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By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV, Associated Press Writer
MOSCOW
(AP) - In one of the most daunting salvage efforts in naval
history, an international team of divers is grappling with
the delicate task of recovering the dead crewmen of the
nuclear submarine Kursk (news - web sites) from a silt-filled
labyrinth of mangled steel.
The
explosion that ravaged the Kursk measured 3.5 on seismic
monitors, equivalent to a small earthquake. It likely pulverized
everything inside the front part of the submarine, and possibly
wrenched off the heavy equipment in the back compartments,
which divers hope to enter.
That
makes the divers' every step a frightening foray into the
unknown. As they feel their way through pitch-black darkness,
clad in ballooning pressure suits, they risk getting trapped
between pieces of smashed equipment and cutting their air
hoses on jagged pieces of metal.
Russian
navy chief Adm. Vladimir Kuroyedov described the rescue
effort as a ``serious challenge ... in the technological
and moral and psychological sense.''
Divers
reached the site of the Aug. 12 sinking on Friday and spent
the weekend working round-the-clock in shifts to cut holes
through the hull. Rising winds and waves more than 30 feet
high interrupted the divers' work Monday.
The
operation in the icy arctic waters is so dangerous that
the Russian navy chief has reserved the right to cancel
it if experts rule it would jeopardize divers' lives.
Some
of the concern surrounds the two nuclear reactors on board
the sub, which shut down automatically after the first explosion.
Monitors have found no increased radiation around the vessel.
If the
decision is made to proceed, only Russian divers would go
inside the Kursk, while their British and Norwegian teammates
will assist with the operation from inside the diving bell
lowered to the vessel, which is lying some 330 feet below
the surface of the Barents Sea.
The
Kursk, one of the largest submarines in the world, was packed
with equipment and had only 20- to 32-inch-wide walkways
for the crew - making it nearly impassable for the divers
in bulky suits.
``The
submarine is a very cramped place,'' the Kursk's chief designer
Igor Spassky said in an interview with the weekly Vek newspaper.
``And the diving suit has a geometrically complex shape,
with many pieces of equipment attached to it.''
Despite
the fears, divers have continued preparations for entering
the Kursk, cutting through the thick hull to gain access
to the bodies. They work in teams of three - two Russians
and one foreign diver - and rest between dives in a pressurized
chamber inside the mother ship, the Regalia, to prevent
injury to their lungs and other organs. They breathe a helium
mixture, which affects the vocal chords and makes their
voices shrill.
Adding
to the high risk and physical rigor of the divers' work
is the psychological pressure of working with the dead,
the ever-present possibility they'll collide face to face
with a floating corpse.
Even
if remains are successfully taken out of the submarine,
raising them to the surface will be hard, requiring a slow,
gradual decrease in pressure. If raised quickly, the bodies
would be torn apart by the high pressure inside them.
Penetrating
the hull has itself presented obstacles. Unlike most Western
submarines, the Kursk has a double hull, consisting of two
layers of steel with eight inches of rubber between them
to muffle mechanical sounds and make them inaudible to enemy
sonar.
Divers
have used a high-pressure spray of water and diamond powder
to cut holes in the steel hull, but had to use a surface
crane to pluck out the rubber.
Experts
are still arguing over whether there is a chance of finding
bodies. Even if the divers can squeeze inside and perform
the nearly impossible task of finding their way amid the
silt-flooded maze of hulking engine shafts, wheels and generators,
it will be extremely difficult for them to locate any bodies
in the darkness.
Spassky
said a beam of light from a helmet flashlight reaches only
12-16 feet, and covers even less in the silt. Each of the
two or three back compartments the divers hope to enter
has about 35,000 cubic feet to explore.
Officials
and experts have said at least two-thirds of the Kursk's
118 crewmen were in the weapons and control rooms in the
submarine' forward section at the time of the explosion
and died almost instantly, their bodies likely blown to
bits. The rest could have died later, drowned in the water
that seeped through the cracks in the hull.
``We
hope to find only 20-30 percent of the bodies in the stern
compartments,'' Spassky said.
Clues
to the cause of the disaster are hidden in the sub's bow,
which divers aren't going to enter. Officials now agree
that the first explosion, which sent the Kursk crashing
to the bottom, was likely caused by an explosion of a practice
torpedo in one of the nose tubes.
The
initial explosion of the torpedo's kerosene fuel and highly
concentrated hydrogen peroxide, which was used as an oxidant,
thrust the Kursk down onto the seabed, they said. The blast
could have been caused by an internal malfunction, collision
with a World War II mine or a Western submarine, officials
said.
After
the Kursk hit the ocean floor, several dozen of its torpedoes,
containing tons of explosives, detonated. That sent a giant
fireball and shock wave through the hull, killing most of
the crew.
Authorities
plan to raise the Kursk in the spring, hoping to find out
what caused the disaster.
President
Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) promised to recover the
bodies at an emotional meeting with angry relatives of the
victims shortly after the disaster. Aware of the risks,
marine experts and even many of the victims' families now
say the bodies should be left inside the submarine until
it is brought to the surface.
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