Overview
- The peer-reviewed analysis, published Monday in PNAS, confirms intermittent leaks from K-278 Komsomolets’ corroding reactor that show up as visible plumes on ROV video.
- Water taken inside those plumes contained strontium and cesium at roughly 400,000 and 800,000 times typical Norwegian Sea levels, with uranium and plutonium isotope ratios pointing to corroding reactor fuel.
- Radiation drops sharply a few meters from the hull, and samples of nearby sediments and deep-sea life show little buildup or clear harm thanks to rapid dilution in the water.
- Checks near the sealed torpedo compartment found no weapons-grade plutonium, confirming that titanium plugs installed in 1994 are still preventing warhead leakage.
- Researchers call for sustained monitoring to track what triggers the bursts and how corrosion evolves at 1,680 meters depth, and they caution that raising the wreck could spread contamination, a judgment that also informs oversight of other sunken nuclear sites in the Arctic.