A blast on a nuclear test site in the Russian Arctic has still left many questions unanswered, including those concerning fisheries.
On 8 August, 2019, a still-unknown military object exploded at an offshore platform during tests conducted by the Russian Army in the White Sea at the Nenoksa Nuclear Test Site, near Dvina Bay and the village of Nenoksa, which is not far from a town of Severodvinsk. Five civilian specialists – scientists of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center located in the Russian town of Sarov (previously known as a secret and limited access settlement: Arzamas 16) – were killed in the accident, with a few more reporting injuries.
Information being provided by Russian government bodies regarding the presumed cause of the blast is incomplete and inconsistent. The Ministry of Defense, which was in charge of the tests, said in a statement that it was a liquid-propellant jet launcher that instigated the explosion.
The press service of Rosatom, the state-owned corporation running all nuclear-related business in the country, including military nuclear issues, called the object that exploded “a battery,” not a typical nuclear reactor, pointing out that there had been no chain reaction. Technically speaking, it was an isotope-powered source within a liquid propulsion system, according to Rosatom.
Soon after the incident, there was a spike in radiation registered in the village of Nenoksa. The radiation level quickly settled to normal parameters, with the Russian Emergency Ministry issuing a statement saying that tests of water and ground in the area showed no signs of excessive radiation. Suggested evacuation of Nenoksa residents reported by media had not been conducted.
At the moment, there have been no immediate consequences for fisheries, as the affected closed area has not been used for fishing, and the White Sea as a whole has never been rich in fish.
In response to the explosion, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that the object in question had really been the cruise missile Burevestnik, or Skyfall in NATO classification – the one presented by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March 2018 during his annual speech to Russian parliament.
The consequences the accident on the White Sea and the Russian Arctic are still partially unclear. The Russian Ministry of Defense has closed the area concerned in Dvina Bay and has brought in a special vessel designed to collect radioactive waters. Any other vessels are banned from entering the 230-square-kilometer zone of the accident.
Regarding fishing, there were no special moves made by government or business in response to the accident. Nilokay Belousov, operation director at the Arkhangelskiy traloviy flot, said in an interview to news agency 47news.ru the affected zone is away from main lanes fishing ships use on their way from Arkhangelsk to the Barents Sea, where they primarily acquire their catch. The White Sea is not of great interest for commercial fishing, he said.
“There are just not any trawlers in the White Sea,” Belousov said.
According to the government of the Arkhangelsk region, the total catch in the White Sea in 2018 was just 1,431 metric tons (MT), of which 1,290 MT were seaweed. The sea contains stocks of humpback salmon, herring, navaga, candle fish, trout, fluke, and seaweed.
Belousov said he wasn't worried that consumers may start to avoid buying seafood from the Arkhangelsk region. Russian consumers don't pay much attention to the sources of their seafoood, he said.
Image courtesy of Yakovlev Sergey/Shutterstock
