Russia and world just escaped nuclear disaster?

[Kapitan]

Originally Posted by mapuc

That came as a surprise for me.

if the atombombs had exploded, it would not have resulted in a decidedly nuclear explosion, but more of a dirty bomb

Markus

Wouldnt have even been like that, the SS-N-23 is a tough missile unlike its liquid fueld cousins, they are heavy large and designed to deal with heat, the warheads are designed to take huge amounts of heat because they have to re enter the atmosphere so no real chance of a dock yard fire getting that hot in a consentrated area in that amount of time.

The reactors are very insulated as are all nuclear submarines of all the fires onboard nuclear submarines none have resulted in the discharge of radioactive material from warheads or reactors to my knowlege

[Lurchi]

Originally Posted by Kapitan

Wouldnt have even been like that, the SS-N-23 is a tough missile unlike its liquid fueld cousins ...

The respective missile family uses liquid fuel and they are certainly not tough. Rockets are lightly built because every bit of weight saved means more payload or fuel (=range).

I doubt if the warheads are designed to withstand a violent fuel explosion. On the other hand the K-219 incident seemingly did not result in a nuclear disaster which does not mean it cannot happen.

[Kapitan]

Originally Posted by Lurchi

The respective missile family uses liquid fuel and they are certainly not tough. Rockets are lightly built because every bit of weight saved means more payload or fuel (=range).



I doubt if the warheads are designed to withstand a violent fuel explosion. On the other hand the K-219 incident seemingly did not result in a nuclear disaster which does not mean it cannot happen.

its an unlikely outcome not totaly ruled out and yes they are liquid fueled the K219 warhead was never located but its believed intact, the problem with these missiles is the fuel doesnt react to well with sea water.
The R-29RM is a small missile compaired to its larger cousin the R-39 which is 83ton total wieght unlike the R-29RM which is 40ton which is roughly the same as trident.
R-39's have since been decomissioned as the only boats capible of carrying the missile have since all been decommissioned (typhoon class)

The russians seem to be moveing toward solid fueled missiles which makes them more stable.