Academician dispels worries over accident at test range outside Severodvinsk
"This is a thousand times less than one millisievert, the permitted level of exposure for the population within a year, a dose obtained from an X-ray treatment is much higher", Leonid Bolshov said
MOSCOW, August 11. /TASS/. Data from the Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences received from radiation monitoring systems says that there are no radiation hazards for the local population after the incident during tests on a liquid propellant rocket engine at a test range outside Severodvinsk, the Arkhangelsk region, academician Leonid Bolshov said on Sunday.
"We have online data from radiation monitoring systems and on Thursday we saw an increase in background radiation in Severodvinsk for an hour-and-a-half," institute’s Director said.
However, "background radiation stays at a very low level, and it increased insignificantly," giving the population an additional radiation dose of one microsievert, he emphasized. "This is a thousand times less than one millisievert, the permitted level of exposure for the population within a year, a dose obtained from an X-ray treatment is much higher," he said.
"The recorded increase is a hundred times less than the radiation a person receives when flying on an airplane, the threat to the safety and health of the population is simply out of the question," he said.
He said an emergency commission led by the governor and involving all services met after a brief rise of the radiation level, and a statement was made afterwards that no incident harmful for the health of the local population had happened, the background returned to its level in an hour-and-a-half.
The Defense Ministry said earlier that the radiation level remained normal after the emergency and there were no hazardous escapes into the atmosphere after an explosion at a military test site.
The accident occurred at a military testing range near Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk region on August 8. The Russian Defense Ministry initially said that two people died in the accident involving a liquid-fuel jet engine. Later regional authorities said that six more people have been hospitalized after the accident. On August 10, Rosatom said that five employees were killed in the accident and three more were hospitalized.