The K-19 Nuclear Submarine Meltdown

    K-19 Nuclear Submarine was built by Soviet Union. It was the first nuclear weapon of project 658. It was commanded by Captain Nikolai Vladmiriovich Zateyev.

    Before launching it 10 civilians workers and a sailor died due to accidents and fire. After its commission, the submarine had multiple breakdowns. Even it was nicknamed "Hiroshima" by its crew members because of frequent accidents.

   On 4 July 1961, the submarine was beneath Atlantic ocean. Captain Nikolai Vladmiriovich Zateyev came across a problem. Captain saw 3 maintenance lights, each signaling issues which needs immediate attention.

    The first light showed issue with communication line which connects them to Moscow which was offline and need to be connected immediately. It was the secret communication line. The second light showed issue with weapons. Due to this issue weapons can't be armed. If the enemies attacked, K-19 can't strike back. And the third light showed a major issue, it was from the back of the submarine which have nuclear reactors in it. 

    Captain Zateyev started with the first issue. The interruption in communication line was occurred due to a blown fuse. It was a quick fix. He doesn't know how to fix it, so he got one of the engineer to fix it. Soon the first light was gone from the screen. Now the second and third light needed attention. It was not a easy tax for the Captain. 

    The middle section of the submarine holds most classified weapons. In the compartment there are       there are R-13 ballistic missiles fitted with nuclear warheads. Each of these missiles have 66 times more explosive power than Hiroshima, enough to erase New York. The problem was caused due to overheating of the silos. Silos are used to launch nuclear weapons and there are 3 silos in the submarine. The soldiers searched everywhere but can't find the problem. Soon one soldier mentioned that the problem might be caused due to malfunction in another compartment.

    The clock was already ticking and the time was running out. A soldier reported to Captain Zeteyev that the nuclear reactor is in critical condition. Captain rushed to the back of the submarine, when he got there the situation was worse. This submarine is a ticking time bomb now. The reactors temperature was rising. 

    At 600 degrees the reactor will explode. It is Chernobyl but under water. One of the engineer from the crew knows the reactors very well, engineer Korchulov soon called by the Captain. He inspected the reactors and soon found the problem. One of the reactors cooling pipe was broken which caused the unbalanced and started heating. If the problem not solved immediately the temperature will reach 600 degrees which will cause it too blow. Captain Zeteyev tried to send a distress signal from the radio but no response was received. United State Warship was passing by the area and the signals got picked by the Ship. US asked, "What's the problem".

    A Lifeline from the Enemy? Captain Zeteyev refused and said, "No assistance required situation is under control". Allowing Enemy to enter the submarine means, allowing them to get hand to nuclear weapons, weapon system and military secrets. They will get help but at what cost.

    Now they are on their own, if they didn't come up with the solution they will lose their lives. Captain Zeteyev came up with the plan, he called the emergency meeting. Captain Zeteyev plan was to go inside the reactor room and connect drinking water pipe to air vent, which will stabilize the reactor and help it to cool down.

    Captain Zeteyev needed volunteers for this work. Only Engineers from the crew had expertise in this work. Soon 8 members from the crew agreed to volunteer this task, from which 7 are engineers. Entering reactor room means a death sentence, to limit there exposure to the radiation, they decided to work in teams and rotate after every 10 minutes. 

       First group vent in and started to cut hole in the air vent. The material was thick, which will take more time to cut. The first group came back after 10 minutes. There condition was already worse due to radiation. There were vomiting blood, their skin was burning due to radiations. Captain Zeteyev commanded, "Take them to medbed". Next group entered the reactor room and started to cut a hole in water pipe. The temperature already exceeded 550 degrees.

    Soon they started to weld a connection between water pipe and the air vent through a pipe. Another 4 rotations needed to do this work. The engineers condition was already worse. The welding was taking too long, due to moisture and condensation on the pipe. But engineers found a solution, they used torn clothes and towel to minimize the moisture. This worked and helped to weld the pipe quickly. One of the engineer came out of the reactor room and started to vomit blood, his organs were failing due to excessive radiation. Final group rushes in to complete the work. The weld is completed. Now the only thing is the weld will work? 

    Engineers came out of the reactor room, they all are in bad condition, needed immediate medical attention. Their skin was peeling off. Their condition was beyond healing. The damage is already done. Captain Zeteyev and other's are waiting near the room looking at the temperature gauge, holding there breath. Soon the temperature started to decrease and the reactors finally stabilized. Captain Zeteyev rushed to control room to check if the lights are gone or not. The lights are gone, the weapon light was caused due to reactor malfunction. Now both the lights are vanished. A nuclear meltdown and explosion which could have caused massive loss of life and even started a war, was prevented. Captain Zeteyev and engineers saved 139 lives, and stopped a nuclear war. But at what cost, they couldn't save their lives. All 8 volunteers died within days. Even the crew who did not go in the reactor, suffered the radiation and more 14 soldiers died in next 2 years.

    For decades this incident was hidden from the world because, the disaster like K-19 will damage the image of Soviet Union. Survivors were ordered to stay silent. In 1990s, survivors started to speak about the incident, that's when the world got to know about this disaster. In 2006, the crew finally received medals for their bravery.