Vice Admiral Mikhail Motsak, commander of the special expedition to raise the sunken nuclear-powered Kursk submarine, says the second phase of the operation has began. The next three days will be devoted to preparations. Cables from the Giant barge will not be attached to the submarine yet, due to a bad weather forecast for September 30 - the day when raising the Kursk was to start. Meteorologists promise that the weather will improve by early on October 1. It is very likely that on this day the lifting operation will start. Several specialists are monitoring radiation levels from the Semyon Dezhnev research vessel, and there is a group of scientists from the Norwegian Department for Radiation Safety. Ground, water and air tests at the Kursk site have been found satisfactory by ecologists.