MOSCOW. Oct 12 (Interfax-AVN) - When it is moved into a dock off the town of Roslyakovo, the Kursk submarine will pose no radiation danger, Krylov Central Research Institute Director Valentin Pashin, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, thinks.
Contrary to rumors spread by the media and leading to panic, there is nothing to fear, Pashin said. Even if the hull of the reactor were damaged, there would be no danger for people, he said in an interview published by Izvestiya newspaper on Friday.
Pashin does not think that there will be what he called local phenomena in the dock. "All the measurements that we have been taking until now suggest that the reactor is intact and poses no danger," he said.
The reactor's chief designer Igor Serov and a large team of engineers are now in Roslyakovo, Pashin said. Once the submarine is in the dock, the dismantling operation will start, he said.
Under a contract with Mammoet, a Dutch company, the Krylov institute contributed to developing procedures of lifting the Kursk. During the operation the institute's personnel were engaged in radiation control on the submarine's hull and around the submarine. They are continuing to do so in Roslyakovo.