In the aftermath of the explosion, three of the victims were treated at the Semashko Medical Center in
Arkhangelsk, which had radiation treatment expertise and employed the use of
hazmat suits, while three others were taken to the Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital, arriving at 4:35 p.m. on 8 August, where the hospital staff were not warned of the radiation exposure. Several Arkhangelsk Regional Hospital staff were later flown to Moscow for radiation testing. One doctor was found to test positive for
caesium-137, though the levels remain unknown, as the medical staff involved were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements. According to an unnamed medical worker, two injured by the explosion died of
radiation sickness en route from Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital (AOKB) () to treatment in Moscow. Their bodies were sent to Moscow's Burnazyan Federal Medical and Biophysical Center (FMBC) (). The rooms at the Arkangelsk hospital, where injured victims had been treated, were sealed after treatment but none of the hospital workers and staff had worn anti-contamination clothing. These were the bodies of five
Rosatom (
RFNC-VNIIEF) workers who were killed during and immediately following the 8 August 2019 explosion.
Radiation levels Yuri Peshkov from the
Roshidromet, the Russian meteorology service, stated that background radiation levels peaked at 4–16 times normal levels at six of its eight stations in
Severodvinsk, to the east, reaching 1.78
microsieverts per hour shortly after the explosion, but returned to normal levels 2.5 hours after the explosion. The administration in Severodvinsk reported elevated radiation levels for 40 minutes leading to a rush on
medical iodine. In the days following the event several monitoring stations in Russia stopped sending data to the
Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), a data network for radiation monitoring made of 80 stations around the world. According to the information posted by
Roshydromet on radiation situation in Severodvinsk in the hours following the accident, a number of short-lived isotopes were discovered:
strontium-91,
barium-139,
barium-140 and
lanthanum-140. Norwegian nuclear safety expert Nils Bøhmer stated that such isotope composition proves a nuclear reactor was involved in the accident. According to Nyonoksa residents, the first pontoon "PP PP Plant No. 2" () with two blue containers washed ashore on 9 August and the heavily damaged second pontoon with a damaged crane, a blue container and a yellow container similar to a
Siempelkamp container for highly radioactive materials was towed by tugboats to a site near the first pontoon about five days after the explosion. Nyonoksa residents said that just days prior to the 31 August measurements, the gamma ray radiation levels were 750
μR/hour at the same location.
Alpha and
beta radiation levels have not been measured. , the site has been neither enclosed nor guarded and no
radiation warning signs have been observed. Over away, tiny amounts of radioactive iodine, which were collected from 9–12 August, were detected at an air filter station in Svanhovd by Norway's nuclear safety authority. The agency could not determine if the detection was linked to the accident, and, according to Reuters, such iodine measurements were not unusual as monitoring stations in Norway detected radioactive iodine about six to eight times a year and also were usually unable to determine the source of the isotope.
Evacuation of population According to the local press, it was announced that about 450 inhabitants of the
Nyonoksa village had to be evacuated by train for two hours on 14 August then this evacuation would have been canceled. According to
The Moscow Times quoting
RIA Novosti, residents of Nyonoksa would be evacuated each month by special train for two hours (early Wednesday morning) for planned military activities in the city; evacuation that according to a villager already exists:
it is expected, everyone is taken from the village about once a month, even if some remained behind. But now, after the last events, I think everyone will leave. The governor of the Arkhangelsk region (Igor Orlov) denied that the evacuation was an emergency, saying it was a routine measure, already "planned".
Subsequent test launches Planet Labs satellite imagery from 20 September 2018 and from 18 September 2020 published by
Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS) show how the
Pan'kovo test range had been rebuilt subsequent to the accident. Planet Labs satellite imagery from 7 August 2025 published by
nuclear nonproliferation expert
Jeffrey Lewis and MIIS was claimed by Lewis and by ICBM researcher
Decker Eveleth to show test preparations of the
Burevestnik at the Pan'kovo test range. ==Reactions==