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10/25 UNION NEWSPAPER REVEALS LARGEST SOVIET NUCLEAR ... 

 MOSCOW (OCT. 25) TASS - Ten people were killed and many exposed to dangerous 

 radiation levels in 1985 in the largest nuclear accident in the soviet navy over the past 30 

 years, according to a newspaper report revealing the disaster for the first time. 



The trade union daily Trud said today the catastrophe took place at the Defence 

 Ministry's Shkotovo-22 ship-repair facility in the maritime territory on the pacific coast 

 on August 10, 1985. 



The accident occurred at noon during the replacement of a reactor core on a 

 nuclear submarine. 



A routine operation required every five years, it also needs extreme caution not to 

 disturb the protective lattice almost right under the reactor cover. Should the lattice, 

 containing radioactive fuel and high-temperature water under high pressure, be shifted, a 

 nuclear reaction gets under way. 



Describing what happened after the reactor cover began to be lifted, trud said: 



The reactor cover was slowly creeping upwards when it suddenly went askew, 

 knocking against the lattice. The reaction started. High-pressure, super-heated steam 

 broke loose from the reaaor depths, hitting the cover with great- force. 



The ship-repair yards shuddered from a p>owerful explosion. Everyone rushed to 

 see what had happened. What they saw were flames and brown fumes bursting from 

 gaping holes in the crippled sub." 



Three hours later radiation meters, designed to register emissions of up to 600 

 roentgens, read off scale, Trud said. 



It added that later studies foimd that radiation levels during the accident reached 

 90,000 roentgens per hour and those who fought the blaze or happened to be nearby 

 received at least 30 to 40 rems each. 



The fire was put out in one and a half to two hours and a the one-toime reactor 

 cover was thrown about 100 meters by the explosion almost to the other side of the bay 

 ten people, who were on board the sub, were torn into little pieces." 



Military commanders arriving on the scene of the tragedy, Trud continued, 

 ordered the place to be tidied up and the facility to be back in operation by the 

 beginning of the following week. 



They also ordered the nuclear accident to be officially described as a thermal 

 explosion, and all military service personnel and civilian employees at the facility had to 

 sign a pledge not to reveal the disaster. 



Trud said that a proper burial ground for the contaminated submarine was not 

 even constructed in view of the rush to restxme work as soon as possible. Instead, three 

 deep pits were dug in the hills near the settlement housing the facility's staff and their 

 families, and the radioactive wreckage was dumped there. 



