The fire erupted in the submarine's battery compartment, Shoigu added, and later spread. "All the necessary measures were taken by the crew to protect the reactor which is in complete working order," he added. "The nuclear reactor on the vessel is completely isolated," Shoigu told Putin, according to a Kremlin transcript. Putin, in a Kremlin meeting with Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, disclosed the fact that the submarine had been nuclear-powered by asking Shoigu about the reactor's condition after the deadly fire. 14 Russian sailors killed in submarine fire.Russian defence minister says some crew members survived submersible fire.Until Thursday there was no official word either on whether the vessel had a nuclear reactor, despite intense interest from authorities in neighbouring Norway. Russia, which says the details of the submarine involved in the latest accident are classified, said the fire took place on Monday, although it was only officially disclosed late on Tuesday. Moscow's slow release of information about the incident has drawn comparisons with the opaque way the Soviet Union handled the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster, and another deadly submarine accident - the 2000 sinking of the nuclear-powered Kursk, which claimed 118 lives. Russian officials have faced accusations of trying to cover up the full details of the accident that killed 14 sailors as they were carrying out what the defence ministry called a survey of the sea floor near the Arctic. Russian President Vladimir Putin disclosed on Thursday for the first time that a secret military submarine hit by a fatal fire three days ago was nuclear-powered, prompting Russia's defence minister to assure him its reactor had been safely contained.
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