Russia Not to Lift Sunken Submarine before 2004

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, September 02, 2003

Russia Not to Lift Sunken Submarine before 2004

A senior Russian navy official announced Monday that the sunken nuclear-powered submarine will not be recovered earlier than 2004.

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A senior Russian navy official announced Monday that the sunken nuclear-powered submarine will not be recovered earlier than 2004.

The decommissioned submarine K-159 of the Russian Northern Fleet, which sank on Saturday in the Barents Sea, must be pulled out of the water to remove the reactor's fuel zone, said Admiral Viktor Kravchenko, the Russian navy's chief of staff.

He pointed out that the reactor stopped operation in 1989 and was transferred to a safe state, "but residual radiation is lingering in it," Interfax news agency reported.

Kravchenko noted that the K-159, found lying 238 meters under the sea, "will be recovered in one piece," which cannot be realized now at such a depth for the technical reason.

The official added that foreign aid in the program is not underconsideration now, pledging that Russia is well capable of raisinga submarine whose water displacement is 3,000 tons.

The 40-year-old submarine was decommissioned on July 16, 1989.

Being towed to a ship-repair yard for dismantling on Saturday morning, it sank five kilometers northwest of Kildin Island due to a storm that tore off four floating pontoons of the submarine. Nine of the 10 sailors on board were killed in the accident and only one was rescued.

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