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IMPACT OF "LOW YIELD" NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Background on Suitcase Nuclear Device
Seismic Studies - Comparing Nuke Blast to Earthquake
1 KT Nuclear Device:
Powerpoint of 1 KT Device Exploded in the Center of Washington, DC
(source: "In-Depth Medical Management for
Nuclear/Radiological/Conventional Terrorism Agents")
NOTE: this file is a 2.7 MB Powerpoint File
1 KT Nuclear Device
Summary of Impact of 1 KT Nuclear Blast
1 KT - Effective Range for Blast Energy
350m LD50 11m/sec - LD50 means 50% mortality (1148.29 feet = 0.2174792 mile)
550m ED50 4.3m/sec - ED50 would affect 50% population (1804.46 feet =
0.3417538 mile)
750m Penetrating Wounds 55m/sec (2460.63 feet = 0.4660284 mile)
1 KT- Blast Energy and Static Overpressure
150m LD50 50psi - LD50 means 50% mortality (492.126 feet = 0.0932057 mile)
300m ED50 20psi - ED50 would affect 50% population (984.252 feet = 0.1864114
mile)
700m Eardrum Rupture 5 psi (2296.59 feet = 0.4349602 mile)
1 KT -Safe Separation Distance for Eye Injuries
Weapon Yield - 1 KT
Detonation Altitude-300 Meters
Personnel Altitude - Sea Level
Daytime Visibility - 46 km (28.5830748 mile)
Retinal Burns - 16.7 km (10.3768989 mile)
Flash Blindness - 5.9 km (3.66609 miles)
1 KT - Effective Range for Thermal Energy Infrared
700m - 7 cal/cm2 (2296.59 feet = 0.4349602 mile)
800m - 4 cal/cm2 (2624.67 feet = 0.4970966 mile)
1200m - 2 cal/cm2 (3937.01 feet = 0.7456458 mile)
10 KT Nuclear Device:
The detonation
of a 10kt (kiloton yield) briefcase nuke would have the follow effects. The
assumption is for a ground burst of a weapon with a 10 mile per hour windspeed
doserates downwind distance and width
3000 R/Hr 2.45 Mile .05 Mile
1000 R/H 4.65 Mile .20 Mile
300 R/H 11.63 Mile .54 Mile
100 R/H 22.99 Mile 1.39 Mile
30 R/H 41.34 Mile 2.53 Mile
10 R/H 62.00 Mile 1.60 Mile
3 R/H 77.51 Mile 2.10 Mile
1 R/H 103.34 Mile 3.53 Mile
These rates are normalized at 1 hour after the detonation and note the
narrowness of the fallout width as compared to the distance from ground zero.
The fireball radius is 323 feet. Radius of fireball when the shock front breaks
away 312 feet. As shock front breaks away a second thermal pulse begins.
Distance to 1 psi overpressure (moderate structural damage) 4.57 miles. Distance
to second degree burns to exposed skin 1.45 miles
.
Cloud top will stabilize at about 25,000 feet and cloud bottom will be around
14,000 feet. The cloud will have a radius of 2.68 miles and at 1 mile the
windspeed will reach 141 miles per hour. A contact burst would produce a crater
about 215 feet across and a crater about 47 feet deep assuming that it was on
solid granite. Twice that if wet soil or rock. At a distance of 2.07 mile
causalities would be expected in the open.
It is unlikely that a normalized dose rate of greater than 5000 R/Hr will occur
over any significant areas, and will be confined to very distinct hot spots
created by local topography, with microweather aspects.
The following can apply to a detonation of almost any yield. Early fallout will
normally consist of elements with high condensation temperatures - light and
refractory elements. The krypton and xenon decay chains will be almost absent
due to relative volatility. As the cloud cools the cesiums, strontiums and
iodines will condense and fallout at a distance away proportional to the time of
fall from the cloud bottom. Almost all fallout originates in the zone between
2/3 the height of the top of the stem and the cloud top as much as 30% will be
trapped in the upper atmosphere and will be deposited over a period of years!!
The relative severity of the effects from a weapon of given yield depends on the
effective energy partition.- at small yields the prompt radiation effects are
predominant. As yields go up the blast takes over through a relative short
range, as the yields get larger the effective illumination time increases the
net thermal exposure, this effect makes the thermal effects much higher at the
upper end of the yield spectrum.
If the explosion is not at a very high altitude it will have 2 distinct thermal
pulses, with most of the damage occurring with the second pulse. At low yields,
this is too quick to be of much use. But at high yields (Strategic type
warheads, ICBM's ect) this would provide a warning effect that could allow some
evasive actions. The prompt radiation doses received in the first minute after
the detonation would arrive almost instantly upon the occurrence of the
detonation and could not be evaded. In all circumstances casualty effects depend
on distance, yield and shielding.
A weapon is detonated by bringing a mass of fissionable material into a
condition of prompt supercriticality either by the explosive assembly of 2 or
more subcritical masses (design to the suitcase nukes) or by increasing the
density to decrease the surface area thereby reducing nuetron leakage. The
weapon used at Hiroshima was of the former and Nagasaki the latter.
A significant portion of the energy appears as soft x-rays capable of
penetrating about a foot in the air. These x-rays cause a change in the air's
ability to transmit light, this allows the interior temperatures to rise to
extremes and expand violently and this region is called the fireball. At the
instance of detonation enormous quantities of nuetrons are also released with
most of them released in a fraction of a second. The nuetrons serve to activate
the oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere into products with very high gamma
energies and short halflives.
The rapidly expanding fireball pushes a wall of highly compressed air in front
of it called a blast wave. If the detonation was at more than a few hundred feet
the blast wave will hit the terrain and reflect. This reflected wave till tend
to join with the blast front and reinforce the overpressures increasing the
destructive radius of the blast front. The inside structures capable of
withstanding the blast fronts, internal reflection of the way can tend to focus
overpressures and increase likely hood of injury however if individuals are at a
distance away from reflecting surfaces a reverse effect has been noted.
From our example of a suitcase nuke of 10Kt yield the effects although
horrendous are relatively mild compared to the strategic weapons. The biggest
problem outside the immediate area of ground zero and the narrow width of the
fallout cloud is panic on the part of the general public with the assumptions
that the effects of the weapons are far greater than they really are. Of course
any event would absolutely strain or break local fire/ems response and multiple
events will strain/break any federal response. We simply do not have civil
defense anymore except for our leaders who will be very safe in their well
stocked and protected bunkers thank you.
*Note no classified or sensitive materials were used in this overview or
compliation.
25 KT Nuclear Device:
The detonation
of a 25kt (kiloton yield) nuke would have the follow effects. The assumption is
for a ground burst of a weapon with a 10 mile per hour windspeed
doserates downwind distance and width
3000 R/Hr 3.71 Mile .11 Mile
1000 R/H 7.02 Mile .38 Mile
300 R/H 17.56 Mile 1.00Mile
100 R/H 34.73 Mile 2.40Mile
30 R/H 62.43Mile 4.23Mile
10 R/H 93.65Mile 7.07Mile
3 R/H 117.06Mile 10.08Mile
1 R/H 156.08Mile 14.18Mile
These rates are normalized at 1 hour after the detonation and note the
narrowness of the fallout width as compared to the distance from ground zero.
The fireball radius is 439 feet. Radius of fireball when the shock front breaks
away 424 feet. As shock front breaks away a second thermal pulse begins.
Distance to 1 psi overpressure (moderate structural damage) 7.32miles. Distance
to second degree burns to exposed skin 2.07miles
.
Cloud top will stabilize at about 29,500feet and cloud bottom will be around
17,500feet. The cloud will have a radius of 3.75miles and at 1 mile the
windspeed will reach 218 miles per hour. A contact burst would produce a crater
about 292 feet across and a crater about 64 feet deep assuming that it was on
solid granite. Twice that if wet soil or rock. At a distance of 3.00mile
causalities would be expected in the open.
150 KT Nuclear Device:
(source:
http://www.atomicarchive.com/Example/Example1.shtml)
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Summary of Radiation Effects:
http://www.fas.org/nuke/intro/nuke/radiation.htm
Metric Conversion Tools:
http://www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm
http://www.onlineconversion.com/length_common.htm
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Seismic Studies - Source: Distributed Seismic and Radionuclide Sensor Network
