A Comparison of Nuclear Explosion Effectiveness against Underground Terrorists.

Sunset in Afghanistan.

Winged1, I think we're on the same wave length. I hope the Pentagon is listening too.

Regards,

Glad to see we have these in our arsenal. We are not going to get into an extended shooting match with Saddam Hussein while his anthrax-equipped sleepers are capable of inflicting millions of casualties here whenever he gives the word. If we decide to take him out -- and the only other option is capitulation to his biowar blackmail -- we are going to have to decapitate the beast in one fell swoop. I can't see anyway of doing that except to use nukes. At the same time, a nuclear attack on Iraq will provide the right context for the necessarily extreme measures that would have to be taken domestically to minimize the possible retaliation from his sleepers. Finally, the use of nukes will also send the appropriate signal to the islamics that we do mean business, and we will engage and destroy anyone who tries to destroy us. How's that for a hat trick?

If I rememebr correctly the USSR had some 100 to 150 megaton city busters.

What are the criss cross smoke patterns in the 2 ones near the top?

Smoke released just before the blast and used to measure winds created by the blast.

Okay guys, I stand corrected, and will take the lumps. Just so you also know, I don't beleive in political correctness and want to kick ass as long is there is no proliferation from middle-East whackos unless/until we can get more field commanders calling the shots, instead of the political weinies in DC. War is war, but I've been told I'm "too old." I'm not even a freekin' lawyer (thank God).

I was born two years after we nuked Japan (my Dad was a Navy Commander in the South Pacific) and have no compunction in invoking destruction to today's enemies to America as we did five decades ago.

Regards

Input your address into Blast Mapper and see if you would survive

No problem. I'm not convinced using nuc's is the answer. I don't know what the strategy should be. Just wanted to make sure everyone realizes that using a few nuclear weapons won't kill everyone on the planet...

If you think the Boston scenario is grisly, I remember reading a book years ago about thermonuclear warfare. The writer theorized the impact of detonating a second large blast immideately after the first one went off and just above it. The first explosion would then be forced outward instead of upward. The rest of the mess,you can imagine.

thanks. How do they release smoke like that?

Somebody obviously likes big firecrackers.

Energy of a Nuclear Explosion

Bibliographic Entry	Result (w/surrounding text)	Standardized Result
The World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: World Book. 1999. 597.	"Nuclear explosive devices can have a wide variety of yields. Some older bombs had yields of about 20 megatons, or 1540 Hiroshima bombs. A megaton is the amount of energy released by 1 million short tons (907,000 metric tons) of TNT. Today most nuclear devices have yields of less than 1 megaton."	84,000 TJ (max.) < 4,000 TJ (typical)
Worldwide effects of nuclear war. US Arms Control & Disarmament Agency, 1975: 3.	"'Castle/Bravo' was the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United States. Before it was set off at Bikini on February 28, 1954, it was expected to explode with an energy equivalent of about 8 million tons of TNT. Actually, it produced almost twice that explosive power -- equivalent to 15 million tons of TNT."	63,000 TJ (US max.)
World Book Encyclopedia. Chicago: Field Enterprises, 1975: 843.	"The first atomic bomb, or A-bomb, exploded on July 16, 1945, Alamogordo, N.Mex. It produced an explosion equal to that of 19,0000 short tons (17,000 metric tons) of TNT."	80 TJ (Trinity Test)
Encyclopedia Americana. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 1995: 532.	"By today's standards the two bombs dropped on a Japan were small -- equivalent to 15,000 tons of TNT in the case of the Hiroshima bomb and 20,000 tons in the case of the Nagasaki bomb."	63 TJ (Hiroshima) 84 TJ (Nagasaki)

Nuclear energy, often mistakenly called atomic energy, is the most powerful kind of energy known. It produces the tremendous heat and light of the sun and the shattering blast of thermonuclear bombs. Nuclear energy results from changes in the nucleus of atoms. Scientists and engineers have found many uses for this energy from the production of electricity to the destructive power of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear weapons are far more destructive than any conventional (non-nuclear) weapon. They are often called atomic bombs or hydrogen bombs. The energy released by nuclear weapons is measured in tons, kilotons (thousands of tons), or megatons (millons of tons) of TNT. In international standard units (SI), one ton of TNT is equal to 4.184 x 10⁹ joule (J).

Nuclear weapons have a large variety of energy yields. The first detonated on July 16, 1945 near Alamogordo, New Mexico, had a yield of about 19 kilotons or 80 terajoules (1 TJ = 10¹² J). The two bombs that were dropped on the Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II were comparable in size: 15 and 20 kilotons or 63 and 84 terajoules, respectively. These bombs were only half the volume of the largest aerial bombs in use at the time, but released far more energy. It was said that there was as much energy in each bomb as in a stack of conventional explosives the size of the Washington Monument. Far more powerful bombs were made within a few years. The most powerful American bomb known as "Castle/Bravo" was detonated on February 28, 1954 and released energy equivalent to an astounding 15 megatons or 84,000 terajoules!

"Castle/Bravo" was the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated by the United States.

Before it was set off at Bikini on February 28, 1954, it was expected to explode with an energy equivalent of about 8 million tons of TNT. Actually, it produced almost twice that explosive power--equivalent to 15 million tons of TNT.

If the power of the bomb was unexpected, so were the after-effects. About 6 hours after the explosion, a fine, sandy ash began to sprinkle the Japanese fishing vessel Lucky Dragon, some 90 miles downwind of the burst point, and Rongelap Atoll, 100 miles downwind. Though 40 to 50 miles away from the proscribed test area, the vessel's crew and the islanders received heavy doses of radiation from the weapon's "fallout”--the coral rock, soil, and other debris sucked up in the fireball and made intensively radioactive by the nuclear reaction. One radioactive isotope in the fallout, iodine-131, rapidly built up to serious concentration in the thyroid glands of the victims, particularly young Rongelapese children.

More than any other event in the decade of testing large nuclear weapons in the atmosphere, Castle/Bravo's unexpected contamination of 7,000 square miles of the Pacific Ocean dramatically illustrated how large-scale nuclear war could produce casualties on a colossal scale, far beyond the local effects of blast and fire alone.

A number of other surprises were encountered during 30 years of nuclear weapons development. For example, what was probably man's most extensive modification of the global environment to date occurred in September 1962, when a nuclear device was detonated 250 miles above Johnson Island. The 1.4-megaton burst produced an artificial belt of charged particles trapped in the earth's magnetic field. Though 98 percent of these particles were removed by natural processes after the first year, traces could be detected 6 or 7 years later. A number of satellites in low earth orbit at the time of the burst suffered severe electronic damage resulting in malfunctions and early failure. It became obvious that man now had the power to make long term changes in his near-space environment.

Another unexpected effect of high-altitude bursts was the blackout of high-frequency radio communications. Disruption of the ionosphere (which reflects radio signals back to the earth) by nuclear bursts over the Pacific has wiped out long-distance radio communications for hours at distances of up to 600 miles from the burst point.

Yet another surprise was the discovery that electromagnetic pulses can play havoc with electrical equipment itself, including some in command systems that control the nuclear arms themselves.

Much of our knowledge was thus gained by chance--a fact which should imbue us with humility as we contemplate the remaining uncertainties (as well as the certainties) about nuclear warfare. What we have learned enables us, nonetheless, to see more clearly. We know, for instance, that some of the earlier speculations about the after-effects of a global nuclear war were as far-fetched as they were horrifying--such as the idea that the worldwide accumulation of radioactive fallout would eliminate all life on the planet, or that it might produce a train of monstrous genetic mutations in all living things, making future life unrecognizable. And this accumulation of knowledge which enables us to rule out the more fanciful possibilities also allows us to reexamine, with some scientific rigor, other phenomena which could seriously affect the global environment and the populations of participant and nonparticipant countries alike.

China's Nuclear Tests: Dates, Yields, Types, Methods, and Comments

# TEST AND DATE	YIELD	TYPE	METHOD	COMMENTS
(#45) 29 July 1996	1-5 kT	Underground	--	China's 45th and most recent test
(#44) 8 June 1996	20-80 kT	Underground	--	Reported detonation of two warheads
(#43) 17 August 1995	60-80 kT	Underground	--	Prompted the Japanese Diet (legislativebody) to pass a resolution protesting China's testing; later that month, Japan froze government grants for the remainder of 1995
(#42) 15 May 1995	95 kT	Underground	--	Prompted Japan to suspend the grant portion of its foreign aid program to China
(#41) 7 October 1994	40-50 kT	Underground	--	--
(#40) 10 June1994	40-50 kT	Underground	--	--
(#39) 5 October 1993	40-80 kT	Underground	--	--
(#38) 25 September 1992	1-20 kT (About 8 kT)	Underground	--	--
(#37) 21 May 1992	660 kT-1 MT (650 kT)	Underground	--	China's largest underground test
(#36) 16 August 1990	50-200 kT (189 kT)	Underground	--	--
(#35) 26 May 1990	15-65 kT (11.5 kT)	Underground	--	--
(#34) 29 September 1988	1-20 kT (2.5 kT)	Underground	--	Reported to be a 1-5 kT enhanced radiation weapon ("neutron bomb") test
(#33) 5 June 1987	Unknown yield (250 kT)	Underground	--	--
(#32) 19 December 1984	5-50 kT (1.3 kT)	Underground	--	--
(#31) 3 October 1984	15-70 kT (9.1 kT)	Underground	--	--
(#30) 6 October 1983	20-100 kT (14.9 kT)	Underground	--	--
(#29) 4 May 1983	Unknown yield (About 1 kT)	Underground	--	--
(#28) 5 October 1982	3-15 kT	Underground	--	--
(#27) 16 October 1980	200 kT-1 MT	Atmospheric	--	The last atmospheric nuclear explosion by China or any country
(#26) 13 September 1979	Unknown yield	Underground	--	--
(#25) 14 December 1978	Below 20 kT	Atmospheric	--	Fission
(#24) 14 October 1978	Below 20 kT (3.4 kT)	Underground	Shaft method	China's first shaft explosion
(#23)15 March 1978	6-20 kT	Atmospheric	--	Fission
(#22) 17 September 1977	Below 20 kT	Atmospheric	--	Fission
(#21) 17 November 1976	About 4 MT	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	Thermonuclear; Largest Chinese test
(#20) 17 October 1976	10-20 kT (2.6 kT)	Underground	--	Fission
(#19) 26 September 1976	200 kT	Atmospheric	--	Fission; Partial failure of fusion; "special weapon"
(#18) 23 January 1976	Below 20 kT	Atmospheric	--	Fission
(#17) 27 October 1975	Below 10 kT (2.5 kT)	Underground	--	Fission
(#16) 17 June 1974	200 kT-1 MT	Atmospheric	--	Thermonuclear
(#15) 27 June 1973	2-3 MT	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	Thermonuclear
(#14) 18 March 1972	100-200 kT	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	Possibly trigger device, containing Pu, for thermonuclear warhead
(#13) 7 January 1972	8-20 kT	Atmospheric	Air (Q-5 bomber)	Fission; Possibly containing Pu
(#12) 18 November 1971	15-20 kT	Atmospheric	Ground (tower-mounted)	Fission; Possibly containing Pu
(#11) 14 October 1970	3-3.4 MT	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	Thermonuclear
(#10) 29 September 1969	About 3 MT	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	Thermonuclear
(#9) 23 September 1969	20-25 kT (19.2 kT)	Underground	Tunnel method	Fission ; China's first underground test
(#8) 27 December 1968	3 MT	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	Thermonuclear device; China's first test using plutonium (U235, with some Pu)
(#7) 24 December 1967	15-25 kT	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	Fission (U235, U238, and Li-6)
(#6) 17 June 1967	3-3.3 MT	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	China's first full-yield multi-stage thermonuclear test (U235)
(#5) 28 December 1966	122 kT/300-500 kT	Atmospheric	Ground (tower-mounted)	Boosted fission (U235); Test used to confirm the design principles of a two-stage device
(#4) 27 October 1966	12-30 kT	Atmospheric	DF-2 (CSS-1) MRBM	Fission (U235)
(#3) 9 May 1966	200-300 kT/	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	Boosted fission (U235); China's first test of a boosted fission device (using Lithium-6)
(#2) 14 May 1965	20-40 kT	Atmospheric	Air (H-6 bomber)	Fission (U235); China's first air-drop explosion by aircraft
(#1) 16 October 1964	20-22 kT	Atmospheric	Ground (tower-mounted)	Fission (U235); China's first nuclear explosion, named "Device 596," representing the year and month in which the Soviets refused to provide China with a prototype device (June 1959)

"...The Teller-Ulam concept was later rediscovered by the other four nuclear weapon states, all of which have tested and deployed these weapons. No other nation is known to have deployed these designs, although the undeclared nuclear powers of Israel and India almost certainly have done development work on them.

Three stage designs have been tested and deployed to produce very high yield weapons. The first three stage U.S. test, and probably the first three stage weapon test ever, was the Bassoon device detonated in the Redwing Zuni test (27 May 1956 GMT, Bikini Atoll, 3.5 Mt). The largest nuclear explosion ever set off (50 Mt) was the Tsar Bomba (King of Bombs), a Soviet three stage fission-fusion-fission design. It was exploded on 30 October 1961 over Novaya Zemlya at an altitude of 4000 m.

By jacketing the third stage with non-fissionable material, three stage devices can produce high yield clean weapons. Both Zuni and Tsar Bomba were in fact very clean devices - Zuni was 85% fusion and Tsar Bomba was 97% fusion. Both designs permitted replacing the lead or tungsten third stage jacket with U-238 however. A version of Bassoon called Bassoon Prime was tested in the dirty Tewa test mentioned above. A dirty device derived from the Bassoon was weaponized to create the highest yield weapon the U.S. ever fielded, the 25 megaton Mk-41. The Tsar Bomba design was for a fission-fusion-fission bomb with a staggering yield of at least 100 megatons!

A possible variation on the staged radiation implosion design is one in which a second fission stage is imploded instead of a thermonuclear one. This was actually the initial concept developed by Stanislaw Ulam before he realized its possible application to thermnuclear weapons. The advantage of this approach is that radiation implosion speeds are hundreds of times higher, and maximum densities tens of times greater, than those achievable through high explosives. This allows achieving higher yields than is practical with high explosive driven fission weapons, and the use of lower grades of fissile material. If some fusion fuel is included in this second fission stage to boost yield, a sort of hybrid two-stage boosted weapon design results that blurs the distinction between two-stage fission and classic Teller-Ulam thermonuclear weapons. The TX-15 "Zombie" developed by the U.S. was originally planned to be a two stage pure fission device, but later evolved into this sort of hybrid boosted system. The Zombie was tested in the Castle Nectar shot (13 May 1954 GMT; Bikini Atoll; 1.69 Mt), and was fielded as the Mk-15..."

We could mount a few 1 kiloton weapons on robots and send them down the caves to go and pet the pretty posies and get all groovy and peacful with the talidweebs... right after they turn to ash in 3 shakes of a lambs tail.
Or we could just turn the place into a glassy sea mixed with fire and smell the freshly baked trinitite*(Of which I have some in my mineral collection.. don't handle it too often, and I prolly lost ten years of my life due to the alpha particles it gives off.. No, don't rightly remember how I got it.. just kinda love the thought that Osama might end up under some of it..) I love the smell of fused Tritium, U239/238 in the morning, smells like.. victory.

The terrorists were low tech (box cutters), why can't we be?

Why don't we gas the tunnels.

Small, solid-fuel rockets, set off just prior to detonation...FRegards