VLADIVOSTOK, September 16 (Itar-Tass) - Two fire-fighting boats and a radiation control vessel have been dispatched to the Zvezda shipyard in the town of Bolshoi Kamen where the Tomsk nuclear submarine of Russia’s Pacific Fleet is on fire. “It is necessary in order to exclude an emergency situation and to monitor the situation,” an informed source in the fleet’s headquarters told Itar -Tass, adding that the “watering of the fire source continues.”
According to a source from Russia's Defense Minisrty, the fire has been contained and the fumigation decreased. "Preparations to further wash down the inter-corpus space are being currently held. Eight fire teams of the 703d service support centers of the Pacific Fleet and seven fire teams of the EMERCOM regional department of the Primorsky Territory are working at the site," the source said.
The Tomsk nuclear submarine that is undergoing repairs caught fire between 04:00 and 05:00 a.m. during welding operations on Monday morning at the Zvyozdochka shipyard in the town of Bolshoy Kamen, Primorsky Territory. The fire source is between the pressure hull and outer hull of the submarine. Fifteen fire-fighting crews of the Pacific Fleet and the Russian Emergency Situations Ministry (EMERCOM) have been engaged in the fire extinguishing efforts.
According to preliminary data, there have been no casualties among the shipyard staff. “There is no radiation hazard. Weapons have been unloaded from the submarine. The situation is completely controlled. There is no threat to the local population,” the source stated.
The press service of the Defense Ministry reported that a special commission has been created to investigate the resons of the fire.
K-150 Tomsk is a nuclear submarine cruise of the Antei class, Project 949A. The main weapons of the cruiser are 24 anti-ship cruise missiles P-700 Granit.