Another nuke exercise in Charleston

World Net Daily ^ | 1/23/2006 | Staff

[Dark Skies]

I think this is a good idea if only because it keeps Americans aware that we are at war!

[OXENinFLA]

[Red Badger]

Chaleston was destroyed by a nuclear terrorist attack in the early 90's. I saw it on TV..........

[Dark Skies]

Please note however...

Though the target of the attack is Charleston, no part of the exercise will actually take place there. Maj. Gen. Bruce Davis, the task force's commander, will oversee the exercise from Fort Monroe.

[in hoc signo vinces]

Remember that cheesy TV, fake real time, movie about terrorists with a nuclear weapon in Charleston's harbor?

As I recall the feds kill all the terrorists but when trying to diffuse the bomb set it off...classic eighties TV.

[finnman69]

anyone remember 'Special Bulletin'?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086350/

[epluribus_2]

New York Times building...Rockefeller Center...United Nations headquarters

I doubt that Al Qaeda really wants to off so many of their allies at one time!

[sam_paine]

What altitude did they detonate Hiroshima and Nagasaki at? Like 5000 feet or so to get the best blast dispersion? So, while a container ship with a nuke will make a big mess, sure, and leave an ugly cloud....will it really cause very much physical damage? 10 kilotons is tiny compared to MIRVd ICBM warheads.

What it will do is completely stifle the Peacenik crowd, and that won't be good news for the 72 virgins.

[in hoc signo vinces]

Yep...see my post.

[The Turbanator]

nuke will make a big mess ????

Yea, a hell of alot more then crashing plane into two buildings, and look at what that did to this country.

[johnny7]

That's about all it serves... to those who are 'listening'

If the 'slami's get their act together and detonate a couple of nukes over here... we will see how all that 'homeland security' money was spent by the states. I believe that in many cases(especcially in the 'blue-states') the funds were spent unwisely and little has been done to learn from the lessons of 9/11.

Nothing backs this up more than what happened in NOLA after Katrina.

[COEXERJ145]

What altitude did they detonate Hiroshima and Nagasaki at? Like 5000 feet or so to get the best blast dispersion?

1,890 feet was the altitude the bombs were set to detonate at in order to achieve maximum blast effect.

So, while a container ship with a nuke will make a big mess, sure, and leave an ugly cloud....will it really cause very much physical damage? 10 kilotons is tiny compared to MIRVd ICBM warheads.

A 10 kiloton warhead detonated at ground level would do more damage then you might think. Not only would the blast destroy anything in the immediate area but it would also send out a very powerful precursor wind ahead of the main shock wave. This wind is powerful enough to lift tanks off the ground and throw them hundreds of feet downrange.

[cvq3842]

The article says 10 megaton - a huge blast.

Could the reporter have it wrong?

[cvq3842]

I do indeed remember it!

[RayChuang88]

Actually, one of biggest concerns about a terrorist improvised nuclear weapon is the fact if the bomb is detonated a ground level it will kick up a lot a highly radioactive debris--e.g., a huge fallout danger. Anybody 15-20 miles downwind from the blast of a 1 kT IND could face radiation sickness and/or substantially shortened lifespan from fallout radiation exposure.

[COEXERJ145]

It also said "10 kiloton" at one point in the article.

Personally though, any time there is an article about nuclear weapons in World NUT Daily, I just laugh.

These same people are the ones who publish Joseph Farah's dribble about Iranian EMP strikes on the U.S. and the 30+ Al-Qaeda nukes all set to go off at once in the U.S.

These kinds of drills are also useful in preparing for a chemical accident such as a derailment or a shipping disaster but of course World NUT Daily loves to over hype everything with the would "nuclear" in it.

[sam_paine]

A 10 kiloton warhead detonated at ground level would do more damage then you might think.

NO. IT WOULD NOT! [I might think it would do a helluva lot of damage!!] :-)

I'm just thinking, for example, that it would likely do less damage than was done at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, given about the same KT'nage and being at, at least we can say, "sub-optimal" height for maximum dispersion. And also due to the fact that most structures around and American port are not made from bamboo and paper, and the medical care/rescue response is going to be somewhat enhanced over 60 years.

I'm not dismissing the event, but I guess I am minimizing it from "doomsday" status. Many people, surprisingly close will survive, much better than they did in Japan. And unless it's a coordinated multi-port attack....it will hurt economically, but not strangle us.

[Smokin' Joe]

While certain Americans seem to need a constant reminder that we are at war, it almost seems as if the media (all of them) are having a contest to delinate the worst case scenario, and thus are handing that data to any 'targeting think tank' of terrorists.

The drill is a good idea, for preparedness' and awareness' sake, the speculation on death and destruction worst case scenarios only spurs the imagination of our enemies.

[COEXERJ145]

Would it level the entire city? No. Would it flatten a lot more than just the port, d*mn right it would. Study about the effects of a lower yield weapon detonated at or near ground level. A good place to start is the test known as Upshot-Knothole Grable.

Oh, and for comparison, Hiroshima was 12.5 kilotons and Nagasaki was around 21 kilotons.

[rahbert]

No more NY Rangers??