about 2500 miles away, off the coast of the white sea, there was another mysterious explosion that occurred on thursday. we don t have visuals of that new york times says it may be, quote, one of the worst nuclear accidents in the region since chernobyl. at least seven people were killed, and russian news media, quote, radiation briefly rose to 200 times normal background levels. u.s. officials suspect it was a prototype of a nuclear cruise missiles. you can see it in this video played by russian president vladimir putin at his state of the union last year. i m joined business an expert. jeffrey lewis is the director of the east asia nonproliferation
200 times normal background levels. u.s. officials suspect it was a prototype of a nuclear cruise missiles. you can see it in this video played by russian president vladimir putin at his state of the union last year. i m joined business an expert. jeffrey lewis is the director of the east asia nonproliferation project good to see you, what do you make of this the second explosion and the idea that radiation levels were elevated in russia? well, i think the evidence right now is pretty overwhelming that this was something nuclear in character, probably the nuclear-powered cruise missiles that vladimir putin showed off, as you said, during his state of the union address. it s not clear how much radiation was released, but this is a serious accident.