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For my non-Russian speakers, this video is an official announcement from the leadership of RFNC-VNIIEF regarding the Aug. 8 event at the MOD test site in the Arkhangel’sk oblast’. As we know, 5 people died. 3 have been hospitalized with moderately severe injuries. (1/10)
The three people speaking are Valentin Kostiukov, director of RFNC-VNIIEF; Aleksandr Chernyshev, deputy scientific director of RFNC-VNIIEF and a corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences; and Vyacheslav Solov’ev, scientific director of RFNC-VNIIEF. (2/10)
It’s true that the video does not provide especially revelatory information about the event itself or the work that was being carried out near Severodvinsk. But we can derive a few insights that I think are worth noting. (3/10)
First, we learn that preparations at Nenoksa have been underway for about a year. That is around the same time that @armscontrolwonk and @annemp13 saw Russia pack up its SSC-X-9 launch area at NZ (4/10)
@ArmsControlWonk @annemp13 You can check out what they observed here: npr.org/2018/09/25/649… (5/10)
@ArmsControlWonk @annemp13 Second, energy generation using radioactive materials, including radioisotopes, has long been a focus of RFNC’s work. They are currently working on developing small reactors. These have applications in space, in the Arctic, and….elsewhere. (6/10)
@ArmsControlWonk @annemp13 Solov'ev notes that other countries are carrying out similar work and points to NASA’s Kilopower project as an analog. As @fab_hinz observed, it’s interesting to contemplate what that project might look like to a Russia that already deeply suspicious of the US. (7/10)
@ArmsControlWonk @annemp13 @fab_hinz Third, all three speakers note that the men who died were heroes, and that their loss is a tragic blow to the “brotherhood” of the test site. But they also observe that the nature of the work at RFNC-VNIIEF means that their people suffer more of these types of losses. (8/10)
@ArmsControlWonk @annemp13 @fab_hinz In a year, a monument will be erected to the victims. The town of Sarov will also be in mourning for the next two days. A funeral and farewell ceremony for the victims will be held Monday morning at the RFNC-VNIIEF Palace of Culture. (9/10)
@ArmsControlWonk @annemp13 @fab_hinz We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for more information as it becomes available. For now, though, I’m thinking a lot about the human cost of this work and feeling incredibly sad for the families of the those who died. (10/10)
