Radiation Is Said to Be Released in Russian Military Accident

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Thomas Nilsen - The Barents Observer


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Regional news site 29.ru reports that the accident happened at 9 am Thursday.

The news-site claims that three people are dead and that eight of 15 injured are in serious conditions.

The Ministry of Defense confirms the explosion, stating that seven people are injured, while two people died, TASS reports.

According to the Defense Ministry information, the cause of the accident was an explosion while testing a liquid propulsion system. The explosion triggered a fire. It is known that the site is used for testing of liquid fueled engines of ballistic missiles for strategic nuclear-powered submarines.

Rumors about a radiation leak was first reported by 29.ru, referring to emergency services saying radiation levels were three times higher than normal background.

The news portal quotes Valentin Magomedov, head of the Civil Protection Department of the administration in Severodvinsk saying that two sensors in town for a short period measued increase in background radiation.

«From 11.50 to 12.30, the increase in radiation background began. As of 14.00, the readings of the sensors did not exceed 0.11 µSv/h» …. «The radiation background in Severodvinsk is normal,» he said.

Also the Arkhangelsk-based news agency Region 29 reports about measuring of increased level of radiation following the explosion.

«Sensors in Severodvinsk with automated system for monitoring radiation responded to increased indicators,» the agency reports with reference to the local emergency services. The levels reported from Nyonoksa are three times higher than normal. The news agency tells that also the administration of Severodvinsk informed about a slight increase in radiation, but “…. it has now returned to normal.”

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Screenshot of the article published by Region 29 Thursday around noon

It is unclear if the explosion happened on land or at sea. The Defense Ministry says «testing ground in the Arkhangelsk region», while several of the reports from regional media refer to the accident happened onboard a barge or a ship. The only known weapon systems with nuclear propulsion under development and testing are the Poseidon underwater drone and the Burevestnik cruise missile.

Nyonoksa is located 25 kilometers west of Severodvinsk in Arkhangelsk region. The test site was established in 1965 and are mainly engaged in testing prototypes of different submarine missiles.

In December 2015, the test site made headlines in Russian media and the Barents Observer after a cruise missile accidentally hit an apartment block in the nearby village.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

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[DemonGeminiX]

7 people injured, 2 dead = 50 dead, 600 injured or irradiated.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I'm surprised they didn't try and claim it was just a fireworks mishap or something.

[DemonGeminiX]

It was a campfire gone out of control when they tried to cook a bear to eat.

[Hal-9000]

Maybe in 20 or 30 years we'll get the true story. On HBO.

[Muddy]

Fuggin' stupid Russians..

[lost in melb.]

Here we go again :rolleyes:

[Godfather]

Well shit :lol: When I posted the original video in the Videos sub, I jokingly said "It's just a roof fire comrade"...

[lost in melb.]

Well shit :lol: When I posted the original video in the Videos sub, I jokingly said "It's just a roof fire comrade"...

always :watching: the ruski

[Hal-9000]

Well shit :lol: When I posted the original video in the Videos sub, I jokingly said "It's just a roof fire comrade"...

Go up there and put out that fire comrade Staszny!

Why is your rubber rain slicker melting? Because you're a pussy of a man! :x Now put out that fire and stop crying like a baby!

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Jake Rudnitsky and Stepan Kravchenko / Bloomberg


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The failed missile test that ended in an explosion killing five scientists last week on Russia’s White Sea involved a small nuclear reactor, according to a top official at the institute where they worked.

The institute is working on small-scale power sources that use “radioactive materials, including fissile and radioisotope materials” for the Defense Ministry and civilian uses, Vyacheslav Soloviev, scientific director of the institute, said in a video shown by local TV.

The men, who will be buried Monday, were national heroes and the “elite of the Russian Federal Nuclear Center,” institute Director Valentin Kostyukov said in the video, which was also posted on an official website in Sarov, a high-security city devoted to nuclear research less than 400 kilometers (250 miles) east of Moscow.

The blast occurred Aug. 8 during a test of a missile that used “isotope power sources” on an offshore platform in the Arkhangelsk region, close to the Arctic Circle, Russia’s state nuclear company Rosatom said over the weekend. The Defense Ministry initially reported two were killed in the accident, which it said involved testing of a liquid-fueled missile engine. The ministry didn’t mention the nuclear element.

Radiation Spike

It caused a brief spike in radiation in the nearby port city of Severodvinsk, according to a statement on the local administration’s website that was later removed. The Russian military said radiation levels were normal but disclosed few details about the incident.

News of the explosion set off in nearby cities and towns a run on iodine, which is believed to help prevent the thyroid gland from absorbing radiation. Norway said it had stepped up radiation monitoring after the incident but hadn’t detected anything abnormal.

Southerly winds and the large distance between the border and the explosion make it unlikely that Finland will detect any radiation, Pia Vesterbacka, director at Finland’s Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority, said by phone Monday. The authority hasn’t checked its air filters since the incident but expects to have results this week, she added.

Rosatom declined to comment on the incident Monday and a spokeswoman for the Sarov institute couldn’t immediately be reached.

Russian media have speculated that the weapon being tested was the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, known in Russia as the Burevestnik, a nuclear-powered cruise missile that President Vladimir Putin introduced to the world in a brief animated segment during his state-of-the-nation address last year.

The incident comes after a series of massive explosions earlier last week at a Siberian military depot killed one and injured 13, as well as forcing the evacuation of 16,500 people from their homes. Russia’s navy has suffered numerous high-profile accidents over the years. In July, 14 sailors died in a fire aboard a nuclear-powered submarine in the Barents Sea in an incident on which officials initially refused to comment. A top naval official later said the men gave their lives preventing a “planetary catastrophe.”

Russia’s worst post-Soviet naval disaster also occurred in the Barents Sea, when 118 crew died on the Kursk nuclear submarine that sank in after an explosion in August 2000.

[DemonGeminiX]

That's what you get for violating our nuclear proliferation treaty, you dick.

[Hal-9000]

Well I'm glad it was a small reactor :roll:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Well I'm glad it was a small reactor :roll:

Better than a large reactor :hand:

[Hal-9000]

Better than a large reactor :hand:

You're over reacting.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Edmund DeMarche | Fox News


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A nuclear official said in an email Sunday that two Russian nuclear monitoring stations—specifically designed to detect radiation— “went silent” in the days following an explosion by what many believe was a nuclear-powered missile earlier this month during tests at a remote base.

Lassina Zerbo, the head of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, told The Wall Street Journal in an email that two days after the explosion, the monitoring stations in Kirov and Dubna suffered “communication and network issues.”

There have been reports that Russia has not been fully transparent about what occurred at a military base in the far northern Arkhangelsk region. The initial report from the country’s nuclear agency said that five workers were killed in a rocket engine explosion. The Guardian reported that radiation levels in Severodvinsk, a nearby city, increased 20 times above normal for about a half hour after the explosion.

It has been reported that residents in the area have been stocking up on iodine, which helps reduce the effects of radiation exposure.

Two days later, Russia’s state-controlled nuclear agency Rosatom acknowledged that the explosion occurred on an offshore platform during tests of a “nuclear isotope power source,” and that it killed five nuclear engineers and injured three others. It’s still not clear whether those casualties were in addition to the earlier dead and injured.

H.I. Sutton, a contributor to Forbes, reported that there has been speculation about what exactly Russia was testing at the time of the explosion. One theory, according to his analysis, is that Moscow was testing a “mega-torpedo” nearby, which is reportedly 30 times larger than submarine torpedoes considered “heavyweight.”

The report said, “Launched from a large submarine, potentially from under the protection of the arctic ice cap, it would virtually have unlimited range and Russia claims that it will run so deep that it cannot realistically be countered with existing weapons.”

President Trump took to Twitter and said the U.S. is "learning" from the missile explosion and said the U.S. has more advanced technology but did not elaborate.

[Hal-9000]

Yeah when the Iodine starts flying off the shelves you know you're fucked :tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

I'm sure it's nothing major, the Russians have never lied about a radiation accident before :hand:

[Hal-9000]

Even the first establishing sentence of the story is horrifying :lol:


"A nuclear official said in an email Sunday that two Russian nuclear monitoring stations—specifically designed to detect radiation— “went silent” in the days following an explosion..."

[Teh One Who Knocks]

BY JOSEPH TREVITHICK - The War Zone


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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.

Personnel from the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of Russia, better known by its Russian acronym Roshydromet, took water samples from areas near Severodvinsk between Aug. 10 and Aug. 23, 2019, and found traces of the radionuclides strontium-91, barium-139, barium-140, and lanthanum-140, according to a statement. These substances experience fast radioactive decay and the press release indicated that the brief spike in ambient background radiation that Severodvinsk authorities reported after the missile test accident was attributable to inert gasses released as a result. The incident itself occured on Aug. 8, 2019, at a missile test site adjacent to the village of Nyonoksa, approximately 18 miles to the west of Severodvinsk and The War Zone has been following the steady trickle of new information that has emerged since then very closely.

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. Officials in Severodvinsk had subsequently retracted their statements about increased background radiation.

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Since the accident, however, Russia has admitted that the system it was testing was a nuclear-powered missile and that it contained a nuclear "isotope power source" at the time of the explosion. However, Russian officials have blamed the explosion itself on a non-nuclear liquid-fueled rocket motor.

The Kremlin has publicly acknowledged the development of Burevestnik, also known to NATO as the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, but has not officially confirmed it was testing that system in Nyonoksa earlier this month. However, the evidence that has emerged so far has only continued to point more and more to this nuclear-powered cruise missile being at the center of the accident. You can read more about what is publicly known about Burevestnik and its development in these past War Zone stories.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okS76WHh6FI

The radionuclides that Roshydromet found strongly point to whatever the system was having a true nuclear reactor as part of its propulsion system. Experts had previously considered whether the missile might have had a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG), a sort of nuclear battery that converts the heat from radioactive decay into electric power.

"These specified radionuclides rule out, to some extent, the possibility of an RTG," Andrei Zolotkov, a Russian chemist with extensive experience with nuclear reactors from 35 years of working on the country's nuclear icebreaker fleets, told The Guardian. "Usually, an RTG uses just one radionuclide, and during its decay, and it cannot produce these kinds of isotopes."

Strontium-91, barium-139, barium-140, and lanthanum-140 are relatively uncommon, but could come from the operation of a nuclear reactor using a traditional nuclear fuel source, such as uranium-235. However, these types of fission reactions typically produce cesium-137, which the Russian government says it has not yet seen in elevated levels. The Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (NOSAR) said it had detected elevated levels of radioactive iodine after the accident, but could not conclusively link that to the explosion.

Zolotkov told The Guardian that the new disclosure from Roshydromet would mean that the missile contained some kind of novel reactor design or that the Kremlin is still not providing a full accounting of the situation. The former is certainly possible. For the final Burevestnik design to be reasonably small in size, it would need a highly compact nuclear reactor, which could be an experimental type itself. Some have posited that the initial reports of the missile's propulsion system using a "liquid fuel" might be referring to a liquid fuel reactor of some kind.

At the same time, there has already been evidence that the Russians are at least trying to heavily control the flow of information surrounding the accident, if they're not looking to cover it up entirely. There had previously been indications that the Kremlin was deliberately shutting down environmental monitoring stations that could collect further data regarding radiation leakages.
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One of the doctors who treated individuals injured in the accident reportedly ended up with cesium-137 in his system, as well. Russian authorities posited that this individual had become contaminated after eating "Fukushima crabs," a reference to seafood that might have become contaminated after the near-meltdown at the Fukushima Daini nuclear powerplant in Japan in 2011 following the catastrophic Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.

Before that, there had been unconfirmed reports of significant cesium-137 contamination at the Arkhangelsk Regional Clinical Hospital, after doctors and other staff treated patients from the accident site without receiving any warning about possible radiation exposure. A purported medical report has now leaked saying that at least one individual who came to the hospital from Nyonoksa was suffering from acute radiation sickness.
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There were subsequent reports that at least 10 employees from the hospital in Arkhangelsk, along with a number of injured individuals, had then moved to the Federal Medical Biophysical Center in Moscow. There has been no clear confirmation that radiation exposure was the cause of any of the seven deaths as a result of the accident. Individuals at the site of the explosion reportedly suffered severe burns and other trauma, as well.

On Aug. 13, 2019, Russian officials had also curiously announced that they would briefly evacuate Nyonoksa the following day, before abruptly canceling that plan. It is still unclear whether that evacuation was related to the nuclear-powered missile accident or another scheduled test at Nyonoksa that subsequently got aborted.

Much about the accident itself remains unclear. Satellite imagery shows that whatever missile the Russians meant to test was on a launcher on a barge right off the coast of Nyonoksa in the White Sea. Pictures have since emerged purportedly showing extensive damage to that platform, but offering no real details beyond that about the missile itself. A second barge also appeared to be involved in the test and suffered less obvious damage.

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In addition, NOSAR has also said that there appeared to be two distinct explosions and that seismic monitoring stations only detected one. It's unclear if this might mean the second one occurred in midair, raising additional concerns about the spread of radioactive material. NOSAR also said that it is possible this second event was unrelated to the accident in Nyonoksa and might have been tied to mining activity in neighboring Finland.

The Kremlin has historically been very tight-lipped about major military accidents, and ones that involve the risk of traditional leaks, in particular. For instance, very little remains known about a separate fire aboard the top-secret nuclear spy submarine Losharik, which occurred on July 1, 2019. The boat was attached to a larger nuclear-powered mothership submarine, the modified Project 667BDRM Delfin-class ballistic missile submarine BS-64 Podmoskovye, at the time. It remains unclear how much risk there might have been to the reactors on either submarine.

At the same time, Russian authorities have found themselves increasingly compelled to release additional details about the Nyonoksa incident, the response to which has drawn repeated comparisons to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in 1986 in what was then Soviet Ukraine. A critically-acclaimed HBO dramatic mini-series thrust the Chernobyl case back into the public consciousness earlier this year. It also drew criticism from Russia, which says it will now produce its own show with an "honest" accounting of those events, centered on a conspiracy theory that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency was involved in its production.

In the nearly four weeks since the accident, the Kremlin has steadily disclosed additional information about the incident and has now contradicted its previous assertion that there were no radiation leaks at all, though it now maintains that the radionuclides that did escape are not a cause for concern. It will be interesting to see if and how the official line continues to evolve if it becomes any harder to deny key details about what happened in Nyonoksa.

[Hal-9000]

The first gif I saw of this claimed it was a munitions/ammo storage facility exploding.

Then it was a nuclear reactor.

Now it's a missile propulsion system.

Tomorrow it will be a lava lamp with cracked glass.

[DemonGeminiX]

It won't be anything tomorrow at the rate they're going. They'll all be dead and unable to reclassify it as anything.

[Hal-9000]

One news outlet said the real tragedy about Chernobyl wasn't just Pripyat and the surrounding areas. It was parts of Europe that were affected by the cloud during the ensuing months and years.

Because of Russia's lies they estimate some of the plant life, animals, soil and humans will be affected for generations from lack of precautions.

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Amanda Macias - CNBC


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WASHINGTON — A U.S. intelligence assessment found that the mysterious explosion off of Russia’s northern coast occurred during a recovery mission to salvage a nuclear-powered missile from the ocean floor, according to people with direct knowledge of the report.

The mysterious explosion on Aug. 8 killed five scientists and sparked fears that Russia had tested its new nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile, also known as Skyfall.

“This was not a new launch of the weapon, instead it was a recovery mission to salvage a lost missile from a previous test,” said a person with direct knowledge of the U.S. intelligence assessment. “There was an explosion on one of the vessels involved in the recovery and that caused a reaction in the missile’s nuclear core which lead to the radiation leak,” said another person, who spoke to CNBC on the condition of anonymity.

The U.S. intelligence report did not mention potential health or environmental risks posed by damage to the missile’s nuclear reactor.

CNBC learned last year of Moscow’s similar preparations to try to recover a nuclear-powered missile lost at sea. Crews attempted to recover a missile that landed in the Barents Sea after a failed test. The operation included three vessels, one of which is equipped to handle radioactive material from the weapon’s nuclear core. If the Russians were able to regain possession of the missile, U.S. intelligence analysts expected that Moscow will use the procedure as a blueprint for future recovery operations.

Last March, Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled a slew of hypersonic weapons, as well as Burevestnik, saying it was a nuclear-powered missile with unlimited range. However, the Kremlin has yet to perform a successful test of the weapon over multiple attempts, according to sources with direct knowledge of a U.S. intelligence report on the weapons program.

Burevestnik was tested once earlier this year and prior to that, the weapon was tested four times between November 2017 and February 2018, each resulting in a crash.

The U.S. determined that the longest test flight lasted just more than two minutes, with the missile flying 22 miles before losing control and crashing. The shortest test lasted four seconds and flew for five miles.

The tests apparently showed that the nuclear-powered heart of the cruise missile failed to initiate and, therefore, the weapon was unable to achieve the indefinite flight Putin had boasted about.

What’s more, CNBC learned in March that the Kremlin will only produce a few of these weapons because the program has yet to complete a successful test and is too expensive to develop.

[Hal-9000]

Now it's the 'recovery' of a nuclear missile. Next week it will have happened during construction of a nuclear plant ffs :lol:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

Now it's the 'recovery' of a nuclear missile. Next week it will have happened during construction of a nuclear plant ffs :lol:

Even thought it's all probably done with spy satellites and drones, I believe the story from US intelligence sources more than I do the "official" story from the Kremlin :lol:

[Hal-9000]

Even thought it's all probably done with spy satellites and drones, I believe the story from US intelligence sources more than I do the "official" story from the Kremlin :lol:

Sure, I believe the same thing. But the opening sentence in post 17 still creeps me out no matter what the cause :lol:




Even the first establishing sentence of the story is horrifying :lol:


"A nuclear official said in an email Sunday that two Russian nuclear monitoring stations—specifically designed to detect radiation— “went silent” in the days following an explosion..."


GTFO!!!

[Teh One Who Knocks]

If you turn it off, then there's no radiation to detect

https://i.imgur.com/iZnKxdbm.jpg

[Hal-9000]

If you turn it off, then there's no radiation to detect

https://i.imgur.com/iZnKxdbm.jpg

:-s

Ohhh. And I bet if you cut the power to the city no one can see a problem!

smart stuff :tup:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

:-s

Ohhh. And I bet if you cut the power to the city no one can see a problem!

smart stuff :tup:

No you're getting it :tup:

[Hal-9000]

I don see no problem here


https://i.imgur.com/HxoCLH3.jpg

[lost in melb.]

:facepalm:

[Teh One Who Knocks]

How long before the entire country of Russia is irradiated? :-k

[lost in melb.]

Just caught up on the actual reading. Too weird that this is hardly in the news :-k


two Russian nuclear monitoring stations—specifically designed to detect radiation— “went silent” in the days following an explosion by what many believe was a nuclear-powered missile earlier this month during tests at a remote base.

https://media.giphy.com/media/aZ3LDBs1ExsE8/giphy.gif

[Teh One Who Knocks]

By Brie Stimson | Fox News


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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said that the five scientists killed in a nuclear explosion in the northwestern part of the country last August were working on the “most advanced and unparalleled” weapons in the world.

Putin was speaking to relatives of the fallen men during a televised state awards ceremony at the Kremlin, assuring them that the scientists had been doing “critically important” work, The independent Moscow Times reported.

Putin didn’t specify the weapons, but U.S. defense officials believe it was what Russians call the 9M730 Burevestnik missile, which NATO has designated the SSC-X-9 Skyfall.

The missile was first revealed by Putin in March 2018 along with other doomsday weapons.

“We’re talking about the most advanced and unparalleled technical ideas and solutions, about weapons designed to ensure Russia’s sovereignty and security for decades to come,” Putin said. "No matter what, we’ll certainly keep improving this weaponry.”

Putin claimed that possessing the weapons “is the most important reliable guarantee of peace on the planet today," The Times reported.

The August explosion was followed by a brief rise in radiation levels in nearby Severodvinsk, Russia, a city of 183,000. Authorities insisted the recorded levels didn't pose any danger to local residents. Russia's state weather agency, Rosgidromet, said earlier this month it believed radiation levels had risen up to 16 times after the accident.