5,511 feet below the sea, submarine loaded with nukes is leaking radioactive material. But scientists aren't worried

A nuclear submarine built by the Soviet Union went down in the Norwegian Sea following a terrible accident in 1989. This sub is now leaking radioactive material, but surprisingly not causing any harm to the ocean. Titanium alloy was used to forge the inner and outer hulls of the Komsomolets (K-278). There are two nuclear weapons on it, along with a nuclear reactor. A fire killed 42 crew members, and its wreckage has been lying 5,511 feet below the Norwegian Sea. Scientists with Norway’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority and its Institute of Marine Research sent a submersible to study the wreckage in 2019. After years of analysis, they state in a study that the Soviet Union implemented a perfect plan, preventing a major catastrophe. It was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on March 23, 2026.

The rear end of K-278 caught fire on April 7th, 1989, turning it into a blowtorch. It sank to the bottom of the sea and is still standing just as it was 37 years ago. The Soviet Union knew the dangers of having two nuclear weapons submerged in the ocean. So it regularly monitored the sub through the manned Mir submersibles. After the USSR dissolved in 1991, Russia stayed on the job and did not forget about the nuke sub. Sometime around 1994, an expedition noticed that two nukes had been exposed to the ocean. Scientists acted quickly and, in that year, sealed the torpedo tubes with titanium patches and plated other exposed areas with titanium.

Also Read: European nations dumped 200,000 barrels of radioactive waste in the ocean, and humans might soon pay the price

Norwegian scientists saw leakage from the nuclear sub

In the past few years, Norway has taken the responsibility of keeping a check on the submarine.

Norwegian scientists involved in the study analysed data from 2019 gathered by remotely operated submersibles. They were equipped with sonar, video, and 40-litre water sampling containers that were used to test for radioactive isotopes. What they saw was scary - radioactive material was leaking from a ventilation pipe and a nearby metal grill. It was the same point on the sub where Russians had noticed the leak in 1994. They checked ratios of plutonium and uranium isotopes used by old Soviet nuclear submarines and the ratios of emissions from nearby nuclear facilities to be sure that the material was flowing from the submarine. They found "clear evidence that releases of these radionuclides are occurring from the reactor in Komsomolets and that the nuclear fuel in the reactor is corroding."

Also Read: 45,000 gallons of radioactive water from Indian Point nuclear plant could be discharged into Hudson River as Holtec wins lawsuit

The study authors said that since the material was rapidly diluted in seawater, there was no evidence of any harmful impact on the marine environment. There was also “no evidence of any plutonium from the warheads in the torpedo compartment." This proves that the patches used by Russia are holding strong.