Twenty die on Russian submarine

[Kitsune]

Adding this as well from the discussion:

Translation issues. "Freon" in Russian is used as a generic term for various halogenocarbons. The proper technical translation of Halon would be "khladon", but no Russian outside the specialist circle would know this word. Freon is an habitual replacement, albeit incorrect, technically correct meaning of "freon"would be indeed for refrigeration systems, but hey - it's rather clear from the context here, eh? wink.gif

Regarding the precise composition used, and here we are getting more to the point. Older Russian fire-fighting composition utilize Halon-2402. This one really is toxic. IIRC efficient firefighting concentration is close to lethal already. And the products of decomposition are toxic too. Modern Russian fire-fighting equipment utilizes Halon-1301. However it appears that the sub in question still used the 2402. Damn shame! Apart from being 3 times cheaper, I am not sure 2402 has any advantages over 1301, and it *is* much more toxic.

[K. A. Pital]

Every sub enthusiast in Russia knows about "khladon" (Halon), unless he's totally oblivious to chemistry

[Kitsune]

I have heard US reporters call plenty of Armored Personal Carriers as "Tanks"
We are talking about reporters here

[fgalkin]

Every sub enthusiast in Russia knows about "khladon" (Halon), unless he's totally oblivious to chemistry

How many of them are journalists?

Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin

[atg]

Just how easy is it to accidentally trip the fire suppression system?

A link about the disaster - the prospect of sabotage has been seriously mooted at this point - it appears that three separate tanks were vented into one compartment, which shouldn't be possible

Further news from the BBC:

Russian charged over sub disaster

A sailor has been charged for setting off a firefighting system on a Russian nuclear submarine that released gas, killing 20 people, investigators say.
They say the suspect - who has not been named - activated the system "without authorisation and for no reason".
They say the man "has already admitted his error", but some officials have cast doubt on the announcement.
Twenty people, mostly civilians, died when freon gas was released on the Nerpa attack submarine on Saturday.
In all, three servicemen and 17 civilians were killed and another 21 people were injured during sea trials in the Sea of Japan.

'Scapegoat'

"The suspect faces charges of negligence for causing the deaths of two or more people," said Vladimir Markin, representative of the prosecutor general's office.
However, Mr Markin declined to give any details about the accident.

If found guilty, the sailor could be jailed for seven years.

But a member of Russia's Public Chamber, which oversees the government and parliament, expressed concern about the speed with which the investigators announced that they had found the culprit.

Anatoly Kucherena said the law stipulated there should be a thorough investigation and collection of evidence followed by a trial in court at which any suspects would be found either guilty or innocent.

Several defence experts have also expressed fears that the sailor might be a scapegoat, and one member of the Nerpa's crew was quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency as saying that his colleague could have made a confession under pressure.

The Nerpa, or Akula-class, submarine had more than 200 people aboard, 81 of them service personnel, when the accident happened.

On Wednesday, officials said that preliminary investigations suggested that the "unsanctioned activation" of the automatic firefighting system caused the tragedy.

Freon gas displaces oxygen from the air to put out a fire.

There has been speculation that overcrowding and the presence of so many civilians aboard the vessel may have contributed to the death toll - but this has not been confirmed by the investigators.

Survivor's account

Several survivors later recalled the terrifying seconds after the gas started filling some sections of the submarine.

"I was lying down resting after being on watch. Suddenly the freon gas started coming down right above me. It was like a drug. I lost consciousness," said Viktor Rifk, an engineer, quoted by the Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper on Tuesday.

"We all had gas masks but maybe some people didn't manage to put them on in time," Mr Rifk later told Russia's NTV television.

A number of the people were sleeping when the accident happened, and reports in Russian media suggested that some of them were too dazed to put on gas masks.

Several former Russian mariners have suggested that the civilian personnel - engineers and shipyard workers - may have lacked experience in handling the breathing apparatus.

The nuclear reactor, which is in the stern, was not affected and there was no radiation leak, officials said.

Russia's worst submarine disaster happened in August 2000, when the nuclear-powered Kursk sank in the Barents Sea. All 118 people on board died.

The then president, Vladimir Putin, was criticised for being slow to react to the incident and reluctant to call in foreign assistance.