MOSCOW, May 28 (RIA Novosti) - The May 25 blackout in and outside Moscow did not lead to radioactive, chemical or biological substances concentrating in the atmosphere, said Gen. Nikolai Vasilyev, the deputy chief of Russia's radiochemical and biological defense troops.
"After the blackout in Moscow and the Moscow region, the Tula [100 miles south of Moscow], Kaluga [186 miles southwest of Moscow], and Ryazan [122 miles southeast of Moscow] regions, the chemical defense troops monitored the environment and discovered no excessive concentration of radioactive, chemical and biological elements in the atmosphere," said the general.
As for the nitrogen oxide emission at the organic synthesis combine in Novomoskovsk (112 miles south of Moscow, Tula region), Vasilyev said it was insignificant and posed no danger to the people.
"Our chemical defense troops in the Moscow and Tula zones immediately checked the information about the emergency linked to the nitrogen oxide emission in the Tula region. No excessive concentration of nitrogen oxide was discovered," he said.
According to him, the nitrogen oxide emission in the atmosphere was not dangerous, as about the same amount of nitrogen oxide is released into the atmosphere by thunderclaps.
The general said special units and subunits of radiochemical and biological defense monitored the environment around potentially dangerous facilities and provided aid in eliminating the consequences of emergencies.
On May 25, the phased blackout (as a result of fire at the oldest substation Chagino, southeastern Moscow, built in 1963, which is part of the Moscow power ring) cut off nearly all of southern Moscow leaving it without electricity, water, and communications. Telephones, elevators, cash machines did not work, and underground trains as well as commuter trains stopped. Traffic lights were off, and stock exchange sessions were cancelled. Power cuts occurred in the south of the Moscow region and the surrounding areas, with the total damage topping $1 billion.
