Fire Erupts at Nuclear Submarine in Russia’s Far East

K-150 Tomsk submarine (Archive)

VLADIVOSTOK, September 16 (RIA Novosti)

A fire that broke out Monday morning at the K-150 Tomsk nuclear-powered submarine, which was undergoing maintenance works at a dock in Russia’s far eastern Primorye Territory, has stabilized, a source at the headquarters of Russia's Pacific Fleet told RIA Novosti.

"The situation is being monitored. However, we can already say that the situation has improved, and the smoke is subsiding," the source said.

The fire erupted early Monday morning during welding operations on the submarine, a spokesman for the local Emergencies Ministry’s department said, adding that 13 firefighting units from the Pacific Fleet and the Emergencies Ministry had arrived at the scene to put out the blaze.

A spokesman for the Zvezda plant, where the submarine was undergoing maintenance operations, said the fire was unlikely to cause an explosion at the vessel and that there was no danger to nearby residential areas.

 The K-150 Tomsk cruise missile submarine was docked in 2010 due to problems with the cooling engine of its nuclear reactor.

Updated with additional quote and information about situation stabilization.