Radiation plume after Russian explosion tracked by monitors. (CTBTO via Twitter)
A dirty bomb with wings
by Tom Sullivan
Radiation plume after Russian explosion tracked by monitors. (CTBTO via Twitter)
Strangelove: Yes, but the... whole point of the doomsday machine... is lost... if you keep it a secret! Why didn't you tell the world, eh?
DeSadeski: It was to be announced at the Party Congress on Monday. As you know, the Premier loves surprises.
We thought Fail-Safe and SAC and "duck and cover" drills were behind us, leaving Dr. Strangelove as a satirical send-up of a bygone era. Death from above on 30-minute notice, remember? The good-old days.
Ah, but Vladimir, you know, loves surprises. Like that explosion in Russia Thursday of a suspected experimental, nuclear-powered cruise missile dubbed by NATO SSC-X-9 Skyfall. At least seven people died. Radiation spikes appeared nearby that were 20 times normal. Reuters reports the two radiation monitoring stations closest to the test site went offline days after the blast, followed shortly by two others farther away. Russia cited "technical problems" at the sites in place as part of a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty network.
Today, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the Interfax news agency Russia has no obligation to share the data.
BREAKING: Locals in the Russian city of Severodvinsk have been told to take iodine tablets and stay indoor after massive explosion at nuclear test site days ago. Radiation levels have reportedly been detected. Residents only told an 'incident' took place. pic.twitter.com/Kdbcx5gM0I
— BNL NEWS (@BreakingNLive) August 8, 2019
Boris Vishnevsky, from the St. Petersburg City Council, said people deserved answers.Russian President Vladimir Putin during a visit to France Monday announced, "There is no threat here, no increase in the [radiation] background exists either."
"People need reliable information. And if the authorities think there is no danger, and nothing needs to be done, let them announce this formally so people don't worry."
"This is a doomsday weapon really," said Dr Mark Galeotti, from Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies.So, a dirty bomb with wings. The U.S. gave up plans for one in 1964, the same year Strangelove reached theaters.
"It's not something that could be deployed in anything other than a full-scale nuclear war. It is a cruise missile that can stay in the air for a long time, but it is belching out radioactive plumes behind it."
Less than three weeks after it left the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, the U.S. has tested a land-launched cruise missile with a range greater than 500 kilometers. Missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,000 kilometers were banned under the treaty until August 2.To requests on #IMS detection beyond #CTBT, data in, or near the path of potential plume from the explosion are being analyzed . We’re also addressing w/station operators technical problems experienced at two neighboring stations. All data are available to our Member States. https://t.co/pHL4WrHU23 pic.twitter.com/9aO5cQTlls
— Lassina Zerbo (@SinaZerbo) August 18, 2019