Cruise missiles are generally short range. The main advantage of a nuclear cruise missile is its added long range and maintained ability to stay mostly undetectable and unstoppable to missile defense since they can travel at low altitude.
The other advantage is political. These missiles take a long a time to reach destination, and the time can be extended by a prolonged voyage (circle the globe a few times). The only people who can disarm the warhead are the enemies. You're not going to blow up your enemies while the missile is in the air. It's a great apolitical tool. Launch a missile and everyone starts talking and giving in to your demands.
What a clickbaity headline and a sloppy reporting job, didn't expect that from Bloomberg. The title says reactor but the content implies RTG, which is hazardous but many times less radioactive, and is completely different from a nuclear reactor. Also a bunch of unrelated facts, they even managed to mention Kursk disaster somehow. (I guess that's inevitable when there's little to no info available but you still need to write something)
Lets not forget that Bloomberg was also the publication that ran with and defended that whole 'Supermicro is totally getting spy hardware added to their motherboards by the Chinese government even though no one can seem to locate it' story. Something's... possibly askew with them of late.
Yes it is and there is a rather simple explanation.
The thyroid gland has limited capacity for storing iodine and iodine tablets make sure it's saturated with the non-radioative isotope. Any more iodine (in this case radioactive) will then be excreted. This only works as 'radiation protection' when the saturation has been reached before being exposed to the radioactive iodine of course.
All kinds of radioactive isotopes might enter or attach to your body in many ways as consequence of a nuclear accident. Any radioactive particle that gets close to or into your body will cause some damage depending on the type (alpha, beta, gamma), strength of radiation and duration of exposure.
If you are not exposed to an immediately lethal dose, the damage in the body is a statistical thing. The longer and the more intense the radioactive particles remain on or in your body, the more likely is the chance for a serious health issue. The strategy is to remove radioactive particles as fast as possible to minimize the probability of damage.
Radioactive particles on your skin can be washed away. (This is not so fun as the every-day shower).
Radioactive particles that you inhaled are a really bad thing, I do not know how to deal with radioactive particles in the lungs (except wearing filter masks in time).
Particles that entered the body with food will be excreted within a couple of hours.
But: your body has an organ - the thyroid gland - which collects iodine from your food and stores it long time. A radioactive form of iodine - iodine 131 - is a common byproduct of nuclear contamination. If this gets stored in your body, it remains long enough to dramatically raise the chance of cancer. Therefore you fill your thyroid gland with non-radioactive iodine, hopefully BEFORE your body gets contaminated with radioactive iodine.
So the special thing with iodine 131 is, that it is common, that the body does not make a difference to nonradioactive iodine and there is an organ that stores it.
By taking iodine pills, you only improve probabilities on that one factor! There are plenty other ways to take damage from radioactive accidents.
No. Caesium 137 is probably the worst offender, but there is not much you can do as an individual other than to stay away from contact with it.
Also, this is not about lethal doses. There is typically very small area in immediate vicinity of the explosion that is directly lethal (like, LD50 lethal).
Most of the effect on large area is through increased radiation and through radioactive elements getting concentrated in food chain and in various tissues of your body.
You might never know if the radiation from the event was what is killing you but this can be measured statistically to say "over X years there is Y deaths additional to what could be expected that could be attributed to increased radiation".
> 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.
Maybe a stupid question but why would they be anywhere near the missile during the actual testing?
Or was this some kind of premature explosion while configuring or fueling it?
From what I can gather reading Russian-language media, it was a sea platform-based static(?) fire of a hydrazine-fueled rocket with an RTG onboard (little of which makes sense to me, to be honest; might be a cover-up/lie by MoD, or it might be some experimental payload or vehicle). The fire supposedly happened after the test, when the crew approached it. Some people were thrown to the sea by the blast and proclaimed dead after an unsuccessful search and rescue operation. The "radiation spike" reported in the article was a minor increase in radon concentration, the link with the accident being unclear.
In any case it's probably not the infamous SSC-X-9/Burevestnik missile or we'd have seen at least some indication from independent monitoring sources already. (which are aplenty in the area, for obvious reasons). I'm waiting for radioisotope analysis confirming it was the nuclear thermal engine but there's still nothing, after 4 days.
There was explosion on the sea platform and men were thrown off it by the blast to the water. They were searching for them for a while before pronouncing them dead. This was reported in the Russian media.
Well if it is a nuclear thermal engine (aka "isotope power sources"), then the nuclear reactor IS the engine and there's not really anything to test without it.
I don't really see what Russia or the US has to gain from designing new kinds of nuclear weapons. They already have the capability to wipe out whatever they're aiming at.
While it's easy to annihilate a city, it's hard to destroy a bunker or missile silo. The people who keep nuclear weapons want to be able to hit a narrow target while evading countermeasures. Maybe even burrow into the ground before setting off the main charge. This is easier with smaller payloads.
There was once a wide consensus to not continue with this arms race. But unfortunately it broke down.
Although regular nuclear weapons could be intercepted only on paper, no one has tried to do it with real weapons that the other side would use yet, potentially it's believed that it could happen. So the goal is to have faster nuclear weapons that would have less chances to be intercepted.
Though, I have doubt it was the incentive in this case. If you watched Russian news, the only thing that gives at least some positive response among people are the achievements of the military industry. Official media milk this theme by producing one note per week (sometimes more) in regard of "promising" weapons that "have no counterparts in the west/world". Most of modern weapons are just soviet developments, so they need at least one real wunderwaffe to demonstrate that last 20 years were not for nothing.
The technology exists to shoot down ICBMs. It’s not yet deployed in sufficient numbers to be significant against an all-out attack from Russia, but that could change. I’m sure they want to stay ahead of the curve.
If 'MAD ensures peace' is the justification for nuclear weapons being allowed to exist, why are we trying so damn hard to break it?
You can't have it both ways. Either MAD works, and anyone working on and building ICBM defenses is a dangerous lunatic, and a threat to world peace...
Or MAD doesn't work, and anyone controlling thousands of nuclear weapons is a dangerous lunatic and a threat to world peace.
We either need to stop trying to break MAD, or disarm. What we do not need, is to build anti-ICBM installations. I do not understand why this is not ever brought up in public discourse. Do people think that the risk of nuclear Armageddon just went away with the Cold War?
ICBM launches can be detected by satellite. A nuclear powered cruise missile could be launched undetected from anywhere (because of its near unlimited range). It will eventually show up on radar when it gets close enough to the target, but these also have nuclear warheads on them so it doesn't need to get super close to kill a lot of people.
This sort of thing isn't just for Russia to deter the United States. China is their best "frenemy" and this sort of thing helps contain China as well.
How does this detection work? By infrared? Visually looking for the streak of glowing exhaust? Wouldn't the exhaust, even if only superheated air from a (nuclear) scramjet be comparable, at least in infrared? I'd bet the globe is crisscrossed by infrared trails of civil aviation already, for the eyes of such satellites. But doesn't matter, because tagged by ADS-B, or whatever. So benefit is speed to target by avoiding climbing up suborbitally, maneuverability , and not to be as predictable as some oldfashioned ICBM, with its purely ballistic trajectory.
Yes, but at global collateral damage; mutually assured destruction is still a thing at the moment. They can destroy one another but what would they gain? And of course the resulting nuclear winter would cause a mass extinction event.
That said, the Russians in particular get very nervous about the US' missile defense systems and research; after all, if one party has an effective ICBM detection system, the other party's nukes are no longer as threatening and a counterattack may follow.
Including each other? That's the essential bit. Do either side have the capability to respond after a devastating, no warning first strike? That's what the arms race was about. Both sides have such extensive overkill capacity because they are expecting to face off against each other and need to be prepared for only a small fraction of their armament surviving a first strike or capable missile defenses.
One of my favourite episodes of Deep Space Nine, "Little Green Men", involved Quark, Nog, and Rom accidentally traveling back in time to 1947 Earth, crash-landing in Roswell, and being captured by the US military. There's a wonderful conversation between the three about nuclear weapons and ultra-cynic Quark of all people being surprised and horrified by the concept.
ROM: I'm working as fast as I can, brother, but there must be some kind of interference disrupting our translators.
QUARK: What kind of interference?
ROM: I'm not sure. Could be solar flares, or maybe ionic interference. Or I suppose it could be beta radiation, but that's only produced by nuclear fission.
QUARK: Don't be an idiot. Nuclear fission doesn't happen within planetary atmospheres.
NOG: It does here. In the twentieth century humans used crude nuclear reactors as weapons. They called them atom bombs. They used to blow them up all the time.
QUARK: They irradiated their own planet?!
ROM: If Nog says so, they did. He knows all about Earth history.
QUARK: You'd better fix those translators fast. The sooner we start talking to these savages, the better off we'll be.
If you read the news, it is much more akin to a nuclear engine, not a reactor.
Either powered by actual expensive artificial isotopes with enough activity to power an engine, OR they actually broke the ban and had it running on pu239 (which would also make its fuel reserve a nice yield booster)
Yes but this missile is intended to be nuclear armed as well. Obviously the test missile won't have a live warhead, but if it makes production these are nuclear weapons.
Makes one ponder whether russians don't know what they're doing or are others simply better at hiding failures. Scared to think what else is going on that, us, regular people are not aware of. I feel like one of these days some government is going to announce "You didn't ask for it, but we poisoned the environment, ozone layer is gone and water is not fit for drinking, BUT! We have an answer to century long dick measurement contest!"
Rest assured, it's hard to hide nuclear accidents. There are so many sensors around the world which are owned by various governments and private entities. Any significant radiation leak will be detected and announced.
If you're worried about water contamination, you should focus your concerns on conventional chemicals. Oil drilling, coal mining, and manufacturing waste are the ones causing decades worth of damage.
Readit News
The other advantage is political. These missiles take a long a time to reach destination, and the time can be extended by a prolonged voyage (circle the globe a few times). The only people who can disarm the warhead are the enemies. You're not going to blow up your enemies while the missile is in the air. It's a great apolitical tool. Launch a missile and everyone starts talking and giving in to your demands.
Better article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/russian-nuclear-agency-confirms...
"Believed to"? I thought that was accepted as fact?
The thyroid gland has limited capacity for storing iodine and iodine tablets make sure it's saturated with the non-radioative isotope. Any more iodine (in this case radioactive) will then be excreted. This only works as 'radiation protection' when the saturation has been reached before being exposed to the radioactive iodine of course.
2. Excess iodine will mess up thyroid, but that is believed to be of lesser harm than it being messed up by radiation
If you are not exposed to an immediately lethal dose, the damage in the body is a statistical thing. The longer and the more intense the radioactive particles remain on or in your body, the more likely is the chance for a serious health issue. The strategy is to remove radioactive particles as fast as possible to minimize the probability of damage.
Radioactive particles on your skin can be washed away. (This is not so fun as the every-day shower).
Radioactive particles that you inhaled are a really bad thing, I do not know how to deal with radioactive particles in the lungs (except wearing filter masks in time).
Particles that entered the body with food will be excreted within a couple of hours.
But: your body has an organ - the thyroid gland - which collects iodine from your food and stores it long time. A radioactive form of iodine - iodine 131 - is a common byproduct of nuclear contamination. If this gets stored in your body, it remains long enough to dramatically raise the chance of cancer. Therefore you fill your thyroid gland with non-radioactive iodine, hopefully BEFORE your body gets contaminated with radioactive iodine.
So the special thing with iodine 131 is, that it is common, that the body does not make a difference to nonradioactive iodine and there is an organ that stores it.
By taking iodine pills, you only improve probabilities on that one factor! There are plenty other ways to take damage from radioactive accidents.
Also, this is not about lethal doses. There is typically very small area in immediate vicinity of the explosion that is directly lethal (like, LD50 lethal).
Most of the effect on large area is through increased radiation and through radioactive elements getting concentrated in food chain and in various tissues of your body.
You might never know if the radiation from the event was what is killing you but this can be measured statistically to say "over X years there is Y deaths additional to what could be expected that could be attributed to increased radiation".
Dead Comment
Maybe a stupid question but why would they be anywhere near the missile during the actual testing?
Or was this some kind of premature explosion while configuring or fueling it?
In any case it's probably not the infamous SSC-X-9/Burevestnik missile or we'd have seen at least some indication from independent monitoring sources already. (which are aplenty in the area, for obvious reasons). I'm waiting for radioisotope analysis confirming it was the nuclear thermal engine but there's still nothing, after 4 days.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nedelin_catastrophe
They are Russians https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3604355/
There was once a wide consensus to not continue with this arms race. But unfortunately it broke down.
You can't have it both ways. Either MAD works, and anyone working on and building ICBM defenses is a dangerous lunatic, and a threat to world peace...
Or MAD doesn't work, and anyone controlling thousands of nuclear weapons is a dangerous lunatic and a threat to world peace.
We either need to stop trying to break MAD, or disarm. What we do not need, is to build anti-ICBM installations. I do not understand why this is not ever brought up in public discourse. Do people think that the risk of nuclear Armageddon just went away with the Cold War?
This sort of thing isn't just for Russia to deter the United States. China is their best "frenemy" and this sort of thing helps contain China as well.
That said, the Russians in particular get very nervous about the US' missile defense systems and research; after all, if one party has an effective ICBM detection system, the other party's nukes are no longer as threatening and a counterattack may follow.
ROM: I'm working as fast as I can, brother, but there must be some kind of interference disrupting our translators.
QUARK: What kind of interference?
ROM: I'm not sure. Could be solar flares, or maybe ionic interference. Or I suppose it could be beta radiation, but that's only produced by nuclear fission.
QUARK: Don't be an idiot. Nuclear fission doesn't happen within planetary atmospheres.
NOG: It does here. In the twentieth century humans used crude nuclear reactors as weapons. They called them atom bombs. They used to blow them up all the time.
QUARK: They irradiated their own planet?!
ROM: If Nog says so, they did. He knows all about Earth history.
QUARK: You'd better fix those translators fast. The sooner we start talking to these savages, the better off we'll be.
Either powered by actual expensive artificial isotopes with enough activity to power an engine, OR they actually broke the ban and had it running on pu239 (which would also make its fuel reserve a nice yield booster)
puts on tin foil hat
If you're worried about water contamination, you should focus your concerns on conventional chemicals. Oil drilling, coal mining, and manufacturing waste are the ones causing decades worth of damage.