Tested underwater drone able to trigger a radioactive tsunami, says North Korea

Subject: International Relations

Section: Msc

Concept:

North Korea says it has tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone that can set off a “super-scale radioactive tsunami” to decimate naval fleets and ports of the enemy.
The objective of the “secret weapon” is to infiltrate enemy waters and create an underwater explosion that will trigger tsunami waves, destroying naval strike groups and coastline targets including major ports, the state news agency KCNA said on Friday.
North Korea said it conducted the tests from 21-23 March, deploying it off the coast of Riwon County of South Hamgyong Province on Tuesday.
The drone cruised for over 59 hours, forming oval and figure-of-eight patterns at a depth of 80 to 150 metres, it said.

What is radioactive tsunami?

North Korea has recently unveiled and test-fired its drone system, which is being dubbed “Haeil” or Tsunami. It is designed to create massive radioactive waves through submarine explosions. North Korean state news agency KCNA said, “This nuclear underwater attack drone can be deployed at any coast and port or towed by a surface ship for operation.”

Tsunamis

These are a series of waves usually generated by movement of the sea floor. These movements are caused by different types of geophysical phenomena such as earthquakes, landslides and volcanic eruptions.
The word tsunami is a Japanese word, represented by two characters: tsu, meaning, “harbor”, and nami meaning, “wave”.
The tsunami waves behave very differently in deep water than in shallow water as their speed is related to the water depth.
They frequently occur in the Pacific, where dense oceanic plates slide under the lighter continental plates. When these plates fracture they provide a vertical movement of the seafloor that allows a quick and efficient transfer of energy from the solid earth to the ocean.

Mechanism of Tsunami Waves

Megathrust earthquakes cause a sudden displacement in a seabed sufficient to cause the sudden raising of a large body of water.
As the subducting plate plunges beneath the less dense plate, stresses build-up, the locked zone between the plates give way abruptly, and the parts of the oceanic crust is then upthrust resulting in the displacement of a large column of water vertically.
The tsunami on December 26, 2004, was caused after an earthquake displaced the seabed off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia.
A marine volcanic eruption can generate an impulsive force that displaces the water column and gives birth to a tsunami.
During a submarine landslide, the equilibrium sea-level is altered by sediment moving along the floor of the sea. Gravitational forces then propagate a tsunami.
Most destructive tsunamis can be caused due to the fall of extra-terrestrial objects on to the earth.