Interest in the 1986 Chernobyl disaster has recently spiked thanks to HBO's limited miniseries, Chernobyl. As a result of the series putting the incident under the spotlight, there has not only been a surge in interest but a rise in tourism for Pripyat, the city closest to the nuclear disaster. However, there are now concerns that Russia may not have learned much since the 1986 disaster as reports have recently alleged a potential new coverup regarding an incident involving radiation.
According to The Washington Post, on August 8, an explosion occurred "during a missile engine test on a platform in the White Sea at the Nyonoksa test facility in the Arkhangelsk region, in Russia's far northwest." After the initial explosion, a statement was released saying that two people had died as a result of the incident. While Russia's Defense Ministry claimed that no radiation had been detected as a result of the explosion, according to DW, authorities in the town of Severodvinsk, which is located approximately 19 miles away, did notice a spike in radiation. These levels have since "normalized."
As a result of conflicting stories, there are concerns that Russia is covering up a much larger disaster, much in the same way that officials did with the disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant more than 30 years ago.
