Spike in radiation reported after explosion at Russian military base
Leslie Eastman
Defense officials have shut down fishing, swimming and shipping traffic in a portion of the White Sea.
The Russian military is now dealing with a second, serious accident that has garnered international attention.
Last month, I reported on a Russian submarine fire in Arctic waters that killed 14 of its crew, including several of the country’s top naval officials.
Now, two people have been killed and radiation levels subsequently spiked after a rocket engine exploded during a test in northern Russia.
The death toll from a rocket explosion at a Russian missile test range rose to five on Saturday, after initial reports listed two dead.
Defense officials have nonetheless shut down fishing, swimming and shipping traffic in a portion of the White Sea.
The explosion happened Thursday during tests on a liquid propellant rocket engine at an arctic naval range in Nyonska run by state nuclear company Rosatom, the BBC reported.
In addition to the five dead, three staffers suffered serious burns. A nearby kindergarten was also reportedly damaged, and more than 9,500 people were evacuated.
Officials in the nearby city of Severodvinsk reported a 40-minute spike in radiation levels to 2 microsieverts per hour. Normal levels are around 0.11 microsieverts/hour.
Russia’s Nyonoksa site carries out tests for missile systems used by its navy, including sea-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and anti-aircraft missiles.
Residents in nearby Severodvinsk and adjacent areas are taking precautions related to radioactivity exposure, including taking iodine.
Local media outlet 29 spoke with several pharmacists who reported customers were seeking iodine, which can protect the thyroid from absorbing harmful radiation. Some stores reported completely running out of supplies.
A woman who claimed to work at a hospital where the injured were being treated said patients were being advised to close their windows and take iodine, according to the Russian news site Lenta.
The extent of the problem is being disputed.
The Ministry of Defense made clear that “there were no harmful emissions into the atmosphere, the radiation background is normal.
” Greenpeace, on the other hand, citing data from the government’s own Emergencies Ministry, revealed that radiation levels in Severodvinsk briefly reached 20 times normal levels. Greenpeace called on the Russian government to explain the release.
…An area off the coast of Russia in the White Sea was reportedly closed for a month, but a source told the BBC the closure had been planned in advance. An official at the port of Arkhangelsk, however, was quoted by Reuters as saying that the closure was a direct result of the incident. The area is large at 250 square kilometers, or 96 miles.
While this incident doesn’t currently appear to be Chernobyl II, one has to wonder what the R
Russian rocket crash sparks radiation fears
This article was sourced from NYpost
A rocket explosion in Russia has sparked reports of a spike in radiation levels and sent residents into panic — even as the Kremlin denies anyone’s in danger.
Defense officials have nonetheless shut down fishing, swimming and shipping traffic in a portion of the White Sea.
Two people were killed and six — including a rocket engineer and a military specialists — were injured in what the Kremlin said was a test missile crash at a military testing site near the Northeastern Russian city of Severodvinsk, The Guardian reported.
Defense ministry officials have denied reports of high radiation levels near the base, and said there had been “no harmful discharges into the atmosphere.”
But the BBC reported that supplies of iodine — used to protect the thyroid from the effects of radiation — were running out in Severodvinsk and neighboring Arkhangelsk.
“Yesterday it was all sold out,” one pharmacist said.
“The excitement started at about five o’clock, and they brought all of it before we closed. At the checkout people were discussing the news about radiation in Severodvinsk, the explosion at the military site.”
Officials in Severodvinsk told the BBC that radiation levels reached 2 microsieverts per hour before falling back to the normal 0.11 about 40 minutes later.
However, city officials later deleted the statement online, saying they did so “because this incident comes under the authority of the defense ministry.”
Defense ministry officials said that “there have been no harmful chemicals released into the atmosphere, the radiation levels are normal.”
Huge explosions at Russian military base cause injuries, mass evacuation
This article was sourced from NYpost
A series of explosions at a military arms depot in Siberia on Monday left at least eight people injured and prompted the evacuation of about 11,000 nearby residents, according to reports.
The blasts rocked an ammunition storage facility about 6 miles from the city of Achinsk in Siberia’s Krasnoyarsk region that held “gunpowder charges for artillery shells,” according to Reuters.
Rusal, a major aluminium producer, suspended operations as a result of the explosions, which were captured in dramatic photographs that showed fireballs and plumes of smoke shooting skyward.
The plant is Russia’s largest producer of alumina, a raw material that is smelted into aluminum.
The TASS news agency reported that a Russian soldier was killed, though a Defense Ministry source disputed the information about the death, according to the RIA news outlet.
There were reports of soldiers from a military base next to the depot hiding in a bomb shelter and unable to escape, according to the Siberian Times.
“The territory is cordoned, soldiers can’t yet get out of the bomb shelter because explosions continue,” a press service official told Interfax Sibir.
Achinsk Mayor Ilay Akhmetov said the city’s 100,000 residents were being prepared for evacuation.
Loading operations remained on schedule at the oil giant Rosneft’s Achinsk oil refinery about 18 miles away from the site, TASS quoted a refinery spokesman as saying.
A source told TASS that the depot held up to 40,000 artillery shells for tank guns.
Ammunition storage site explosions are not unusual in Russia. After the most recent incident in May 2018, a fire raged for almost a week before water drops from military planes and choppers helped put out the blaze.
With Post wires
This article was sourced from LegalInsurrection
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