Russian Submarine Narrowly Avoided Nuclear Disaster [Insider Report]

Russia’s officials downplayed a near catastrophic situation in December, stating that nuclear weapons had long been removed from a Russian nuclear submarine but Russian navy insiders now claim that isn’t true and a nuclear disaster was only narrowly avoided.

According to a Vlast magazine report the submarine was carrying 16 intercontinental ballistic missiles, each which held four nuclear warheads.

Had those warheads caught fire officials say it would have been the “biggest catastrophe since the time of Chernobyl.”

The incident started on December 29 when welding sparks set fire to a scaffold that surrounded the submarine at a major shipyard nearly 900 miles north of Moscow.

The blaze raged on for an entire day before firefighters were able to put it out.

After the fire was put out the ship traveled to the navy weapons store, which was an odd location to travel since Russian officials had previously said no weapons were aboard the submarine.

Aside from nuclear weapons the submarine was also housing two nuclear reactors and it was said to be carrying torpedoes and mines.

According to Vlast if a torpedo had exploded it could have put the submarines nuclear arsenal at risk.

Had the submarine exploded it would have been the worst post-Soviet submarine disaster in Russian since August 2000 when the nuclear submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea. That submarine killed 118 crewmen.

If nuclear weapons were aboard a submarine that was being worked on in a potentially dangerous renovation situation we have to question why officials didn’t remove the weapons in the first place?