Based on Actual Events K-19 Submarine The “Widowmaker”

Nuclear Submarines During the Cold War, there was a race to develop nuclear powered submarines that could also carry nuclear missiles

Nuclear Submarines

Nuclear Submarines In 1954, the Americans were the first to build a nuclear powered submarine called the Nautilus The Nautilus used standard submarine design except in the engine compartment

Nuclear Submarines In 1957, Soviet Union retaliated by building the K-3, their first nuclear powered submarine The Soviet Union used new designs that had superior features But they rushed to build them, so were poorly built and inadequately tested Resulted in many accidents and deaths during construction and at sea

Nuclear Submarines In 1960, the Americans finished building the George Washington submarine The first submarine capable of carrying and launching nuclear missiles The Soviet Union responded by building the K-19 Again, they rushed and mistakes were made

K-19 Submarine Even during construction there were problems and accidents because of the rush to complete the ship 10 people died while building the ship A fire broke out killing two workers Six women suffocated from fumes while applying insulation An electrician was crushed to death by a missile tube cover An engineer fell between two compartments and died

K-19 Submarine Statistics Commissioned: April 30, 1961 Displacement: 5,000 tons Length: 374 ft Max. Operating Depth: 300 m Top Speed: 15 knots on surface and 26 knots submerged Armament: 3 nuclear missiles 6 torpedo tubes forward 2 torpedo tubes aft Engineering: 2 thermal VM-A reactors 2 geared turbines driving shafts to produce 39,200 horsepower Max. Mission Length: 50 Days (due to food constraints)

K-19 Disaster On July 4, 1961 there was a rupture in the primary coolant loop for one of the reactors Coolant serves two purposes in a nuclear reactor It regulates the temperature of the reactor by carrying away heat By lowering the temperature, it slows the neutrons which controls the chain reaction

K-19 Disaster The rupture caused the water pressure to drop and the coolant stopped flowing Without coolant, the control rods alone could not slow down the chain reaction As the chain reaction increased, the temperature began to rise When the core temperature of a reactor gets too high, there is a ‘core meltdown’ which is followed by a nuclear explosion

K-19 Disaster The ship surfaced to radio for help, but the antenna was broken Their only hope of survival was to get water into the reactor pressure vessel to cool the core To do this, 8 crewmen had to open the shielded reactor area and weld new coolant pipes They were exposed to massive doses of radiation They vomit yellow and white foam and their faces and bodies were burned and swollen

K-19 Disaster The radiation spread throughout the ship Radioactive steam was sucked into the ventilation system when the shielded reactor area was opened Also, when the crew pumped radioactive coolant water out of the reactor compartment, radiation emanated from drain piping

K-19 Rescue Eventually the K-19 was found by other Russian submarines and everyone was evacuated The K-19 was towed back to port for repairs It contaminated everything within 700 meters (approximately 2,300 feet or ½ mile) 22 men died shortly after the accident 8 men died within days 14 more died within 2 yrs The remaining 117 men all suffered varying degrees of radiation-related illness

Section Review Answer the questions in the section review