MELTDOWN AT SEA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00965R000403220005-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 9, 2012
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: May 2, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

ST Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403220005-9
AttTJCLr. "' BALTIMORE SUN
ON pAGE 2 May 1986
Meltdown at Sea
;~- San Francisco.
PT%HE RADIATION accident at
lt, the Chernobyl power plant
14L near Kiev is not the Soviet
Union's first nuclear meltdown. Al-
*ough little is known in the West
about Soviet nuclear accidents. U.S.
Navy and CIA documents obtained
By David E. Kaplan
6Ader the Freedom of Information
Ad indicate there have been at least
l.'l serious radiation accidents in the
%Viet Union's atomic-powered na-
vy. including reports of the first nu-
e71r meltdown at sea.
Q,' As In the United States. most So-
4det nuclear reactors are operated
ndt< as civilian power stations, but as
propulsion plants aboard nuclear
submarines. The Soviets have an es-
timated 356 naval reactors aboard
188 ships and submarines. com-
pared to some 50 civilian reactors.
Although the naval reactors may be
as sas one-tenth the size of ci-
vilian plants. experts warn they are
potentially very dangerous.
Rumors of serious nuclear acci-
dents and of widespread radiation
overexposure in the Soviet navy
have persisted for years. but only
during the last few years have U.S.
odicials begun releasing information
about them. Most striking is a set of
Cfk intelligence briefs recently re-
leased to the Center for Investigative
Re(lorting. Mostly cables and reports
prepared under the CIA's Director-
ates of Intelligence and Operations,
they provide confirmation of the first
reactor meltdown at sea.
'The accident occurred in 1966 or
1967 aboard the icebreaker Lenin.
and is believed to have rendered the
ship too radioactive to use for years.
According to one CIA report. "a nu-
ci - reactor ... melted in a sudden
c .tastrophic accident. The exact
number of casualties ... was be-
lieved to be between 27 and 30 peo-
ple." A 1982 U.S. Navy report simi-
larly referred to the Lenin as havin~
"suffered a reactor casualty." and
the ship's three reactors ul-
timately were replaced with two new
ones. Virtually nothing Is known
about the accident's environmental
effects. or even where it occurred.
A second meltdown is reported to
have occurred aboard a prototype
"Alfa"-class sub in the Barents Sea
in the late 1970s. also with many
casualties. although no documenta-
tion of the event is available. The
Alfa class uses liquid sodium as a
heat-transfer agent in its reactors.
instead of pressurized water, as in
most other Soviet nuclear subs and
all those in the U.S. fleet. The U.S.
Navy abandoned its use of the highly
corrosive sodium more than 25
years ago when it experienced prob-
lems aboard the second American
nuclear sub, the Seawolf.
Details are similarly scanty about
other occurrences, but the reports
indicate at least 12 major nuclear
accidents at sea. including the sink-
ing of 3 submarines and the Wes of
several hundred men. Among them:
In late February 1982, a Soviet
ballistic missile sub "was sighted
surfaced in the North Atlantic off the
coast of Newfoundland." According
to a U.S. Navy report, "This unit had
apparently suffered a serious nucle-
ar propulsion casualty, which result-
ed in the loss of all power ... and
she was towed back to her home
base. Indications are that several
deaths occurred."
In early September 1981, a sud-
den series of powerful shocks jolted
a Soviet sub in the Baltic Sea. A rup-
ture apparently developed in the
sub's nuclear reactor system, and
leaking radiation began to contami-
nate crew members. As an emergen-
cy measure, the irradiated sailors
were locked into their compart-
ments, where they remained for the
two days it took to tow the crippled
sub back to port. Upon docking at
Kaliningrad. the victims were evacu-
ated and flown to a hospital in Riga.
Within 14 days, the sailors began to
shed their hair and rapidly lose
weight. Many of them soon died of
"severe radiation poisoning," ac-
cording to a CIA report.
In August 1980, in a widely re-
ported accident, a Soviet nuclear at-
tack submarine suffered a serious
fire off the coast of Okinawa. Ac-
cording to the U.S. Navy. "All power
was apparently lost ... British per-
sonnel observed several bodies on
the submarine's deck and other per.
sonnel receiving artificial respira-
tion. At least nine men are believed
to have died from a probable fire in
the propulsion spaces."
In August 1978. a Soviet guided-
missile submarine "was observed
dead in the water near Cockall Bank
northwest of Scotland." according to
a U.S. Navy report. "The unit had
apparently lost power due to a pro-
pulsion-system casualty. The exact
cause ... and number of possible
casualties is unknown."
In December 1972, a nuclear
weapon ruptured aboard a Soviet
sub patrolling off the eastern coast
of North America. According to CIA
sources, "the accident occurred in
the spaces of the Mine-Torpedo De-
partment ... and involved nuclear
radiation leakage from a nuclear tor-
pedo." As a safety measure, the
doors to the torpedo room were im.
mediately sealed, trapping crew
members within the space.
On April 11. 1970, a nuclear at-
tack sub near Spain was apparently
lost at sea due "to a casualty in the
nuclear propulsion system." accord-
ing to one U.S. Navy report. "The
Soviets have never admitted that
this submarine was bet."
In 1966, a radiation leak occurred
in the reactor shielding of a nuclear
sub near the Arctic naval base of
Polyarnyy. Crewmen reportedly pan-
icked when the submarine docked.
According to one CIA report, "Part of
the crew was sent to a special center
on an island near Murmansk where
naval personnel with radiation sick-
ness were sent to be treated... .
(Theyl did not come back."
CIA reports also provide details
about the well publicized sinking of
a submarine off the Faroe Islands
near Iceland In 1970. The Interior of
the submarine caught fire and when
it spread toward the nuclear reactor
the captain "gave orders for part of
the crew to escape to the [nearby]
submarine tender. The,political offi-
cer. who had not been ordered to
leave the submarine, went on board
the tender for fear of his life. The ...
executive officer and several crew
members ... refused and instead as-
sisted the captain in fighting the
fire." The fire could not be con-
trolled, and the ship was deliberately
scuttled with "great loss of life."
So great are the dangers that one
U.S. Navy report noted crewmen
from Soviet nuclear ships receive
what is called "childless pay" and
special treatment for radiation-relat-
ed diseases.
Soviet sailors reportedly even jest
about their plight "How do you tell a
man is from the Northern Fleet?"
goes one joke. Answer. "He glows in
the dark."
David E. Kaplan is a staff writ-
er with the Center for Investiga-
tive Reporting in San Francisco
and editor of the Center's book,
"Nuclear CaUfornia."
New, Anw era WoWftW
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/02/09: CIA-RDP90-00965R000403220005-9