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Are Radioactive Nuclear Tsunamis Real Or Just Propaganda?
Plumbing the depths of the world’s nuclear arsenals
Russian state television recently made claims that Russia could destroy London with a radioactive nuclear tsunami. The foreign hosts boasted that Russia has massive nuclear torpedoes that could be stealthily deployed and detonated off the coast of major cities. The explosion would result in a massive radioactive wave that would come ashore and flood everything.
This scenario sounds like something out of a doomsday movie, not a modern military arsenal. Are nuclear tsunamis a real thing? Does Russia have the capability to make good on its threat to swamp the United Kingdom with radioactive waves?
According to the Pentagon, Russia could indeed have these capabilities.
Status-6 Underwater Nuclear Drone
In 2015, information was uncovered that Russia was developing a new underwater nuclear drone. The drone was called Status-6 and at first, US military officials thought it might have been a feint or a distraction. The project sounded too ambitious. Status-6 was an “autonomous, nuclear-powered, and nuclear-armed unmanned underwater vehicle” capable of delivering nuclear missiles and nuclear torpedoes.
However, in 2018, the United States got confirmation that Status-6 was indeed real, and shortly after the Pentagon learned of the details the project was announced publicly by President Vladimir Putin. The weapon system was given the name Poseidon and the capabilities touted by the Russian officials were frightening.
The underwater drone is equipped with stealth technologies that allow it to slip into contested waters undetected before delivering a catastrophic nuclear payload.
The Poseidon drones are supposedly equipped with nuclear torpedoes capable of delivering tsunamis up to 500 meters in height. The wall of water would indeed be radioactive and would be capable of flooding areas well inland from the coast. They could be detonated in the shallow waters off an enemy coast. Nuclear torpedoes are an ultimate deterrent in today’s world because they cannot be shot down by anti-missile systems and they can be launched undetected and without warning.
