Predicting the spread of radioactive substances from the Kursk

Abstract

On August 12, 2000, the Russian nuclear submarine Kursk sank in the Barents Sea, just 100 nautical miles northeast of its home port in Murmansk. The accident, which claimed the lives of all 116 persons onboard the vessel, occurred in a sea that is one of the most important fishing areas for both Russia and Western Europe. The sinking and the potential hazard posed by the wreck have spurred considerable public interest. The fuel of its two reactors, a potential source of radioactive contamination, could leak or suddenly release during salvage. Oceanic circulation could spread the soluble radioactive substances through the Barents Sea into the Arctic interior, the Nordic Seas, and the Atlantic.