Moscow: The recent accident on board the nuclear submarine K-152 Nerpa, that was to be leased to India, was caused when a sailor tampered with a sensor leading to the leak of Freon gas by the fire-safety system.
The Akula-II class nuclear submarine, which was set to be leased to India for 10 years, was undergoing trials in the Sea of Japan, when the tragedy took place on November 8 in the sleeping compartments of the vessel killing 20 people.
The official probe is yet to give its final report in the cause of the tragedy, which is said to be the worst in the last 8 years since the sinking of the Kursk nuclear submarine in 2000 when all 118 sailors died.
Quoting a source close to the investigation , business and political daily Kommersant today said that sailor Dmitry Grobov, blamed for the mishap, is suspected of having entered the wrong temperature data for the submarine s living quarters, which caused the activation of fire safety system and release of Freon gas.
"The information retrieved from the submarine s Rotor data recorder, similar to an aircraft s black-box, the temperature...increased sharply all of sudden and the fire safety system reacted as programme," the report said.
The paper also said that Grobov was on duty at the time of accident and the access code to the fire-extinguishing system was jotted with a pencil on the control panel.
If found guilty, Grobov would face seven year prison term on the charges of causing multiple deaths due to carelessness."
