"Nukes powered by nuclear engines - scary" Topic

This is scary stuff in my opinion:
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It isn't any worse than anything that is already out there. If someone starts shooting nukes, any nukes, it is going to be an unpleasant weather day for everyone.

'RT'

Say no more. *rolls eyes*

…and it's 'The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation – Министерство обороны Российской Федерации, Минобороны России. You'd expect RT to know that as it's the propoganda mouthpiece of the Russian government..

Not really sure what their 'nuclear engine' is.

Without more information, not sure what there is to be overly concerned about.

Probably similar to this:

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If that really is a Project Pluto engine, the first time the Russians fire one up it will contaminate the entire area, not to mention kill everyone within line of sight from radiation.

Project Pluto engines didn't have any shielding, and shed highly-radioactive radionuclides in the exhaust.

My thinking is that the concept is scary. If something like this successfully comes online it will give its owner significant first strike capabilities. Cruise missiles are transportable and do not need to travel in straight lines. Combine that with their knap of the earth flying capability which can make them harder to intercept makes me believe that they could be a game changer.

With the US designed engine (yes, the US messed around with this idea in the 1950s and 1960s), there was no shielding. No warhead required, just fly the thing over Moscow (or NYC), and kill everyone from horizon to horizon under the flight path by acute radiation poisoning.

Not to mention that the entire reactor is white-hot and spitting chunks of reactor core out the back end, which salts the earth for future generations.

The simple answer would be, "Vlad, launch ONE of these, even as a 'test' and we will nuke you."

A less provocative answer would be, "Vlad, why the hell do you want to expose your own country to Chernobyl? Everything under the flight path will be just as exposed as those men who ran across the roof to pour neutron poisons on the reactor!"

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