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Russia Says New Weapon Blew Up in Nuclear Accident Last Week

  • Five Rosatom workers who died to be awarded high state honors
  • Blast last week at missile test caused brief radiation spike
Russia's Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev And Business Leaders Attend Moscow Financial Forum
Photographer: Andrey Rudakov/Bloomberg
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The failed missile test that ended in an explosion killing five atomic scientists last week on Russia’s White Sea involved a small nuclear power source, according to a top official at the institute where they worked.

The men “tragically died while testing a new special device,” Alexei Likhachev, the chief executive officer of state nuclear monopoly Rosatom, said at their funeral Monday in Sarov, a high-security city devoted to atomic research less than 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Moscow where the institute is based.