In any case, it would seem that any system used on a sub would be designed to allow the crew to survive its deployment.

There is likely much more to this massacre then an errant deployment of fire suppression. As usual the story will probably showcase gross incompetence and stupidity.

Anonymous said...

Back when glass house mainframe centers were common at universities, Halon fire suppression was de rigeur. Being caught in the machine room when the halon went of was likely to be fatal - the halon displaces the oxygen, killing the fire - and anyone still there. Fire alarms in the machine room were painfully loud to encourage folks to get out NOW.

Anonymous said...

Halon if it hits an open flame becomes Phosgene or what was called Mustard gas in WWII. It also displaces all of the oxygen and the people would suffocate.

Anonymous said...

"Halon if it hits an open flame becomes Phosgene or what was called Mustard gas in WWII. It also displaces all of the oxygen and the people would suffocate."

They couldn't pick a safer agent than mustard gas? What about a noble gas like Argon?

Such a pity. What has happened to shipbuilding in the past two decades? Look at the DDG-1000 or the San-Antonio too. and not to mention the Gorshkov.

Unknown said...

'Halon if it hits an open flame becomes Phosgene or what was called Mustard gas in WWII. It also displaces all of the oxygen and the people would suffocate.'

Two points:

1. Phosgene and mustard gas are not the same thing. Phosgene is a nerve agent while mustard gas is a blistering agent.

2. The production of phosgene when halon is heated to 1000 degrees Fahrenheit is possible but is not automatic and, given that the whole purpose of a halon system is to put fires out, it is unlikely that the fire would last long enough to produce lethal amounts. Mustard gas will not be produced no matter how hot the halon gets.

LT

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Anonymous said...

It sounds like they set off halon and suffocated a bunch of people - though that's postulation based on what little we know.

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