Russia refuses to share data on blast that caused radiation spike
CHERNOBYL: Russia has told international nuclear test ban monitors that it does not have to share information on the blast that caused a brief spike in radiation levels in Arkhangelsk region, bolstering speculation that Russia may have tampered with monitoring stations that failed to transmit scientific data after the accident.
Two Russian-operated monitoring stations for the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty ceased transmitting data two days after the 8 August blast, when a projected radioactive plume from the deadly accident would be expected to reach them.
The data could have given additional information on the amount and kind of nuclear materials being used in the Russian military tests, indicating the level of danger to local residents and the nature of the Russian testing, including whether a small nuclear reactor was involved.
The treaty’s mandate “does not cover development of any types of weapons”, said the deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, on Tuesday when asked about why the stations had suddenly gone silent. The decision to transmit data is “strictly voluntary”, he added.
On Monday, an American newspaper reported another two monitoring stations had also suddenly gone offline, bringing the total to four.
Lassina Zerbo, the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), wrote earlier this week that the agency was analysing the “potential plume from the explosion” and was “addressing technical problems experienced at two neighbouring stations”. The agency did not immediately confirm the reports about additional offline stations when contacted on Monday.
Russia’s atomic agency has said that five of its employees were killed during a test involving a liquidfuelled rocket and “isotope power sources” at a military testing range.
Some analysts have said Russia could have been testing an experimental cruise missile that carries a nuclear reactor on board, although other theories have been suggested.