Kursk Had Atomic Weapons

The Russian nuclear submarine Kursk had atomic weapons on board when it sank last year, experts claimed Wednesday, despite Moscow's insistence it carried only conventional weapons.

The Kursk sank in the Arctic Ocean during training exercises Aug. 12, killing all 118 aboard. Russian officials repeatedly told Norway's military that the submarine was carrying only non-nuclear practice weapons.

However, a member of the Russian government investigating commission, Grigory Tomchin, said in a television interview that the sub was carrying atomic weapons.

``That has been known for a long time,'' he told Norway's TV-2.

Tomchin, who is also a Russian lawmaker, said he was tired of all the secrecy about the wreck and encouraged the military to be more open.

Harald Ramfjord, a Norwegian engineer who has been central in planning the proposed salvage of the Kursk, said he also had seen secret Russian documents confirming the presence of atomic weapons.

``One of the documents I had access to said there were two atomic missiles on board, and that was stamped secret,'' said Ramfjord of the Global Tool Management offshore oil industry group.

Ramfjord said he would not proceed with the salvaging operation if the missiles were still there.

A manager at Global Tool Management said he had no information about the weapons but confirmed that Ramfjord works for them.

``We have offered our equipment to the Kursk Foundation, and that is it,'' manager Per Gunnar Andersen said by telephone from the west coast city of Stavanger.

In Moscow, Russian navy spokesman Dmitry Burmistov said he had no comment on the television report and officials at the Northern Fleet could not immediately be reached.

TV-2 reported that NATO's designation for the missiles is SS N-19 Shipwrecks, with 500 kiloton nuclear warheads.

The Kursk Foundation, an international fund-raising group, has been planning to raise the Kursk in an operation slated to begin in August. But negotiations on raising the $70 million needed for the operation are still under way.

Russia's Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Wednesday in Moscow that the government was determined to raise the sunken submarine even if the foundation fails to share the costs.

``If the Kursk Foundation fails to raise the necessary funds, we will ensure uninterrupted financing of the operation ourselves,'' Kudrin said, adding that Russia already expected to have to spend at least $17.5 million on the project.

The cause of the Kursk disaster has not been determined. Many experts suspect a torpedo exploded inside the submarine.

opec.com