The expert said that it is possible to repair the Nord Streams without any problems

MOSCOW, 28 Sep — PRIME. Incidents with a gas leak from the Nord Stream and Nord Stream 2 pipelines are quite an ordinary situation from a technical point of view, damaged sections can be replaced without problems after the gas burnout ends and the pipes become safe for specialists, the honored rescuer told RIA Novosti Russian Federation, former head of the Russian Rescue Training Center Alexander Gofshtein.

On Monday, Nord Stream 2 AG reported that on one of the lines of Nord Stream 2 (it was filled with technical gas after construction), an emergency occurred in Danish waters near the island of Bornholm, accompanied by a sharp drop in pressure. The reasons are unknown, an investigation is underway, the company specified. Then Nord Stream AG, the operator of Nord Stream, reported on the pressure drop on both lines. The reasons are also unknown.

According to Gofshtein, in the event of large-scale incidents on gas pipelines, all versions should always be considered, including technological errors and sabotage.

“I’m more inclined to the version of a technological malfunction – cracks, gusts, landslides. Everything that can lead to the fact that the pipe gives a gap, a leak. Later, a leak due to friction causes a spark, and then an explosion or burning, which is almost identical,” the expert said.

He noted that any reason for what happened will be accompanied by large losses of gas. The blue fuel itself in the pipe “from valve to valve” is at a great distance, and the gas is under high pressure.

When the process of gas release is over, and the pipe has cooled down, it will be possible to begin to eliminate the consequences of the emergency. Difficulties in this, according to him, will not be.

“The damaged section of the pipe is cut out, a new one is inserted, purged, filled with gas – and everything works. On gas pipelines, this (leakage) is an ordinary situation … all this is provided for, there is even a special repair kit,” Gofshtein added.

“Until the pipe is released, it will all burn out. There is no other way: shutting off the valves and burning out the gas. These are always big losses. Even the restoration of the pipe is not as difficult as the very fact of burnout losses,” he stressed.

Gofshtein concluded that until all the gas is completely burnt out, it will not be possible to start eliminating the consequences of the accident. The piece of pipe cannot be replaced until everything cools down.