Russian rocket explosion sparks fears of Chernobyl 2.0

Last week a video spread across social media of an explosion at a military facility, something that I saw myself but didn't have the time to sit down and write about it until now. First off, check out the video below which shows some pretty crazy stuff:

When I sat down to write this story I noticed it had been picked up by other media outlets, so I checked them all to see if they were showing the actual video of the explosion or simply reporting on it. Well, all I got were reports which make it seem much less severe than the video itself does. None of them have the video embedded.

Authorities have confirmed that the mysterious explosion at the Russian weapons testing range "involved radioactive materials". Rosatom, Russia's nuclear energy company, said in a statement on August 10 that five employees had died along with two military personnel.

Just like with Chernobyl, the Russian government has been very secretive with the exact details of what happened last week. Rosatom's statement simply said the deaths were "a result of an incident at a testing range in Arkhangelsk region".

In the nearby city of Severodvinsk, the explosion saw radiation levels skyrocket by 20x above normal rates for around half an hour. The city of 185,000 has reportedly been stocking up on iodine, which is used to reduce the effects of radiation exposure. Scary times, in a post-Chernobyl Russia (and post the HBO show Chernobyl, which was released just a couple of months ago).

If you haven't watched it, I suggest you do as it is an amazing piece of TV and something that gives you perspective on what could be going on here.