Gorbachev Nominates 1961 Soviet Sub Crew for Nobel Prize
Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev nominated the crew of the ill-fated Soviet nuclear submarine K-19, which suffered a loss of coolant accident on July 4, 1961, for a Nobel Peace Prize this week.
“Through the courage of the heroic sailors, a reactor explosion and a consequent environmental catastrophe in the ocean were averted,” Mr. Gorbachev wrote.
“An explosion on board the K-19 could have been taken for a military provocation or even an attempt to launch a nuclear strike on the North American coast. An immediate response by the United States could have triggered a Third World War,” he wrote.
All information about the 1961 accident was kept secret in the USSR until 1990, he said.
See “Gorbachev Proposes Soviet Sub Crew for Nobel Peace Prize,” Interfax News Agency, translated by the DNI Open Source Center, Feburary 1, 2006.
Mr. Gorbachev’s statement (in Russian) may be found here.
The K-19 incident was recently the subject of a National Geographic feature film starring Harrison Ford called “K-19: The Widowmaker.”
Without a robust education system that prepares our youth for future careers in key sectors, our national security and competitiveness are at risk.
The Federation of American Scientists applauds the United States for declassifying the number of nuclear warheads in its military stockpile and the number of retired and dismantled warheads.
The Federation of American Scientists (FAS) takes its role as a beacon and voice of the scientific community very seriously. We strive for a world that is both more inclusive and informed by science, and are committed to the idea that the path to that world starts by modeling it within our organization.
To understand the range of governmental priorities for the bioeconomy, we spoke with key agencies represented on the National Bioeconomy Board to collect their perspectives.