The disaster that had broken out on the nuclear submarine Pearl, currently under construction at the Toulon naval base, has been completed, the maritime prefecture told Agence France-Presse on the night of Monday September 26 to Tuesday September 27, specifying that any radioactive risk has been ruled out. Ravaged by a spectacular fire in June 2020 while under maintenance in Toulon, the Pearl had to undergo heavy repairs in Cherbourg. He then returned to Toulon in October 2021 for the finalization of the interior work in particular.
Monday at midday, a combustion “a priori of insulating materials” has been detected “at the level of a room intended for the storage of food” at the front of the submarine, spokesman for the maritime prefecture Pierre-Louis Josselin told AFP. Forty marine firefighters from the naval base, reinforced by 52 marine firefighters from Marseille, then attacked “hot spots, i.e. combustion without flames”using water to lower the temperature, he added.
Later in the evening, the maritime prefecture told AFP that “these hotspots have been extinguished”stating in a press release that “as a precaution, the submarine remains under surveillance of the intervention teams”. The Marseille firefighters had left the scene.
A strategic rehabilitation
“There was no radioactive risk, the submarine being in cold shutdown”i.e. loaded with nuclear fuel in its rear part, “but the reactor shut down”had specified earlier in the evening Mr. Josselin, indicating that samples were taken to ensure the absence of risks.
If the maritime prefecture had first mentioned a ” fire “ in a press release, he preferred to speak of “burning without flames”. The causes of the disaster have not been determined at this stage, he added. Naval Group is carrying out the work on this military building.
“This disaster was not comparable to that of 2020, which was an industrial fire, with significant flames”according to the spokesperson for the maritime prefecture.
He could not specify whether there would be any consequences for the return to the operational cycle of the Pearlinitially planned for the first half of 2023. The refit of the Perle is an important element of the Navy’s strategy, which is based on the presence of six nuclear attack submarines, one of whose missions is to support nuclear ballistic missile submarines (SNLE), but also to escort the Charles-de-Gaulle aircraft carrier, key elements of French deterrence.