mbh
December 18, 2009, 11:04am
1
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/208/if-the-reactor-on-a-nuclear-sub-were-breached-what-would-happen
The nuclear submarine *USS Thresher *sank on April 10, 1963. The US Navy periodically monitors the site, and so far no contamination has been detected.
USS Thresher (SSN-593) was the lead boat of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in the United States Navy. She was the U.S. Navy's second submarine to be named after the thresher shark.
On 10 April 1963, Thresher sank during deep-diving tests about 350 km (220 mi) east of Cape Cod, Massachusetts, killing all 129 crew and shipyard personnel aboard. Her loss was a watershed for the U.S. Navy, leading to the implementation of a rigorous submarine safety program known as SUBSAFE. The fi...
http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/t/thresher.htm
The USS Scorpion sank on June 30, 1968. So far, no contamination has been detected. The wikipedia article speculates that
The most likely scenario is that the plutonium and uranium cores of these weapons corroded to a heavy, insoluble material soon after the sinking, and they remain at or close to their original location inside the torpedo room of the boat. If the corroded materials were released outside the submarine, their large specific gravity and insolubility would cause them to settle down into the sediment.
USS Scorpion (SSN-589) was a Skipjack-class nuclear-powered submarine that served in the United States Navy, and the sixth vessel, and second submarine, of the U.S. Navy to carry that name.
Scorpion was lost with all hands on 22 May 1968. She is one of two nuclear submarines the U.S. Navy has lost, the other being USS Thresher. She was one of the four mysterious submarine disappearances in 1968, the others being the Israeli submarine INS Dakar, the French submarine Minerve, and the Soviet sub...
Wikipedia lists six lost Soviet nuclear submarines. Details are sketchy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Lost_nuclear_submarines