May 01, 2020

Sarov: A City Closed


Sarov: A City Closed

Monday, August 12, 2019, was a somber day in Sarov, birthplace of the Soviet Union’s first atomic bomb and still the hub of its nuclear program.

Thousands gathered in the city’s main square to view five coffins brought back from the State Central Navy Testing Range a couple of thousand kilometers to the northeast, where five Sarov scientists ­had been killed in the August 8 Nyonoksa radiation accident. Russian officials described the accident as a failed test of “an isotope power source for a liquid-fueled rocket engine.” Whatever the cause (We­stern experts suspected the accident stemmed from a Burevestnik cruise missile test), the mournful gathering was a reminder of the perilous business that is the focus of this nuclear “company town.”

The five were laid to rest in Sarov’s main cemetery.


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