Explosion at Ballistic Missile Testing Facility in Russia, Two Dead; Radiation Spikes

Two people were killed and a nearby city reported a spike in radiation levels when a rocket engine blew up at a testing site in northern Russia on Thursday, Aug. 8.

This undated file photo provided Sept. 19, 2017, by Russian Defense Ministry official web site shows a Russian Iskander-K missile launched during a military exercise at a training ground at the Luzhsky Range, near St. Petersburg, Russia. Russian Defense Ministry Press Service via AP/File

MOSCOW—Two people were killed and a nearby city reported a spike in radiation levels when a rocket engine blew up at a testing site in northern Russia on Thursday, Aug. 8, forcing authorities to shut down part of a bay in the White Sea to shipping.

The brief spike in radiation reported by authorities in the nearby city of Severodvinsk, inhabited by 185,000 people, apparently contradicted the defense ministry, which had earlier been quoted by state media as saying radiation was normal.

RIA news agency quoted the defense ministry as saying no dangerous substances had been released into the atmosphere by the explosion of what it called a liquid-propellant rocket engine in the Arkhangelsk region. In addition to the two deaths, it said six people were injured in the blast.

“At the test site of the Russian Ministry of Defense in the Arkhangelsk region, when testing a liquid rocket propulsion system, an explosion and ignition of a product occurred,” the military department reported.

“A short-term rise in background radiation was recorded at 12 o'clock in Severodvinsk,” Ksenia Yudina, a spokeswoman for the city authorities, said. A statement on the city’s website did not specify how high radiation levels had risen, but said the level had fully “normalized”.

The rocket engine explosion occurred at a weapons testing area near the village of Nyonoksa in Arkhangelsk region, the Interfax news agency cited unnamed security sources as saying.

Russian media said an area near Nyonoksa is used for tests on weapons including ballistic and cruise missiles that are used by the Russian navy.

A Russian Yars RS-24 intercontinental ballistic missile system rides through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2017. Natalia Kolesnikova/AFP/Getty Images

An official at the northern port of Arkhangelsk said an area of the Dvina Bay in the White Sea had been closed to shipping for a month because of the incident.

“The area is closed,” the official, Sergei Kozub, said, without giving further details about the reasons for the move.

Officials did not give full details about the size or location of the area that was closed, but it did not appear to include Arkhangelsk itself, a major port for the export of oil products and coal.

The explosion is the second major incident to hit the military in Russia this week.

A view shows flame and smoke rising from the site of blasts at an ammunition depot near the town of Achinsk in Krasnoyarsk region, Russia August 5, 2019. Reuters/Dmitry Dub

A series of blasts rocked an arms depot at a military base in Siberia on Monday, killing one, injuring 13 and prompting authorities to evacuate thousands of people from nearby settlements.

By Tom Balmforth and Maria Kiselyova