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Last week, the test of a mini nuclear reactor for the engine of the next-gen Russian cruise missile went a bit awry, update - all but certain now that the reactor went boom

Commissar SFLUFAN
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Commissar SFLUFAN

Commissar SFLUFAN

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And by a bit awry, I mean it blew the hell up.

 

Five scientists were killed and Russia has admitted that it was a nuclear detonation.

 

Russia indicates rocket engine exploded in test of mini nuclear reactor

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/12/russia-indicates-rocket-engine-exploded-in-test-of-mini-nuclear-reactor?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

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mclumber1

mclumber1

Posted
Posted
Just now, Kal-El814 said:

My lord but this post is the nuclear equivalent of, “why do we count suicides in gun violence statistics,” / “4 people dead isn’t a mass shooting.” :p

 

I'm a former Navy nuke.  This stuff is interesting to me.  Finding the flaws in design and operation of nuclear reactors was one of the major things we trained on throughout my career. 

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mclumber1

mclumber1

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

Good thing they’re staying in doors. Radiation always has to be invited in to your home. 

 

 

 

...or maybe that’s vampires. I get them confused so often. 

 

Protip:  shit and stank

 

Radioactive contamination is analogous to the shit.  Radiation is analogous to the stink. 

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CayceG

CayceG

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, SFLUFAN said:

And by a bit awry, I mean it blew the hell up.

 

Five scientists were killed and Russia has admitted that it was a nuclear detonation.

 

Russia indicates rocket engine exploded in test of mini nuclear reactor

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/12/russia-indicates-rocket-engine-exploded-in-test-of-mini-nuclear-reactor?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard

 

 

The video in that tweet is NOT the missile explosion. That's a separate incident that occurred at a normal ammunition storage facility, still near to where the missile explosion happened. 

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CayceG

CayceG

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, mclumber1 said:

Was it a true nuclear detonation, or more of a "prompt criticality" event where the reactor explodes?

 

 

 

It was a an explosion of the liquid rocket fuel used to propel the missile. But given that the missile also involves a small nuclear reactor, the reactor was destroyed in the explosion. 

 

I do not know if the 5 workers were killed by the explosion, or by radiological effects. My money is on the rocket fuel explosion doing most of the damage, with them having received some radiation dosage. We'll see what comes out. 

 

Or we won't. 

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CayceG

CayceG

Posted
Posted

Trump is being an idiot. We ARE working on long range, land based cruise missiles because now the INF treaty is out. But we're not doing anything with nuclear propulsion. Because it's an insane idea. 

 

Were the lives of these 5 men that died worth developing a nuclear powered cruise missile? 

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CayceG

CayceG

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The Russian authorities didn't tell the hospital that treated the injured workers that they were dealing with radioactive contamination. 

 

https://newsnord.ru/v-arhangelske-v-svyazi-so-vzryvom-v-nyonokse-zasekretili-hirurgicheskoe-otdelenie-aokb/

 

 

 

Quote

When admitting patients to AOKB, doctors were not warned that special clothing was needed. After the operation, the surgeon's apron squeaked when checking on the radiation diagnostic apparatus. Now everyone who somehow contacted the victims was taken to Moscow for examination. The staff of the surgical building of the Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital are in a depressed state. They do not understand why such an attitude was allowed to them, ordinary doctors and nurses, those who performed their medical duties.

 

 

This is literally the mindset that surrounded the Chernobyl disaster. 

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Uaarkson

Uaarkson

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Posted

I don't see any indication that this was a nuclear explosion. Most likely a conventional chemical explosion that spread radioactive contaminants around the area, which is still pretty shitty.

 

If an actual airburst had occurred, even a tiny one, satellites around the world would have seen the double-flash and x-ray/gamma rays.

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TheGreatGamble

TheGreatGamble

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2 hours ago, PaladinSolo said:

No they don't, because its a really stupid idea, its one thing to kill people with a cruise missile its another make its impact site uninhabitable.

lol, you are a fool if you don't think that the USA is not or has not developed nuclear fueled rockets. Especially if it's going to decrease delivery time. They might not want to use them in most situations, but they are absolutely in the American arsenal. 

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PaladinSolo

PaladinSolo

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Posted
44 minutes ago, TheGreatGamble said:

lol, you are a fool if you don't think that the USA is not or has not developed nuclear fueled rockets. Especially if it's going to decrease delivery time. They might not want to use them in most situations, but they are absolutely in the American arsenal. 

It doesn't decrease delivery time, it extends flight time so you could theoretically have it aloft for as long as you want, days, weeks, months, even years, all the while leaking radiation, its a stupid technology.  

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mclumber1

mclumber1

Posted
Posted
18 minutes ago, PaladinSolo said:

It doesn't decrease delivery time, it extends flight time so you could theoretically have it aloft for as long as you want, days, weeks, months, even years, all the while leaking radiation, its a stupid technology.  

 

That's one of the points of the design, to leave a shitty radiation trail behind it - salt the earth.  

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CayceG

CayceG

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, TheGreatGamble said:

lol, you are a fool if you don't think that the USA is not or has not developed nuclear fueled rockets. Especially if it's going to decrease delivery time. They might not want to use them in most situations, but they are absolutely in the American arsenal. 

 

The United States does not have a missile that is propelled by a nuclear reactor. 

 

20 minutes ago, mclumber1 said:

 

That's one of the points of the design, to leave a shitty radiation trail behind it - salt the earth.  

 

The point of the Skyfall is an ultra-long range cruise missile. You're thinking of Project Pluto (an American design from the 60s). The Skyfall has a nuclear reactor to increase its flight range, and it is a cruise missile, and therefore is maneuverable and low flying to avoid defenses. 

 

 

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Spawn_of_Apathy

Spawn_of_Apathy

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4 hours ago, CayceG said:

The Russian authorities didn't tell the hospital that treated the injured workers that they were dealing with radioactive contamination. 

 

This is literally the mindset that surrounded the Chernobyl disaster. 

 

Doesn’t seem to mater if it is Russia or the Soviet Union, they are incapable of admitting they made a mistake or failed, even at the risk of hundreds of thousands to millions of their own people. Their government just doesn’t care about its people. 

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