First Remains of Kursk Victims Recovered

Forensic experts of the Russian Navy on Thursday began removing remains of the crew from the wreck of the Kursk nuclear submarine, while officials said its twin nuclear reactors and missile arsenal posed no danger.Officials have so far removed three bodies from the rear section of the submarine and some more bodies had been seen, said Russian Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov, who is leading the team investigating the disfigured carcass of the Kursk.
Most of the Kursk's 118 sailors were killed immediately by the powerful explosions that sank the submarine during naval exercises in August 2000, but at least 23 survived the crash for hours in the stern compartments, according to letters found by divers who recovered 12 bodies from the sunken vessel a year ago.
After the bodies are recovered, the next immediate task will be to secure the Kursk's nuclear reactors and its 22 Granit cruise missiles, each containing enough explosives to sink an enemy aircraft carrier. Water samples taken from inside the reactor's compartment confirm that there has been no radiation leak, said Russian Navy spokesperson Captain Igor Dygalo.Russian Navy Chief Admiral Vla di mir Kuroyedov said that experts would enter the reactor's compartment later Thursday to check its condition and make sure that it was properly heated to keep it from freezing.
The next task will be to remove the Granit missiles. Kuroyedov said the silos containing the missiles apparently haven't been damaged, allowing navy experts to remove the weapons in a normal fashion, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.Fleet officials had previously said it might be necessary to cut the missiles out of the Kursk's hull along with the silos if any deformation prevented their normal removal. The navy has dismissed allegations that the missiles could blast off by themselves, saying the lack of electric power on board excludes even the theoretical possibility of that.
Investigators led by Ustinov continued inspecting the disfigured wreck of the Kursk, searching for clues to the cause of the disaster. Skeptics say, however, that if any clue could be found, it would be located in the submarine's mangled first compartment, which was left behind when the Kursk was raised.Russian officials have said they will try to raise those fragments next year.
On Tuesday, Ustinov led investigators onto the deck of the Kursk. Crew members on the barge that lifted the submarine from the Barents Sea floor and towed it to a floating dock in Ros lya kovo, near the Arctic port Murmansk, lowered wreaths into the water to honor the Kursk's 118 dead.The Giant-4 barge then headed away as the Kursk was raised to the point where its conning tower, with its shattered glass windows and red Russian eagle seal, could be seen above water.
With the Kursk fully out of the water, Ustinov, top navy officials and a team of about 40 investigators observed a moment of silence before stepping onto the submarine's deck. The first on board was Lieutenant Gleb Liachin, the son of the Kursk's late captain Gennady Liachin."What we did is called examining the site," Ustinov said later.Investigators entering the vessel must wear gas masks, since toxic gases have built up in the submarine during its 14 months at the bottom of the sea following its sinking, ITAR-Tass news agency reported.Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, who is responsible for the Kursk salvage operation, said that it would take up to three days to dry out the submarine for a thorough internal inspection, the Interfax news agency reported.He dampened expectations of what the investigation could reveal, saying "nothing new will be found in the raised submarine" that could help "in understanding the causes of the Kursk catastrophe," Interfax reported.
Many Russian and foreign experts have said the initial explosion was sparked by an internal malfunction, but government officials - including most notably Klebanov himself - say the Kursk may have collided with another vessel or World War II-era mine.The submarine was raised and towed to shore in a risky, complicated operation that cost the Russian government some $65 million.Klebanov said that the plan to lift the first compartment would be ready by the end of November, Interfax reported.
Russian officials have said the navy would handle the operation on its own, but Klebanov said foreign companies might be asked to take part as they did in the lifting of the submarine.

Not to be morbid, but I wonder what was the condition of the human remains on board after this much time at those depths? Wow -- any idea of the temperatures at Murmansk this time of year?

I was up in Murmansk this summer, and it was rain rain rain. Winters there, they tell me, are not so bad - the Kola Penninsula is at the far end of the Gulf Stream, so it doesn't get Siberian frost. I saw from the weather report that yesterday they had minus 4 C.

In sealed compartments, where the crabs can't get at them, I imagine the remains stayed in relatively good condition.

Here is something I came across in Sevastopol a few weeks ago.

Damn Netscape is broken again, so I cannot link from there. If you'd like, here is an article from this week's Moskovskiy Komsomolets on the danger of Kursk freezing.

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