Kremlin admits nuclear missile exploded during test, killing 5

[essentialsaltes]

I've been waiting for an 'official story' to appear from Russia.

The Kremlin broke its silence Tuesday on the apparent explosion of a nuclear-powered cruise missile during a test, saying that accidents "happen" but that Russia remained "far ahead" in the development of advanced weaponry.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to confirm widespread international speculation that the accident -- which claimed the lives of at least five nuclear specialists last Thursday -- involved a nuclear-powered cruise missile known as the Burevestnik or Skyfall.

Local authorities reported a brief spike in radiation following the incident, while Russia's Defense Ministry said radiation levels were normal.

Asked to comment on the conflicting reports and concerns about the consequences for the local population, Peskov said: "I have nothing to add beyond what I stated. ... I can just assure you that in such a situation all the competent agencies do everything to assure the safety of the citizens of the Russian Federation is fully provided."

Just to be clear, it looks like the missile or rocket exploded, not the nuclear weapon itself. But this no doubt distributed radioactive materials, hence the spike in radiation.

 

[Nithavela]

Must have been pretty bad if they had to admit it.

 

[SummerMadness]

Flying nuclear power plants, what could go wrong?

Good thing we pulled out of that nuclear arms treaty.

 

[Lost4words]

I doubt they would have been testing it with a live nuke warhead inside.

 

[essentialsaltes]

I doubt they would have been testing it with a live nuke warhead inside.

Sorry, you're probably right. It's being described as a nuclear-powered missile as opposed to a nuclear weapon.

 

[essentialsaltes]

.

 

[Dave-W]

Flying nuclear power plants, what could go wrong?

Indeed. I remember in the late 50s and early 60s there being plans for nuke powered commercial airliners and nuke powered cars.

 

[Tanj]

Indeed. I remember in the late 50s and early 60s there being plans for nuke powered commercial airliners and nuke powered cars.

Ahh, you are referring to the survival guide some people think is just a game known as "Fallout 4".

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

Indeed. I remember in the late 50s and early 60s there being plans for nuke powered commercial airliners and nuke powered cars.

Oh come on - nuclear cars would have been awesome - can you imagine the traffic reports?

"Hey people this is 2KTXV traffic liiiiive. And first up, motorists are advised to avoid California today after a crash on the corner of 1st avenue and 17th street Los Angeles"

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

Well, on the upside, HBO finally gets to run a second season of "Chernobyl"

 

[Kalevalatar]

The Russian Federation is party to the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, adopted in 1986 after Chernobyl, requiring states to report any and all accident involving radioactive material. In addition, Russian and Finland have signed an intergovernmental agreement on early notification of nuclear accidents and exchange of information.

Needless to say, Putin's Russia is an dishonest rogue state that cannot be trusted. As of August 14th, seven days after the explosion, Russia has yet to comply with its obligations and notify its neighbours as required.

The accident and those Moscow pro-democracy protest must be pretty bad for Putin, though, judging the way Putin felt the urgent need to don manly leather and go motorcycle riding with his "Night Wolves" bikers in Russian-occupied Crimea for some tried-and-true bread-and-circuses distraction for bedazzled Russian public.

 

[cow451]

Comrades, comrades... calm yourselves. Unfortunate accident. Could happen to antibody. Minor radiation. Less than a few million microwave ovens at Target.

BTW, iodine pills on sale at Vladimir Pharmacy and Chemical Supply Store throughout region.

 

[Dave-W]

Ahh, you are referring to the survival guide some people think is just a game known as "Fallout 4".

Not a survival guide. Real plans for the mass market.

While most discounted the aircraft due to the weight of the shielding needed; a prototype was actually made.

On the surface vehicle side, magazines like Popular Science ran many stories and designs.

Nuclear-powered concept cars from the Atomic Age

 

[Trogdor the Burninator]

Comrades, comrades... calm yourselves. Unfortunate accident. Could happen to antibody. Minor radiation. Less than a few million microwave ovens at Target.

I'm told it's the equivalent of a chest x-ray....



.

 

[cow451]

I'm told it's the equivalent of a chest x-ray....
.

Correct, Comrade. Not to worry. Russian citizens perfectly safe. Maybe a little razor burn.

 

[Kalevalatar]

Not only does Moscow refuse to honour its obligation to notify neighbouring states of any incidents involving radioactivity, kind of expected, they still don't even bother to warn even their own emergency personnel:

Exclusive: Russian Doctors Say They Weren’t Warned Patients Were Nuclear Accident Victims: One doctor was reportedly later found to have a radioactive isotope in their muscle tissue.

The three injured men arrived at the hospital around 4:30 pm, naked and wrapped in translucent plastic bags. The state of the patients made staff suspect they were dealing with something very serious. But the only information they had at the time was that there had been an explosion at a nearby military site around noon.

“No one — neither hospital directors, nor Health Ministry officials, nor regional officials or the governor — notified staff that the patients were radioactive,” one of the clinic’s surgeons told The Moscow Times by phone this week. “The hospital workers had their suspicions, but nobody told them to protect themselves.”

33 years since the terrible Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and Putin's Russia is still stuck in the 1986 Soviet mentality with human life being worth nothing, even when they are fellow Russians.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Russia's state environmental monitoring agency has acknowledged the presence of four radioactive substances in Severodvinsk, a city less than 20 miles from the site of a still very mysterious explosion during the test of an unspecified nuclear-powered missile. The new details continue to suggest the incident was related to the development of the nuclear-powered cruise missile Burevestnik, but they also raise further questions about how transparent the Kremlin is being about the scale of the accident that killed at least seven people.

This statement would seem to contradict the Russian Ministry of Defense's initial reports that the accident had not resulted in any radiation leaks whatsoever.

 

[variant]

Sorry, you're probably right. It's being described as a nuclear-powered missile as opposed to a nuclear weapon.

I fail to see much of a distinction. Accidentally blowing up a nuclear weapon or a portable nuclear reactor would have the same consequence.

I guess there's a chance a bomb would go critical but that's hard to do by accident.

 

[Kalevalatar]

Isotopes composition proves a reactor was involved in Nenoksa accident, expert says
Analyses of the radionuclides in the fallout over Severodvinsk show several isotopes that would not have been present if was a simple RTG in the explosion.

According to information posted by Roshydromet, the researchers found a mixture of isotopes of barium, strontium and lanthanum and daughter nuclides. All are short-lived fission products.

Norwegian nuclear safety expert Nils Bøhmer says the information removes any doubts.

«The presence of decay products like barium and strontium is coming from a nuclear chain reaction. It is a proof that is was a nuclear reactor that exploded,» Bøhmer says.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Not only does Moscow refuse to honour its obligation to notify neighbouring states of any incidents involving radioactivity, kind of expected, they still don't even bother to warn even their own emergency personnel:

Exclusive: Russian Doctors Say They Weren’t Warned Patients Were Nuclear Accident Victims: One doctor was reportedly later found to have a radioactive isotope in their muscle tissue.



33 years since the terrible Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and Putin's Russia is still stuck in the 1986 Soviet mentality with human life being worth nothing, even when they are fellow Russians.

They could learn a thing or two from their right wing American counterparts and eliminate that incongruity by redefining the victims as not real Russians.