U.S.-based experts suspect Russia blast involved nuclear-powered missile

[jpak]

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-blast-usa/u-s-based-experts-suspect-russia-blast-involved-nuclear-powered-missile-idUSKCN1UZ2H5

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S.-based nuclear experts said on Friday they suspected an accidental blast and radiation release in northern Russia this week occurred during the testing of a nuclear-powered cruise missile vaunted by President Vladimir Putin last year.

The Russian Ministry of Defense, quoted by state-run news outlets, said that two people died and six were injured on Thursday in an explosion of what it called a liquid propellant rocket engine. No dangerous substances were released, it said. Russia’s state nuclear agency Rosatom said early on Saturday that five of its staff members died.

A spokeswoman for Severodvinsk, a city of 185,000 near the test site in the Arkhangelsk region, was quoted in a statement on the municipal website as saying that a “short-term” spike in background radiation was recorded at noon Thursday. The statement was not on the site on Friday.

The Russian Embassy did not immediately respond for comment.

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[jpak]

1. more coverage

Panic Buying And Toxic Rocket Fuel: What Exactly Happened At A Russian Missile Test Site?

https://www.rferl.org/a/radiation-rocket-fuel-nyonoksa-white-sea-explosion-russia/30101978.html

There are reports of panic buying of iodine drops in Severodvinsk. Emergency officials reported a spike in background radiation. The White Sea bay where both the shipbuilding port and the regional capital Arkhangelsk are located has been ordered closed for swimming and fishing, due to the presence of toxic rocket fuel.

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That hasn’t assuaged the concerns of residents of Severodvinsk. The Arkhangelsk regional news site 29.ru said that nearly all the pharmacies in the city have been emptied of iodine drops, which are used to protect the thyroid gland from certain types of radiation.

Contacted by telephone by RFE/RL, one pharmacy in Severodvinsk reported being sold out of iodine as of August 8. A second said most of its supplies had been bought up. Neither of the employees who answered the phones would give their names.

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If the incident was indeed caused by a rocket explosion or crash, the most important question, said Andrei Zolotkov, a Murmansk-based researcher with the environmental monitoring group Bellona, is where it occurred: on land or in the water. That will determine how much contamination is released and where, he said.

“It’s a bad thing either way,” Zolotkov told RFE/RL.

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[dixiegrrrrl]

2. Unfortunately, it is difficult to fine the truth.

As the recent series Chernobyl has shown us.