It does not seem to have been nuclear. No one viewing the flash suffered retina searing, no apparent zones have been established for evacuation, no citizens gave been advised to shelter in place to avoid fallout.
The presence of CBR teams may be related to chemical contamination a though nice the University at least had a nuclear research lab and there are hospitals nearby, radioactive materials in shipment that blew with everything else could have made the explosion a “ dirty” blast
There are plenty of recovery people and military in the zone with masks but not full gear
Watching the cleanup and civilian treatment the next few days may give clues about what is under tight censorship now
You know your stuff, thanks!
Agreed.
The IAEA is interested in all the processes that lead to nuclear weapons, not just in actual nuclear weapons explosions.
Something could go wrong in the enrichment process, etc., as happened with Stuxnet in Iran.
Something could also get screwed up in designing the “soccer ball” of shaped conventional explosives in building or testing a warhead.
Yep, good points