Russian Munitions Plant Explosion

[ORAC]

Local city of over 100,000 evacuated....

https://www.snafu-solomon.com/2019/08/ammunition-depot-has-exploded-near-city.html

https://twitter.com/Liveuamap/status/1158371723970064387

[jolihokistix]

How many of these have they suffered in recent years?

[Downwind.Maddl-Land]

Wow! That video gives one a vague idea of what must have prevailed at the Fauld underground explosion in 1944.

[Treble one]

Would it be standard procedure to evacuate a town after the event, if it was conventional explosive?

[jolihokistix]

"Around a dozen accidents have happened in explosives factories across Russia since 2014, according to the TASS news agency. "

https://www.dw.com/en/massive-explosion-at-russian-military-depot-sparks-evacuation/a-49903358

[superplum]

Would it be standard procedure to evacuate a town after the event, if it was conventional explosive?

But is it after the event? We have no knowledge of the causal factors or if the "fire" is extinguished. Residual heat may well play a part in this. Personally, I wouldn't relish living in an area where random shells may still be falling.

[Martin the Martian]

https://youtu.be/CpKmJCLSIQk

Sorry. Somebody had to.

[MPN11]

“Whatever you do, don’t drop it Pike.”

[Pontius Navigator]

But is it after the event? We have no knowledge of the causal factors or if the "fire" is extinguished. Residual heat may well play a part in this. Personally, I wouldn't relish living in an area where random shells may still be falling.
Looking at the video which happened to be pointing in the right direction there is much more to this story.

Looking at the mass of smoke before the fireball it looks as if there was already a huge fire. The evacuation may have preceded the explosion.

[jolihokistix]

The BBC reports that it is/was an old dump of 55,000 artillery shells awaiting disposal.

How would you get them all to go off like that in one pure flash? You wouldn’t, but the camera was already pointing that way so PN must be on the money.

DW’s linked alumina story above seems to be a much more likely part of the equation.

[weemonkey]

How many of these have they suffered in recent years?

Isn't it Ukranian ones though.

[Asturias56]

Many years ago I had to sort out some old explosives - as they said you could jump on them , set fire to them etc etc without a problem - but it was not unknown for a warehouse to suddenly disintegrate in a big bang without warning -

You can never be sure about old explosives...............

[Chugalug2]

Many years ago I had to sort out some old explosives - as they said you could jump on them , set fire to them etc etc without a problem - but it was not unknown for a warehouse to suddenly disintegrate in a big bang without warning -

You can never be sure about old explosives...............

Which reminds us of this ship load of old explosives...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Richard_Montgomery

[ORAC]

The Halifax Explosion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion

[Asturias56]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_artificial_non-nuclear_explosions

has a pretty comprehensive list - and a lot were "accidental"

Amazing how they drop off the collective memory compared with a terrorist attack for example.....................

eg On 21 September 2001, an explosion occurred at a fertilizer factory in Toulouse (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toulouse), France. The disaster caused 31 deaths, 2,500 seriously wounded, and 8,000 light injuries. The blast (estimated yield of 20–40 tons of TNT, comparable in scale to the military test Operation Blowdown) was heard 80 km away (50 miles) and registered 3.4 on the Richter magnitude scale. It damaged about 30,000 buildings over about two-thirds of the city, for an estimated total cost of about €2 billion

[Pontius Navigator]

Amazing how they drop off the collective memory compared with a terrorist attack for example.......
Or never make it.

[msbbarratt]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Largest_artificial_non-nuclear_explosions

has a pretty comprehensive list - and a lot were "accidental"

Amazing how they drop off the collective memory compared with a terrorist attack for example.....................

eg On 21 September 2001, an explosion occurred at a fertilizer factory in Toulouse (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toulouse), France. The disaster caused 31 deaths, 2,500 seriously wounded, and 8,000 light injuries. The blast (estimated yield of 20–40 tons of TNT, comparable in scale to the military test Operation Blowdown) was heard 80 km away (50 miles) and registered 3.4 on the Richter magnitude scale. It damaged about 30,000 buildings over about two-thirds of the city, for an estimated total cost of about €2 billion

To the best of my knowledge (gleaned first hand by locals out there) it still hasn't been fully settled as to whether or not that was a terrorist attack, or an industrial accident. The French government ultimately forks out the compensation (refunding the insurance compnay) if it's the former, the insurance company otherwise. So it was in the interests of the government that the official investigation labelled it an industrial accident, something the insurance company wasn't too happy about...

They were lucky; whilst it was quite a large amount that went up, immediately adjacent was a much large quantity that didn't. It was also adjacent to Arianespace's site where they make the fuel for their solid boosters, so there was another healthy collection of highly volatile material just waiting to go boom. All in all, it could have been substantially worse than it was.

It was heard and felt 55 miles away.

[tartare]

Gosh, that pressure wave is something to behold...

[ORAC]

And another, but this time nuclear.....

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/radiation-leak-after-explosion-at-nyonoksa-missile-research-site-closes-major-port-at-dvina-bay-gv5bcn0p3

Radiation leak after explosion at Nyonoksa missile research site closes major port of Dvina Bay

All shipping was banned from a major Russian port for a month today after an explosion at a secretive military facility triggered a radiation leak.

Following the blast at a missile research facility near Nyonoksa, which killed two people and injured others, Russia (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/topic/russia?page=1) closed off the nearby Dvina Bay area of the White Sea to shipping.

A spike in background radiation was recorded in the nearby city of Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk region, the state news agency Tass reported, citing municipal officials. “A short-term rise in background radiation was recorded at noon in Severodvinsk,” Ksenia Yudina, a spokeswoman for the city authorities, said. She said that radiation levels in the city, which has a population of 185,000, had decreased to a safe range within a few hours of the explosion

Unconfirmed reports also said that there was an increase in radiation levels in Nyonoksa.

Igor Orlov, the Arkhangelsk region’s governor, confirmed that there had been “an incident” at the facility, where Russia tests ballistic and cruise missiles carried by the navy’s nuclear-powered submarines. Mr Orlov said that regional hospitals had been put on alert. Russia’s defence ministry said the blast involved a liquid-propellant rocket engine. It did not say what had caused the explosion or exactly where it had taken place. The Kremlin has not commented.

The defence ministry sought to quell fears of radiation pollution, saying: “No harmful substances were emitted into the atmosphere and the radiation levels are normal.” Russian officials said the situation was being monitored hourly but that there was at present no risk to human health. “There’s no radioactive contamination,” a spokeswoman for the Arkhangelsk region said.

The defence ministry also said that six people, including military specialists and civilian engineers, were injured in the blast and the blaze that followed. RIA Novosti, another state media outlet, cited a security service source as saying that 15 people had been injured. Five of them are reported to be in a critical condition and have been taken to hospitals in Arkhangelsk.

The defence ministry said that it had turned down an offer of assistance from emergency service workers and would undertake the clean-up operation on its own.

Tass reported that the blast took place aboard a vessel, which then caught fire. The defence ministry has not commented.

Russia said it would close off an area of the nearby White Sea to shipping for a month after the blast, Interfax cited the port of Arkhangelsk as saying.......

[jolihokistix]

As usual we are fed managed but conflicting news reports, and we are left to try and form a picture of what actually occurred by reading between the lines.

How many years will pass before someone ‘reveals’ the true story?

[Asturias56]

"A spike in background radiation was recorded in the nearby city of Severodvinsk in the Arkhangelsk region"

Boy - that's BAD - most Russians who live/work up that way won't go near the place as is unless they absolutely have to - lots of Russian jokes about "glowing in the dark" on a normal day............. like Severomorsk near Murmansk..................

[Less Hair]

https://twitter.com/RALee85/status/1159488596275081222/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E11594 88596275081222&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2F29326%2Fwhat-we-know-about-a-reported-radiation-leak-in-russia-after-a-missile-engine-exploded

Not sure if these are current pictures but claimed to be some.

[jolihokistix]

“The only known weapon systems with nuclear propulsion under development and testing are the Poseidon underwater drone (https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2019/03/russias-most-secret-sub-soon-be-launched-terrifying-weapon) and the Burevestnik cruise missile (https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/ecology/2018/03/putins-new-nuclear-systems-source-mysterious-radioactivity-air). 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.”

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2019/08/casualties-after-missile-jet-engine-explosion-near-severodivnsk

‘weapon with nuclear propulsion’?

[ORAC]

Weapon with nuclear propulsion?

The nuclear leak is puzzling. I can’t see a missile being tested with a fitted nuclear warhead, which would imply that either it was a missile with a direct nuclear drive (SSC-X-9 Skyfall) or a test launch from onboard a vessel where the reactor was breached. However the Skyfall test site is at Pankovo, nowhere near the accident site. So I doubt if a nuclear engine was involved, more likely an onboard ship/sub explosion which causes a rupture of the reactor and release of radiation before it was scrammed and contained.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9M730_Burevestnik

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2018/08/nuclear-powered-missile-crashed-barents-sea-intelligence-report-allegedly-claims

Soviet Experimentation with Nuclear Powered Bombers (http://www.aviation-history.com/articles/nuke-bombers.htm)

[SARF]

substitute oil for ammo and we are into the start of red storm rising. ..��

Going back to the Montgomery .. I think the big worry there now, is when the hull finally breaks up its quite a lively tide, and all that stuff is going to start washing up on both side of the estuary .. Probably better the bury the whole lot in a few billion tons of concrete and put an airport on it..

[Bee Rexit]

Siberian base goes pop again!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7341843/Lightning-strike-causes-new-explosions-Siberian-military-base-rocked-huge-blasts.html

[Pontius Navigator]

Simplifies the next inventory check

[jolihokistix]

Today’s metaphor mix.

Live by the sword, and expect to get your fingers burnt.

[jolihokistix]

The Moscow Times seems to be more neutral and balanced in their reporting of the suspected nuclear-powered missile’s liquid launch-propellant explosion.
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/08/10/russia-says-5-killed-in-mysterious-rocket-test-accident-a66796

[Less Hair]

Seven people dead is the latest count unfortunately. Two military and five from nuclear authority Rosatom.

[A_Van]

I assume gents here understand the difference between an isotope power source, reactor and N-warhead.
Seems to be a conventional tragic accident with liquid propulsion stage of a missile...
Radiation level around the site is normal, and it would be difficult to hide if it were not true: local greens and "liberals" would start crying all over RuNet.

[Less Hair]

This map seems to indicate some spike recently:

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2019/08/severodvinsk-authorities-confirm-mysterious-brief-radiation-spike-after-missile

While normal background in the town with a population of 190,000 is around 0.11 µSv/h (microsivert per hour), the levels measured at the monitor on the Lomonosov Street near Lake Teatralnoye peaked at 2 µSv/h, nearly 20 times higher gamma radiation than normal. That, though, is still way within permissible levels for population exposure.

https://thebarentsobserver.com/sites/default/files/radiation-map-severodvinsk.jpgThis map shows the maximum levels of radiation at the public monitors in Severodvinsk around noon on August 8th. Map by the Arkhangelsk branch of Ministry of Emergency Situations (EMERCOM).

Radiation increase peaked between 11.50 and 12.30 local time and was back at normal levels at all location by 14.00, head of the Civil Protection Department of the administration in Severodvinsk, Valentin Megomedov, told regional news agency in Arkhangelsk 29.ru (https://29.ru/text/incidents/66190846/) on Thursday.

[jolihokistix]

“The Burevestnik missile is equipped with a small nuclear reactor.If the missile fuel that exploded at Nenoksa site happened while testing a nuclear-powered cruise missile which uses a propellant engine in the start, radioactivity could have been released from possible damages of the small reactor.”

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2019/08/severodvinsk-authorities-confirm-mysterious-brief-radiation-spike-after-missile

[Asturias56]

A reactor? I'd like to see it................ I could put one in my Toyota..................

[ORAC]

A reactor? I'd like to see it................ I could put one in my Toyota.................. The exhaust from a direct cycle nuclear motor slightly exceeds permitted levels of pollutants.....

https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/krnd-tech.htm

[Surplus]

The administration has now deleted its statement online about the spike. The BBC asked officials there why, and they said "because this incident comes under the authority of the defence ministry".

Nothing to see here, move along, there is no problem with the Chernobyl reactor.

Do the Russians actually believe anybody believes a word they say?

Or is the western world so weak that we can't hold them to account for any of their actions in the Crimea, Syria, Iran, CAR?

[ORAC]

What is an isotope powered liquid fuelled rocket engine? Not a nuclear direct cycle engine in a cruise missile - unless they mean a booster rocket used to launch and get the missile up to cruise speed before being discarded and the nuclear jet engine taking over?

In which case the booster explosion would have wrecked the jet engine and scattered the nuclear pebble bed around the local area? In which case there will be a wide area of heavy surface contamination.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/10/russian-nuclear-agency-confirms-role-in-rocket-test-explosion

Russia’s nuclear energy agency has said an explosion that caused radiation levels to spike in the Arkhangelsk region was caused by an accident during a test of an “isotope power source for a liquid-fuelled rocket engine”.

In a statement released late on Friday, Rosatom said five of its employees had died as a result of the accident and three more were being treated for burns. The statement was the first confirmation that the agency was involved in the incident, which briefly drove radiation levels up to 20 times their normal levels in the nearby city of Severodvinsk.

Rosatom’s description of the incident could indicate it was testing the nuclear-powered cruise missile Burevestnik mentioned during a speech by Vladimir Putin last year.

Russia’s ministry of defence first confirmed the explosion on Thursday (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/08/explosion-military-base-russia-arkhangelsk), saying two people had been killed and six injured in a botched test of a liquid-fueled rocket engine. The injured included ministry employees and civilian contractors. Rosatom’s statement may indicate that three of those first reported as injured had since died. Despite reports that the wounded had been transported to Moscow for medical care, neither their names nor locations had been confirmed.......

[Asturias56]

The exhaust from a direct cycle nuclear motor slightly exceeds permitted levels of pollutants.....

https://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/world/russia/krnd-tech.htm

My Toyota isn't known as "The Black Death" for nothing.......................

[ORAC]

I believe VW and BMW are negotiating for the rights.....

[Nomad2]

Nuclear energy for propulsion? That's quite a different idea to nukes like the Kiwi series, used in satellites or nuclear warheads.
What the heck are they producing that uses a nuclear engine?

Kinda reminds me of Project Pluto- and that was off the wrong end of the scariness scale.

[unmanned_droid]

An isotope power source suggests something similar to the RTGs used in some space missions. I'd suggest they were more like a thermal battery than a nuclear reactor.

[ORAC]

An Atmospheric Nuclear Ramjet: the Supersonic Low Altitude Missile (http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/rossi1/)

[unmanned_droid]

An Atmospheric Nuclear Ramjet: the Supersonic Low Altitude Missile (http://large.stanford.edu/courses/2015/ph241/rossi1/)

I think we would be talking about a closed cycle system with heat exchanger rather than open cycle. To go and seriously consider something like Pluto again, in this day and age, would mark you out rather comprehensively as a lunatic, and a retarded one at that.

[jolihokistix]

and yet...

[ORAC]

Things, perhaps, become clearer, and would seem to support my hypothesis at #38.

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/security/2019/08/severodvinsk-authorities-confirm-mysterious-brief-radiation-spike-after-missile

..........After the fatal explosion, port authorities in Arkhangelsk (http://www.mapm.ru/PripAr) informed all civilian vessels on the Dvina River basin and in the White Sea that the waters north of Nenoksa is closed-off to shipping for the coming month. One ship, though, stayed at anchor inside the close area for more than 30 hours until it slowly started to move Friday afternoon: the special radiological service vessel “Serebryanka”.

“Serebryanka” has been at anchor a few nautical miles north of Nenoksa since before the explosion Thursday morning.

The ship belongs to Rosatomflot and is normally at port at the base for nuclear-powered icebreakers in Murmansk. In the 1980s and very early 90s, “Serebryanka” was used to transport liquid radioactive waste from the Atomflot facility in Murmansk to dedicated dumping areas in the Barents Sea. In recent years, the ship has transported liquid radioactive waste from Atomflot to a treatment facility in Severodvinsk, as well as operated between Nerpa and Skhval naval yards on the Kola Peninsula and Atomflot in Murmansk. The ship has also transported containers with spent nuclear fuel from the closed-down naval base of Gremikha.

More interesting, the “Serebryanka” was sailing the waters west of Novaya Zemlya at the time after it is believed that Russia carried out a flight test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile (NATO name SSC-X-9 Skyfall) in November 2017.

As reported by CNBC (https://www.cnbc.com/2018/08/21/russias-nuclear-powered-missile-that-putin-claimed-had-infinite-range-is-currently-lost-at-sea.html?__source=twitter%7Cmain), the missile crashed and was lost at sea shortly after launch from the temporary facilities at Pankovo south of the Matochin Shar at Novaya Zemlya. According to The Diplomat (https://thediplomat.com/2018/08/russia-readies-recovery-effort-for-nuclear-powered-cruise-missile-lost-at-sea-in-2017/), “Serebryanka” was likely taking part in the recovery operation last summer. The flight path starts at Pankovo, continues over shore for the first few seconds, then turn north over the waters at the inlet of the Matotchkin Shar dividing the northern and southern islands of Novaya Zemlya, before continuing towards the Sukhoy Nos, which is believed to be the impact area for the test, the Barents Observer (http://The%20flight%20path%20starts%20at%20Pankovo,%20continues%20o ver%20shore%20for%20the%20first%20few%20seconds,%20then%20tu rn%20north%20over%20the%20waters%20at%20the%20inlet%20of%20t he%20Matotchkin%20Shar%20dividing%20the%20northern%20and%20s outhern%20islands%20of%20Novaya%20Zemlya,%20before%20continu ing%20towards%20the%20Sukhoy%20Nos,%20which%20is%20believed% 20to%20be%20the%20impact%20area%20for%20the%20test.) reported at the time.

The last test shooting of the Burevestnik missile at Pankovo took place in February 2018 and the facility was dismantled and shiped away during last summer. One problem, it appeared, was the presence of American WC-135 special-purpose aircraft frequently flying the easter Barents Sea close to Russian airspace. The WC-135’s mission is to collect samples from the atmosphere for the purpose of detecting and identifying radionuclides.

The White Sea area on the other hand, is Russian airspace. Since October 2018, satellite images show that a new construction has been erected at the Nenoksa test site, which resemble the facilities removed from Pankovo on Novaya Zemlya.

“Serebryanka”, which left port in Murmansk towards the White Sea on August 4th, could have been in the area to either transport the missile or to pick it up from the sea after testing.

The Burevestnik missile is equipped with a small nuclear reactor. If the missile fuel that exploded at Nenoksa site happened while testing a nuclear-powered cruise missile which uses a propellant engine in the start, radioactivity could have been released from possible damages of the small reactor.........

[unmanned_droid]

and yet...

If it was open cycle (i.e. the exhaust of the turbojet engine was radioactive) I would think public political action would have been taken. It would be outrageous to do such a thing today (and it was back when the US did project Pluto and put a reactor on a B36 with plans for open cycle nuclear turbojet pack).

[ORAC]

and it was back when the US did project Pluto and put a reactor on a B36 with plans for open cycle nuclear turbojet pack The NB-36 only carried a reactor in the bomb bay for trials, the engines were conventional. They had two companies competing designs for nuclear engines, one open and one closed cycle - the closed cycle won out before the programme was cancelled.

And the USSR has its own equivalent programme and flying testbeds, see my post at #24.

[NutLoose]

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/russia-confirms-radioactive-materials-were-involved-in-deadly-blast/ar-AAFG2k5

They never seem to learn.
And have you seen their latest idea....one just wonders how safe that is.
https://www.theverge.com/2018/5/2/17313174/floating-nuclear-power-plant-russia-academik-lomonosov-chernobyl-titanic

[jolihokistix]

Moscow Times latest update:
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2019/08/12/what-we-know-about-russias-mysterious-rocket-explosion-so-far-a66817

[ORAC]

https://streetwiseprofessor.com/did-the-petrel-blow-up-real-good/

[ricardian]

RAF bomb dump exploded during WW2 RAF Fauld (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RAF_Fauld_explosion)

[ORAC]

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/kremlin-tried-to-hide-nuclear-arms-accident-jt3njt7nv

Kremlin ‘tried to hide nuclear arms accident’

Four Russian monitoring stations designed to detect radioactivity fell silent after an explosion thought to have involved a nuclear-powered engine for a missile, raising suspicions of an attempt by Moscow to blur the truth.

The Dubna and Kirov stations stopped transmitting on August 10, two days after the blast on a platform in the White Sea (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/radiation-leak-after-explosion-at-nyonoksa-missile-research-site-closes-major-port-at-dvina-bay-gv5bcn0p3) in northern Russia that killed five people and caused a peak in radiation levels (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/radiation-panic-after-secret-russian-missile-explodes-vv7jpp7q5). Two other stations, the Bilibino and Zalesovo, fell silent on August 13.

The stations are part of a global network of atmospheric sensors overseen by the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation that pick up radioactive particles from explosions.

Lassina Zerbo, executive secretary of the organisation, said that it was “addressing with station operators technical problems experienced at two neighbouring stations”.

Dubna and Kirov are the closest sensors to the area of the blast in Russia’s Arkhangelsk region, which President Trump said (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/our-missile-is-better-than-yours-us-tells-russia-k6slphjrc) involved a test of the Skyfall or Burevestnik (Storm Petrel), a cruise missile lauded last year by President Putin as one of Russia’s new generation of weapons........

Experts were sceptical about the malfunctions at the monitoring sites. “It is a very odd coincidence that these stations stopped sending data shortly after the Aug 8 incident,” Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, told The Wall Street Journal........

[The Sultan]

So Putin dirty bombed his own country. Brilliant!

[BDAttitude]

So Putin dirty bombed his own country. Brilliant!
He didn't invent that though (http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Run)

[NutLoose]

It appears they withheld the details of the radiation contamination from the poor buggers treating them.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-49432681

[GordonR_Cape]

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-50514306
Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised to press on with the development of a nuclear-powered rocket believed to have been at the centre of a deadly accident.

The possession of "such unique technologies", he added, was "in itself... a most significant and reliable guarantee for peace on the planet".

The Russian leader was speaking on Thursday at a ceremony at the Kremlin to present posthumous awards to the dead men's families.

[Less Hair]

Finally all these events turn out to be exactly what was suspected in the West from the beginning even when being heavily denied from the East supported by the usual suspects here.

[Asturias56]

There was something in the paper this week about an accident at a small civilian fireworks factory in Sicily which killed some of the workers - the paper said over 60 people had lost their lives in fireworks factory explosions in Italy in the last 10 years.

Made me think of teh Russian accident (s) - and of course that tremendous French one a few years back.

Things that are intended to explode need to be treat with very great care - I wonder if people just forget what they are dealing with after a few years of routine.

[Hot 'n' High]

........ I wonder if people just forget what they are dealing with after a few years of routine.Or, that the technology behind the latest wonder-toy for "Rambo" Putin is, like it often did in the "good old days" of the Cold War, proving to be rather more flighty than anticipated ….. but the schedule for the "Eighteenth Plan" (as it would have been) must be maintained for the esteemed Leader … or the luxury transport for the Gulags will hove into view. :sad:

Or am I just being cynical? Again! Tsk tsk, H ‘n’ H, you must get a grip laddie! The Berlin Wall came down ages ago you know…. It’s all changed!!!!! ;)

[racedo]

Finally all these events turn out to be exactly what was suspected in the West from the beginning even when being heavily denied from the East supported by the usual suspects here.

So which posts and by whom on here were denying things ?

[Asturias56]

Possible H 'n H , possible - after all we've seen what happened at Seattle when the top brass pushed hard for a new and improved product.............

[Misformonkey]

Possible H 'n H , possible - after all we've seen what happened at Seattle when the top brass pushed hard for a new and improved product.............
Pardon my ignorance but what is H 'n H ?

[superplum]

Pardon my ignorance but what is H 'n H ?

See post no 59
:8

[Less Hair]

So which posts and by whom on here were denying things ?

Check post number #31 for starters.

[Misformonkey]

See post no 59
:8
Thanks Superplum.

[racedo]

Check post number #31 for starters.

Is that IT ? Seriously !!!!!!

His statetment on radiation is fact as aside from an intial spike it went nowhere, something in the months since has been proven to be correct.

So you use one statement of fact as supposedly denying things.

People wearing Bio gear is normal where there is a belief of a potential unknown threat.

[Hot 'n' High]

Pardon my ignorance but what is H 'n H ?

:ok: Trust me, Misformonkey, many, many people have asked that question - oft asked by those I have worked for over the years......

Sadly, most opinions rendered would not be permissible under PPRuNe rules regarding the sub-sections on the use of "offensive language" and maintaining "general decorum" .... even on Jet Blast .... and most, I have had to agree, are quite accurate....! :( What it is to be soooooo misunderstood! :hmm:

Never mind! "Tally Ho", "onwards and upwards" etc ... as they say! But a good question all the same Misformonkey! :ok: Toodle-pip! H 'n' H

[ORAC]

H I Sutton - Covert Shores (http://www.hisutton.com/SKYFALL-Nuclear-Powered-Missile-Test.html)

SKYFALL Imminent: Signs Of Russia's Next Nuclear-Powered Missile Test

There are clear indications that Russia is preparing to test the nuclear-powered Burevestnik (NATO: SKYFALL) missile. The test site at Pankovo on Novaya Zemlya in the Russian Arctic is extremely remote. Increased activity at the site has been monitored by defense analysts for some time.

Now independent defense analyst Tony Roper (Twitter) (https://twitter.com/Topol_MSS27) has shared analysis (https://planesandstuff.wordpress.com/2022/09/17/burevestnik-actually-could-be-ready-to-test/) of commercial satellite imagery. The Airbus imagery confirms what we have been thinking.

A Burevestnik missile container has been observed in front of the launch rail. The missile is slant-launched, with the container only being used for transport. An environmental shelter covers where the missile's launch boosters and control surfaces will be attached.

Burevestnik is nuclear-powered, meaning that it has effectively unlimited range. This does however mean that it will leave a trail of radioactive pollution every time it is tested…..

The tests are being supported by three cargo ships and various smaller craft. The cargo ships themselves are interesting. The largest has been identified as the Sevmorput. This is itself extremely unusual (https://www.rcinet.ca/eye-on-the-arctic/2021/10/22/nuclear-container-ship-back-to-st-petersburg-after-only-two-months-in-the-arctic/), being nuclear-powered. Sevmorput left Murmansk on September 10 and sailed to Pankovo.

Another of the merchant ships appears to be a general cargo ship around 137 meters long. The imagery matches 3 Dutch-built vessels operated by the Arctic shipping company (ASCO) which are currently at sea. These are the Teriberka, Tibola, and Turukhan. Indications are that it is Teriberka.

The last vessel is smaller, around 85 meters in length. This may be a general supply ship. A ship matching this size and colours, the reefer Geolog Pechkurov, was trailing Teriberka when visible on terrestrial AIS in the White Sea on September 11-12. It may be her.

[ORAC]

Yet another test seems to be in the cards…

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/10/02/video/russia-nuclear-missile.html

Russia May Be Planning to Test a Nuclear-Powered Missile

Visual evidence from a remote base in the Arctic shows launch preparations mirroring those that preceded earlier tests.

[ORAC]

Reference above text - Putin claiming it was successful, but he would.

Awaiting leaked intelligence reports….

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67021695

Putin makes nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile test claim

Russia has held a "final successful test" of a nuclear-powered cruise missile, Vladimir Putin has claimed.…..

The experimental weapon, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range. It is said to be powered by a nuclear reactor and is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. But little is officially known of its capabilities and there are reports that previous tests have failed.

President Putin's account has not been independently confirmed and there has been no word so far from the Russian defence ministry…..

"We have now virtually finished work on modern types of strategic weaponry about which I have spoken and which I announced a few years ago," Mr Putin told a meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on Thursday which was broadcast live on state television.

He added: "A final successful test has been held of Burevestnik - a global-range nuclear-powered cruise missile."

The missile, code-named Skyfall by Nato, is said to be powered by a nuclear reactor, which is supposed to activate after solid fuel rocket boosters have launched it into the air.

But the New York Times quoted an arms control campaign group, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, as saying that the previous known 13 tests of the system between 2017 and 2019 were all unsuccessful.…

https://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zone/russias-nuclear-powered-cruise-missile-successfully-tested-putin-says

Russia’s Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile Successfully Tested, Putin Says

[mmitch]

I noted a RC135U made the long trip up to the North Finland coast this week on FR24 as well as one orbiting Kalingrad. Leak detecting?
mmitch.