MOSCOW. Sept 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Defense Ministry has created a special commission to investigate the fire on the nuclear submarine Tomsk, which was undergoing maintenance work on the shipbuilding enterprise Zvezda (Primorye Territory), the press service and information department of the Russian Defense Ministry has reported.
"A commission has been created to determine the cause and circumstances of the fire. According to tentatively information, the fire was caused by violations of welding rules," a report obtained by Interfax-AVN says.
The Defense Ministry recalled that the nuclear submarine Tomsk caught fire while undergoing maintenance work in the dock of the shipbuilding enterprise Zvezda on September 16.
"When the fire was found, the crew was removed from the dock. No one was hurt," the report says.
The ministry said the maintenance work on the submarine began in 2009 and it has been in the Zvezda dock since 2012.
"The nuclear reactor was shut down before the submarine was placed into the dock and the weapons were removed from the sub," the report says.