Mute Does It

It's been a busy news time throughout the Globe. Plenty of things happening, from Democratic Republic of Congo to Islamic Republic of Iran. Our attention is riveted to the world's hot spots. With attention given over from time to time to the irrelevant but entertaining. The world loves nothing quite so much as gossip, the narrative of what's happening where it shouldn't be happening, and what we cannot do about it.

And so, if something alarming takes place, say, on the scale just about of the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdowns - admittedly that came complete with impossible earthquake and monstrous tsunami for added horrific detail causing a huge loss of life and human and animal despair and displacement - but with no storyline about the accidental underwater explosions of nuclear devices, it can be kept relatively quiet.

For awhile, in any event. For someone, somewhere, with news sense quivering, will discover some wayward details and diligently searching for the devil's details will end up divulging what has occurred. Yet despite the story being publicly aired, there has been little reaction. Still, the event is notable for its hugely disruptive, destructive potential had disaster evolved from an incendiary excitation.

K-84 Yekaterinburg. Photo from submarine.id.ru

Russia came close to nuclear disaster in late December when a blaze engulfed a nuclear-powered submarine carrying atomic weapons, a leading Russian magazine reported, contradicting official assurances that it was not armed. Russian officials said at the time that all nuclear weapons aboard the Yekaterinburg nuclear submarine had been unloaded well before a fire engulfed the 167-metre vessel and there had been no risk of a radiation leak.

But the respected Vlast weekly magazine quoted several sources in the Russian navy as saying that throughout the fire on December 19 the submarine was carrying 16 R-29 intercontinental ballistic missiles, each armed with four nuclear warheads. Neither the Russian Defence Ministry nor the office of Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, who has responsibility for military matters, would immediately comment on the report.

Nuclear submarine fire left Russia on ‘brink of the biggest catastrophe since the time of Chernobyl’ in December: report

Reuters Feb 14, 2012 – 5:24 PM ET | Last Updated: Feb 14, 2012 6:02 PM ET

AFP/Getty Images

Crew trying to extinguish a fire on board the Russian nuclear submarine Yekaterinburg docked at the closed Roslyakovo military area of the port of Sveromorsk on Dec. 29.