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-   -   Russian Munitions Plant Explosion (https://www.pprune.org/military-aviation/624306-russian-munitions-plant-explosion.html)

ORAC 6th Aug 2019 07:26

Russian Munitions Plant Explosion
 
Local city of over 100,000 evacuated....

https://www.snafu-solomon.com/2019/0...near-city.html



jolihokistix 6th Aug 2019 08:29

How many of these have they suffered in recent years?

Downwind.Maddl-Land 6th Aug 2019 08:41

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

Treble one 6th Aug 2019 09:25

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

jolihokistix 6th Aug 2019 11:43

"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-explos...ion/a-49903358

superplum 6th Aug 2019 11:46


Originally Posted by Treble one (Post 10537959)
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 6th Aug 2019 12:26


Sorry. Somebody had to.

MPN11 6th Aug 2019 13:45

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

Pontius Navigator 6th Aug 2019 13:45


Originally Posted by superplum (Post 10538087)
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 6th Aug 2019 14:05

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 6th Aug 2019 21:37


Originally Posted by jolihokistix (Post 10537920)
How many of these have they suffered in recent years?

Isn't it Ukranian ones though.

Asturias56 7th Aug 2019 11:21

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 7th Aug 2019 11:30


Originally Posted by Asturias56 (Post 10538987)
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 7th Aug 2019 13:43


Asturias56 7th Aug 2019 14:32

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larges...ear_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, 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 7th Aug 2019 17:55


Originally Posted by Asturias56 (Post 10539160)

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

Or never make it.

msbbarratt 7th Aug 2019 21:15


Originally Posted by Asturias56 (Post 10539160)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larges...ear_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, 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 7th Aug 2019 23:38

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

ORAC 8th Aug 2019 18:52

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

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/r...-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 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 9th Aug 2019 00:06

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 9th Aug 2019 08:07

"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 9th Aug 2019 08:43


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

jolihokistix 9th Aug 2019 09:46

“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.”

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/se...r-severodivnsk

‘weapon with nuclear propulsion’?

ORAC 9th Aug 2019 10:16


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/se...legedly-claims

Soviet Experimentation with Nuclear Powered Bombers

SARF 9th Aug 2019 15:28

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 9th Aug 2019 15:42

Siberian base goes pop again!

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ge-blasts.html

Pontius Navigator 9th Aug 2019 16:53

Simplifies the next inventory check

jolihokistix 9th Aug 2019 16:58

Today’s metaphor mix.

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

jolihokistix 10th Aug 2019 09:48

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/...ccident-a66796

Less Hair 10th Aug 2019 10:07

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

A_Van 10th Aug 2019 10:08

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 10th Aug 2019 10:17

This map seems to indicate some spike recently:

https://thebarentsobserver.com/en/se...-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...verodvinsk.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 on Thursday.

jolihokistix 10th Aug 2019 10:27

“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/se...-after-missile


Asturias56 10th Aug 2019 11:36

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

ORAC 10th Aug 2019 13:16


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/w.../krnd-tech.htm

Surplus 10th Aug 2019 13:56

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 10th Aug 2019 20:03

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/20...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, 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 11th Aug 2019 07:47


Originally Posted by ORAC (Post 10541761)
The exhaust from a direct cycle nuclear motor slightly exceeds permitted levels of pollutants.....

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

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

ORAC 11th Aug 2019 07:58

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

Nomad2 11th Aug 2019 08:48

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.


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