Was The Movie "K-19" Accurate?

[ralph124c]

I just happened to see “K-19”, with Liam Neeson and Harrison Ford. A pretty good flick,but I wondered about the portrayal of the nuclear reactor accident. Are there any ex-Navy guys around who can answer these questions:?
-can a human actually enter the nuclear reactor compartment and live?
-the pump that blew up (ddoming the reactor)-is there no backup system for such a device?
-could a US Submarine survive such an accident?
-when you shut down a reactor, how long does it take to cool off?
-Finally, what are the state of Russian nuclear subs today? Are they still the deathtraps portrayed in “K-19”?

[Sofa_King]

There is a historical kernel of truth in the story. From this article:

In 1961, the K-19 was in the Norwegian Sea when its radiation detection equipment came to life…

According to an account in Soviet Soldier magazine in 1991, nine brave men volunteered to step into the highly radioactive reactor compartment…

They remained there for two hours, each receiving 100 times the lethal dose of radiation.

Then one last man, Ivan Kulakov, a 22-year-old chief petty officer, rushed in after them, completing a jury-rig of the cooling system to bring the temperature down and save the sub.

The nine men died within weeks of radiation poisoning. But Mr. Kulakov, who recounted the story to the magazine, survived, crippled by terrible burns…

However, the film also recycles the horribly inaccurate myth that nuclear reactors can cause nuclear explosions, which ticked me off pretty good.

[raygirvan]

Here’s an extended account: K19: the story behind the movie.