Nuclear propulsionRussia's Nclear Propulsion Experiment a Cause for Worry

Published 13 August 2019

An explosion last Tuesday at a Russian military test site caused a spike in radiation levels, forcing the evacuation of a small town. Experts say the incident occurred during the test of a new nuclear-powered cruise missile. Both superpowers experimented with nuclear propulsion of rockets during the cold war, but without success. Experts worry if a nuclear-powered cruise missile carries a conventional warhead to its target, an accident occurring with this missiles may turn what was meant to be a non-nuclear attack into a nuclear one, even if the explosion and radiation dispersion would be smaller relative to a “real” nuclear attack.

In March last year President Vladimir Putin first announced his country’s new nuclear-powered cruise missile. He accompanied his speech with an animated video showing the guided-missile flying over oceans, avoiding air defense systems, circumnavigating Cape Horn, and then hitting a target on Hawaii. RT, Russia’s government-funded propaganda broadcaster, referred to the new weapons system as 9M730 Burevestnik in a YouTube clip.

As was the case with the Soviet Union, Russia’s propaganda stories and films often exaggerated and embellished the truth, so analysts were wondering whether the animated video presented by Putin and RT referred to an actual missile, named Skyfall by NATO.

The BBC reports that last week, a powerful explosion occurred at a Russian military facility in the Arkhangelsk region, according to the country’s state-controlled nuclear energy corporation Rosatom. Russia news agencies reported that five researchers were killed when an accident occurred testing “a liquid propulsion system involving isotopes.” Another Rosatom engineer suffered serious burns.

The Russia version of events raised more questions than it answered, since most isotopes are radioactive and not typically used as fuel for liquid-propelled rockets.

Following the explosion at the test site, Russia’s state weather agency, Roshydromet, said on Tuesday that it believed radiation levels had risen by four to 16 times in the area. Greenpeace said radiation levels rose by 20 times. Both of these figures mean that radiation had been released during the Arkhangelsk accident.

Rockets propelled by liquid fuel do not emit any radiation, however, so it is likely that the missile system tested in Arkhangelsk was powered by a hybrid propulsion system, consisting of both conventional and nuclear propulsion component.

Putin has insisted that the new cruise missile was successfully tested in 2017, but there is no independent evidence to support his claim. In late March 2019, CNBC 2019 cited anonymous U.S. intelligence sources who said Russia’s new cruise missiles had been tested five times since February 2018, but crashed each time. CNBC also said the missile had never flown further than 22 miles.

Time notes that if the Burevestnik weapon exists, it would be the world’s first intercontinental cruise missile. This would make it strategically superior to Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), which follow a set flight pattern after being launched, allowing a ballistic missile defense system, at least in theory, to intercept them.

In reality, however, ICBMs cannot be intercepted, especially if a large number of them is launched simultaneously. After the missiles release their warheads, accompanied by hundreds or even thousands of decoys, interception is impossible.

A nuclear-powered rocket engine does not use energy generated by combustion to propel a missile forward. The propulsion instead relies on heat generated by an ongoing nuclear fission. Since the end of the Second World War, both the United States and the Soviet Union have experimented, unsuccessfully, with nuclear-powered aircraft- and carrier-carried rockets. 

Both superpowers successfully built planes with nuclear reactors on board, but the reactors were never connected to the engines, and the planes relied on conventional jet engines. The reactors on board were meant to test whether the crew could be effectively shielded from the radiation emitted by the nuclear reactors. 

Experts note that radiation leakage is one of the major risks associated with nuclear-power missiles. A rocket does not have a crew which might be at risk of contamination, but as the explosion last Tuesday shows, the crash of, or an accident related to, such a nuclear-powered missile could have serious consequences for the neighboring communities. 

There is a chance military leaders and engineers would accept such nuclear collateral damage could occur in an allied country in case of a nuclear war. 

There is another danger: If a nuclear-powered cruise missile carries a conventional warhead to its target, an accident occurring with this missiles may turn what was meant to be a non-nuclear attack into a nuclear one, even if the explosion and radiation dispersion would be smaller relative to a “real” nuclear attack.

The Archangelsk accident, though, may offer evidence that nuclear propulsion technology is dangerous in peacetime – and dangerous for the population at home.