November 08, 2015
Nukes on a Flatbed Truck
Russia has announced that they intend to begin producing a series of road mobile nuclear power plants. (via)
The project is called Pamir and the mobile plants are supposed to hiot the road sometime in 2020.
Such a short development time might be cause for considerable skepticism save for one important detail not mentioned in the article.
The picture is of a previous project, also called "Pamir" which was a Mobile Nuclear Power Plant being developed in the 1980s. The project was suspended after only two had been produced in the aftermath of the Chernobyl unpleasantness.
The concept seems to have been twofold. The plants would power dispersed mobile radar arrays that would be moved around constantly to add uncertainty to any wild weasel operations and they could be dispersed and hidden by the dozens to provide power for rebuilding after a nuclear war.
"Oh please...He doesn't have any idea what the hell that means."
Ahem...
There is also a PDF concerning the Pamir from the perspective of its dismantling under a nonproliferation program here.
Given that the original design seems to have worked, it may not be a stretch to expect that they could simply spool up production again, though the loss of the original engineering cadre would certainly be a significant hurdle.
To what end they are making this non-trivial expenditure is unclear. A couple of megawats available on 2 flatbeds would certainly be useful in building infrastructure and kick-starting settlements in Siberia, though given current events, the original operational concept may well be closer to the mark.
Posted by: The Brickmuppet at
10:23 PM
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"supposed to hiot the road"
...hit the road, or "hot" the road?
Either way, best typo I've seen all week.
Posted by: Mikeski at Tue Nov 10 03:11:29 2015 (hAtXl)
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