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Russia: Nuclear Reactor Safe on Fire-Hit Submersible

Associated Press

   MOSCOW - The nuclear reactor on one of the Russian navy's research
   submersibles hasn't been damaged in a fire that killed 14 seamen,
   Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Thursday, adding that the vessel
   would be put back into service after repairs.

   The Defense Ministry said the 14 seamen were killed by toxic fumes from
   Monday's blaze, the navy's worst accident in more than a decade. It
   said some others survived the blaze, but there was no information on
   how many crew members have been rescued.

   The ministry didn't name the vessel, and the Kremlin refused to divulge
   any details about it, saying the information is highly classified.
   Russian media reported that it was the country's most secret
   submersible, a nuclear-powered research submarine called the Losharik
   intended for sensitive missions at great depths.

   Replying to questions from President Vladimir Putin about the nuclear
   reactor's condition, Shoigu said the vessel was designed so that its
   reactor is fully isolated and autonomous.

   "The crew also has taken all the necessary action to safeguard the
   reactor, and it is fully operational," he said. "That gives us hope
   that the vessel could be repaired quickly."

   Shoigu, who traveled to the navy's main Arctic base of Severomorsk
   Wednesday to oversee a probe into the fire, said the blaze erupted at
   the vessel's battery compartment and spread further.

   He praised crew members for "heroic" actions, saying those who died
   sacrificed their lives to rescue a civilian expert and to save the
   ship.

   Hundreds of sailors gathered Thursday at Russia's main naval cathedral
   in Kronshtadt just off St. Petersburg in the Gulf of Finland to mourn
   the dead.