Russian Defence Minister Mr Sergei Ivanov said today that radiation levels were normal in the Barents Sea where a Russian nuclear-powered submarine sank earlier this weekend.
Nine seamen were killed when the K-159 sank in stormy Arctic waters in the early hours of Saturday as it was being towed along the coast of the Kola Peninsula into a port for scrapping.
"No changes have been registered in radiation levels. Therefore there must be no reason for concern at this moment," Interfax news agency quoted Mr Ivanov as telling reporters on board a missile cruiser near the site of the incident.
Officials discounted an ecological threat yesterday, saying the submarine's nuclear reactors had been shut down in 1989 when it was decommissioned.
But environmentalists say water could seep into the reactors and radiation levels in the area would have to be watched closely.
The 40-year-old vessel sank to the seabed 170 metres (510 feet) down after floats supporting it broke up during a storm.
One officer was rescued alive from the crew of 10 on board when the accident occurred. The bodies of two crewmates were recovered from the sea. The remaining seven were most likely to be inside the sunken vessel, officials said.
Mr Ivanov blamed negligence and disregard for instructions causing the accident that rekindled memories of the Kursk submarine disaster in August 2000 when 118 servicemen were killed in the Barents Sea. "Once against we've seen the recurrence of an old Russian habit of relying on mere chance and hoping that everything will work out fine anyway," he said.
"This confirms yet again the simple truth that all instructions and orders must be taken seriously. Otherwise sooner or later tragedies involving the deaths of innocent people will occur."
The submarine was being towed along the coast of the Kola Peninsula to Polyarny when the accident occurred. The K-159 tipped over as the floats broke apart and went down three miles (five km) northwest of Kildin Island.