Russian fire-hit submersible was nuclear-powered : Confirmed Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that the deep-water submersible that caught fire on Monday was nuclear-powered. The accident had killed 14 crew.

It was during a conversation with Russia’s defense chief Sergei Shoigu that Putin’s comment came. The defense chief confirmed that the incident was caused by a fire in a battery compartment. According to Shoigu, the reactor is “completely isolated now” and “in full working order”.

In the fire caused in the submersible in the Barents Sea, 14 senior officers died of smoke inhalation. The Kremlin did not released information about the blaze initially, calling it a state secret. The confirmation came 3 days after the incident happened.

Only a limited power reserves had been equipped with the submersible, which was quite smaller than the submarine. At the time of fire, the submersible was carrying out research in Russian territorial waters. It is now at the naval base in Severomorsk on the Barents Sea.

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