Russian Nuclear Submarine caught fire.

One of Russia's biggest nuclear submarines has caught fire while docked but no radiation leak has been reported.


The 11,740-tonne vessel was undergoing repairs in the northern
Murmansk region when the blaze broke out, defence ministry spokesman
Igor Konashenkov said.


He added that all of the nuclear missiles and conventional rockets on
The Yekaterinburg had been removed before entering the Roslyakovo dock
near Russia's border with Norway.


"The power unit was switched off and is now safe," he said.

The dramatic fire quickly spread from the shipyard's wooden scaffold to
the submarine's outer hull, with footage of the incident showing the
submarine apparently engulfed in flames.


The rubber shell that minimises radar tracing, which most modern submarines are fitted with, is thought to have caught fire.


A massive salvage operation was launched involving 11 fire brigades and a navy fire boat.


A special helicopter was used to douse the flames in tonnes of water from above.


Huge clouds of smoke could be seen billowing from the shipyard even
after the fire had been contained, which one witness said "reached about
10 metres (over 30 feet)."


The Delta IV class submarine, which was commissioned by the former
Soviet Union in 1985, can carry up to 16 inter-continental ballistic
missiles and is one of six in a class which form the backbone of its
sea-based nuclear defences.


Military prosecutors have launched an inquiry into the causes of the fire.







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Not got a good safety record have they!!!