Rocket mystery: What weapon was Russia testing in Arctic?

[rangerrebew]

Rocket mystery: What weapon was Russia testing in Arctic?

    12 August 2019


Five Russian nuclear engineers who died in a rocket engine explosion have been buried in Sarov, a closed town 373km (232 miles) east of Moscow, where nuclear warheads are made.

The Russian state nuclear agency, Rosatom, said the experts had been testing a nuclear-powered engine. But it gave no further technical details.

The test was on an offshore platform in the Arctic, at a naval test range.

Russia has previously tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile, "Burevestnik".

But officials did not specify the system involved in Thursday's disastrous test.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-49319160

[PeteS in CA]

Stooooopid question ... if it was the nuclear-powered engine that exploded and spread the radiation, would that not happen if the weapon were used in combat and hit its target? Wouldn't it be like a "dirty bomb"?

[thackney]

Russia Urges Villagers to Leave Radioactive Blast Site
https://www.wsj.com/articles/russia-urges-villagers-to-leave-radioactive-blast-site-11565726537
Aug. 13, 2019

Authorities urged residents of a village in Northwestern Russia to leave their homes, days after a nearby Defense Ministry test of a nuclear-powered engine exploded, boosting radiation levels that alarmed nearby inhabitants.

Russian officials’ failure to release full details surrounding the explosion, which killed at least seven employees of Rosatom, Russia’s atomic energy monopoly, and of the Defense Ministry, have raised suspicions over the severity of the accident and whether officials are covering up details.

In a series of statements Tuesday that were as contradictory as previous ones surrounding the explosion, the local government urged several hundred residents of Nyonoksa, where the Defense Ministry testing site is located, to leave their homes on Wednesday morning. The statements didn’t provide details on why they were being asked to leave nor where they should go.

A municipal spokeswoman said the evacuation was due to an unspecified “event” at the test site nearby planned for Wednesday, according to Russian news agencies, but she gave no further details. Hours later authorities said the Wednesday event was cancelled but didn’t address whether the evacuation was still planned. The spokeswoman’s office didn’t return calls for comment.

With a lack of reliable information coming from local officials, residents of the region have taken to online community boards to ask questions and seek clarity. Meanwhile, the mayor of Severodvinsk, the largest nearby city, went on vacation, according to local reports....