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The platform seems mobile & appears to have been moved into place before the explosion —not visible at that location in satellite imagery from July. A nuclear fuel carrier, the Serebryanka, was moved into place around the same time. Image & Data via @MarineTraffic 
@MarineTraffic The presence of the Serebryanka is relevant and might offer clues of what happened. This very ship was previously used in recovery effort for a crashed SSC-X-9 — a prototype of a nuclear-propelled cruise missile — according to @ArmsControlWonk
@MarineTraffic @ArmsControlWonk 4 nuclear explosion detection stations from @ctbto_alerts - one, 875 miles away, registered the incident at around 9 a.m. local time. The detection stations were located in 3 different countries. 3 seismic, one infrasound station.
@MarineTraffic @ArmsControlWonk @ctbto_alerts A few hours later, city officials in Severodvinsk — 20 miles from the explosion — posted that radiation levels were briefly up, leading residents to rush to pharmacies to buy iodine pills. The posting had been removed by the evening, but not quickly enough before it was archived
@MarineTraffic @ArmsControlWonk @ctbto_alerts Interestingly, there is a second, very similar platform parked on the beach.
Image & analysis via @Maxar.
Image & analysis via @Maxar.
@MarineTraffic @ArmsControlWonk @ctbto_alerts @Maxar And finally, on Aug. 12, satellite imagery captured a new Russian ship heading towards the offshore platform in the restricted area. Possibly related to a salvaging operation for platform and/or nuclear reactor?
@MarineTraffic @ArmsControlWonk @ctbto_alerts @Maxar The accident killed at least seven people, and Russian scientists said that a small nuclear reactor had malfunctioned. However, details of the incident remain sparse. nytimes.com/2019/08/12/wor…
