The radiation background in the area of the wreck of the nuclear submarine Kursk in the Barents Sea continues to be within norm, the chief of the press service of the Northern Fleet, Captain 1st Rank Vladimir Navrotsky said, RIA-Novosti news agency reported.

        According to him, the level of radiation in the place of the wreck of the submarine is even lower than on the coastline.

        Navrotsky said that at the present time the region of the loss of the Kursk is being guarded by the large anti-submarine ship Admiral Chabanenko. It replaced another ship of the Northern Fleet -- the nuclear-powered anti-submarine missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky which saw in New Year's Day being on combat duty in the Barents Sea. Auxiliary craft periodically come up to the place of the wreck of the Kursk nuclear submarine and four times a day take assays of water to exercise radiation control.