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The problem is a leak in the piping that circulates cooling water through the reactor. There is now nothing to stop the reactor from catastrophically overheating and causing a meltdown of the reactor core.
No submarine crew had been confronted with this kind of deadly emergency before, and given the series of technical breakdowns they have already faced, the crew can’t be certain of the result of the thermal explosion that could likely mark the end of the meltdown. While military experts today believe that Western observers could identify such an explosion as an accident, it is harder to predict what reactions would have been in 1961, during the superpower tensions of the Cold War.
A thermal explosion would, however, seriously damage or even sink K-19 and scatter a significant amount of radioactive contamination to the surrounding sea and air.
At 0600 hours, about two hours into the crisis, the captain gives orders to surface and radio for help. Compounding the terror of the situation, the sub’s antenna fails. There will be no call for help.
Next: Repairing the Reactor >>
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