There is already a lot to be scared of out in the ocean, from vicious sharks to careless oil spills. Just recently, scientists learned about a different kind of 'spill' that makes the ocean more dangerous than ever before. A sunken Soviet nuclear submarine was found to leak radiation at almost one million times the normal levels.
What Happened to the Komsomolets?
The Soviet nuclear submarine named Komsomolets used to be the most advanced in the Soviet Navy. It went down on April 7, 1989, carrying two plutonium warheads.
The vessel had been patrolling the waters for 39 days when a fire broke out in one compartment, which quickly spread through it. Forty-two crew died either in the fire or awaiting rescue while the submarine sank to the bottom of the Barents Sea.
The warheads now lie at a depth of 1,680 meters, with the rest of the vessel's wreckage including its reactor. Ever since the wreck has caused concern about possible radioactive leakage.
Threats From a Sunken Vessel
The researchers from the Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority have now confirmed these worries. After using a remote-controlled vehicle to probe the wreck, they discovered extensive damage to the submarine's hull. The researchers reported exceptionally high radiation levels in the site surrounding one of the submarine's ventilation pipes.
The research team recorded the highest measurement at 800 becquerels per liter. The radiation levels in that body of water typically remain around 0.001 becquerel per liter. Radioactive cesium was found in levels that are close to 1 million times higher than the levels found in uncontaminated water. According to researcher Hilde Elise Heldal from Norway's Institute of Marine Research, this is a higher level than they would usually measure out at sea, but the levels they have found now are not alarming.
The team members were not surprised to discover increased radiation levels since radioactive cesium gets easily diluted in the depths of the Barents Sea, and few fish thrive in the site surrounding the wreck. Heldal reported that the leakage has little impact on Norwegian fish and seafood. In general, the levels of cesium in the Norwegian Sea are deficient, and since the wreck is so deep, the pollutants from the submarine are quickly diluted.
Since the 1900s, Norwegian scientists have been monitoring the wreck of the Komsomolets. Monitoring expeditions occur on an annual basis and require the taking of core samples from the sea floor. Russian investigators had previously discovered small radiation leaks near the wreck in the 1990s and in 2007.
This year, an undersea drone called the Aegir 600 was deployed by Norway to investigate the remains of the submarine. The drone allowed the experts to take footage of the wreckage and samples of the ventilation pipe that was leaking radiation. One sample was not 30,000 times higher than that found in uncontaminated seawater, while the other was close to one million times higher. Norway's Institute of Marine Research later confirmed that the highest sample was more than 800,000 times higher than normal.
As described by Heldal, the findings are comparable to the results of the previous Russian surveys, showing that the Komsomolets had been leading radiation the whole time. Although Russia has made promises over the years to raise the vessels and other radioactive debris abandoned by the Soviet Navy in the Arctic, Heldal suggested that attempting to do so would be dangerous since it would risk leakage at the surface.
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