The fear of radiation spread among the village residents of Nyonoksa (Image via: Al Jazeera)

Russian Officials Cancel the Nyonoksa Evacuation Order

Kirana Chandra Mumpuni Budiana
Politics & Economic
Regulation
Aug 14, 2019
2377
On August 8, a missile explosion happened in vicinity of Severodvinsk, northern Russia. It allegedly killed at least five nuclear specialists, but the final toll is still unknown. The accident triggered speculation that the explosion was involving a nuclear-powered cruise missile known as the Burevestnik or Skyfall. After the accident, Severodvinsk city administration said the radiation level rose to 2 microsieverts per hour for about 30 minutes. It was four to 16 times higher than the normal levels. All residents in a small village located nearby called Nyonoksa were told to leave for upcoming military drills. However, hours after the order had been put out the Russian officials took it back. They said that radiation levels in the area came back to normal. The whole evacuation news just came out to public on August 13.

Russian officials had closed part of Dvina Bay on the White Sea to shipping for a month after the explosion. Another act that triggered speculation if it is an attempt to prevent outsiders from witnessing an operation to recover the missile debris. An independent military analyst Alexander Golts said that the military wants to guard the information about its armed forces strictly. It has led to important information hidden from public in critical situation. Too many speculations came out from the accident, mostly because of the mysterious nature of Russian officials. Until now, neither the Defense Ministry nor Rosatom named the type of rocket that exploded during the test. They only said it had liquid propellant.

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2019/08/13/europe/russian-village-evacuation-missile-explosion-intl/index.html?no-st=1565774222

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