The collision between the British Navy's HMS 'Vanguard' and the French Navy's 'Le Triomphant' earlier this month could have produced a potentially dangerous radioactive leak, The Sun has reported.
The two nuclear-powered submarines collided deep under the Atlantic between February 3 and 4, while both carrying nuclear missiles. Both vessels were damaged but there have been no reports of damage to the nuclear parts.
"The potentially consequences are unthinkable," a senior navy source was quoted as saying in The Sun. "It's very unlikely there would have been a nuclear explosion but a radioactive leak was a possibility.
"Worse, we could have lost the crew and warheads. That would have been a national disaster."
According to The Sun, it appears that the submarine's anti-sonar equipment was so advanced that it overrode their sonar location technology.
