From the MT:
“What We Know About Russia’s
Mysterious Rocket Explosion So Far”
At least five nuclear experts
have been killed in a mysterious explosion during a rocket engine test at sea
in northern Russia four days ago. Officials have been slow to release
information about Thursday’s blast, which led to a radiation spike in a nearby
city and sparked heightened demand for iodine. U.S.-based nuclear experts said
they suspected the explosion occurred during the testing of a nuclear-powered
cruise missile touted by President Vladimir Putin last year.
What happened?
— The rocket's fuel caught fire,
causing it to detonate and knock several people into the White Sea, the state
nuclear agency Rosatom was quoted as saying by the state-run TASS news agency.
— Officials in the nearby city of
Severodvinsk said radiation had briefly spiked without saying how high, but
their statement was taken down on Friday without explanation. Regional media
reported that local residents had begun stocking up on iodine, which is used to
reduce the effects of radiation exposure.
— Authorities said after the
incident they had shut down part of a bay in the White Sea, although public
shipping information from the port of Arkhangelsk showed the area had been
closed for the preceding month. It did not say why.
What are the authorities saying?
— The involvement of nuclear
workers was acknowledged for the first time by Russia's state nuclear agency
Rosatom on Saturday. It said three of its staff members have been hospitalized.
— On Monday, Rosatom CEO Alexei
Likhachev said staffers at its affiliate nuclear center died during testing of
an unspecified “new special diesel.” Likhachev added that Rosatom will “finish”
works on new weapons systems without specifying what weapons he was referring
to.
— In a video interview published
late on Sunday, Russian officials at the nuclear research institute where the
scientists had worked said the accident had caused a twofold rise in radiation
levels that had only lasted an hour.
— Meanwhile, Russia’s consumer
watchdog branch in the Leningrad region has assured St. Petersburg residents
that radiation levels are “stable.”
What is the media reporting?
— St. Petersburg’s Fontanka.ru
news website quoted a video statement by one of the leaders of the nuclear
center as suggesting that the blast occurred at a “compact nuclear reactor.”
— Fontanka later updated its
report with a statement from Rosatom which said that the suggestion referred to
“tests of a radioisotope power supply,” not a “reactor.” “It’s a nuclear battery, just so
you understand,” the state nuclear monopoly was quoted as saying.
— Vyacheslav Solovyev, one of the
officials at the institute in the closed city of Sarov, said: “These
developments are also actually happening in many countries. The Americans last
year...also tested a small-scale reactor... Our center also continues to work
in this direction.“
— Russian media have said the
rocket engine explosion may have occurred at a weapons testing area near the
village of Nyonoksa. Those reports say an area near Nyonoksa is used for tests
on weapons, including ballistic and cruise missiles that are used by the Russian
Navy.
Casualties:
— Rosatom named the five nuclear
experts as Alexei Vyushin, Evgeny Koratayev, Vyacheslav Lipshev, Sergei
Pichugin and Vladislav Yanovsky. The agency released the five experts' photos
to the RBC news website on Monday.
— As many as six other staff
members were injured and transported by helicopter to Moscow to be treated for
radiation exposure, the Baza Telegram channel reported. The workers were
brought from the airplane to a Moscow hospital in vehicles wrapped in film, the
Telegram channel added. Rosatom has said that three people were injured in the
blast.
— The experts, who worked for the
center based at the closed city of Sarov, have been put forward for state
awards, officials said, without specifying which honors they might receive.
— The Sarov city administration
announced two days of mourning, saying Sunday the experts died while
"performing a task of national importance." Russia held a memorial
service for the five scientists on Monday.
^ Because the Russian Government
has been so mysterious from the moment of the explosion it is only right for
ordinary Russians and people around the world to question what happened and if
everything is safe. ^
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