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So apparently the Russians still smoke inside their factories, what a shame
Thank god they're so stupid.
Not sure this has been the official "explanation" this time, but looking at it from a technical side, there isn't normally anything in a transformer flammable enough to be ignited by a cigarette, even if you could drop it directly into the cooling oil (which you can't: they are normally sealed). My understanding is that you need a sustained arc over several minutes of "normal" electric current, or several lightning strikes to heat up the oil enough to catch fire. That requires some major fault. I guess a suitable type of warhead could cause it eventually, but not immediately.
they are normally sealed
Normally
I wouldn't be surprised if the issue turns out to be a comedy of errors.
I wouldn’t be surprised if
Neither would I. Just saying that "smoking at the workplace" alone won't suffice. Unlike in, say, a ~~fireworks~~ munitions factory.
BLEVE?
Can transformer cooling oil form flammable vapour? Maybe, I guess, if it's hot enough, but I'm not sure. But when the transformer gets hot and explodes it may cause an oil spray fine enough to create a fireball, which may look similar. The first stage of a "proper" BLEVE is normally the "expanding vapor" cloud, which is visible as such, before it has mixed with air sufficiently (and/or reaches an ignition source) to burn and form the fireball. Then again, in smaller ones, and in the dark, the vapour cloud may be so short-lived that it cannot be seen.