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This photo taken in 2011 shows the Nionoska military base, in the Arkhangelsk region, in the Russian Far North. On August 8, 2019, an explosion at this military base killed two people. AFP

The Russian authorities on Monday (August 26th) unveiled the nature of the pollution caused by a nuclear explosion on a missile launching base in Nionoska, which in early August led to a " brief rise " in radioactivity. The Russian environmental monitoring agency Rosguidromet found in the samples recorded in the city of Severodvinsk, located near the base where the accident occurred, radioactive isotopes of strontium, barium and lanthanum.

According to a specialist quoted by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, these isotopes are the product of nuclear fission. The accident , which according to the authorities was due to tests of " new weapons ", caused the death on August 8 of five employees of the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom. These specialists provided engineering and technical support for the " isotopic energy source " of the missile engine that caused the explosion.

Immediately after the accident, the Department of Defense had only stated that the facts had occurred during the testing of a " liquid propellant rocket engine " but did not describe the accident as involving nuclear fuel. He had then assured that there was " no contamination ", but the town hall of Severodvinsk said he had " recorded a brief increase in radioactivity " before withdrawing its publication.

" Brief rise " in radioactivity

The radioactive isotopes cited by Rosguidromet on Monday, August 26, have a half-life period, during which half of their nuclei disintegrate, ranging from several hours to nearly thirteen days. They are transformed into inert radioactive gas. " These radioactive gases are the cause of the brief increase " in radioactivity recorded after the explosion, according to Rosguidromet.

The agency had previously reported measuring levels of radioactivity up to 16 times higher than natural radiation after the explosion, before returning to normal two and a half hours later. The Russian authorities had also acknowledged that a doctor who had been involved in the treatment of the wounded after the explosion had been contaminated with the radioactive isotope cesium 137, but denied that his case was related to the accident.

( with AFP )