MOSCOW, August 12. /TASS/. Eight staff members of the Sarov-based Russian Federal Nuclear Center who died or were injured in a recent incident at a test site in the Arkhangelsk Region have been awarded the Order of Courage, the Sarov administration said in a statement published on its website, adding that five of the eight nuclear workers had received the award posthumously.

"All those who addressed the farewell ceremony pointed to the need for the Rosatom Corporation and state agencies to provide assistance to the families of the victims. [First Deputy Chief of the Presidential Staff] Sergei Kiriyenko read out a presidential decree awarding eight of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center’s staff members the Order of Courage. Five of them received the award posthumously," the statement reads.

On August 8, the Russian Defense Ministry said that two had died in an incident involving a liquid propellant engine at a military test site near Severodvinsk. The Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation reported on August 10 that a fire and an explosion had occurred during a missile test on a sea platform, killing five workers and leaving three others injured.

The Russian Federal Nuclear Center — All-Russia Research Institute of Experimental Physics — is the country’s major research facility working on complex defense, scientific and economic tasks. Its main responsibility is to guarantee and maintain the reliability and safety of Russia’s nuclear weapons.