Nuclear fallout information

[ultrarunner]

At least the nonsense about Global warming wouldn't be pushed.

It's already fallen to a minor point with all the environmental destruction in Ukraine...

A few gallons of oil in the ocean is a catastrophy buy sinking warships and destroying waterways hardly a mention plus the next hundred years deal with ordinance lying around...

 

[MossRoad]

OMG.

Go watch “Blast from the Past”

this is something that occupies 0.0001% of my brain thought process. Like id want to live underground. People went nut# being locked in their house for a week during covid. Try living underground for 30 years.

HA! We just watched that last week. 3rd time I've seen it.

Funny story, my dad built a bomb shelter in his house, the one I grew up in. While it was not elaborate (concrete reinforced box in the ground with trap door, and pipes for water and air to be filtered), it was nice in a tornado. Many of the decor in the house in that movie could be found in my parents' house and the houses in our neighborhood.

Funny thing about that movie as I watched it, a lot of it was pertinent to today's situation!

 

[MossRoad]

I wouldn’t give up so easily. As long as you’re alive there’s hope, and I have a fair amount of people that rely on me. With enough shielding in a rural area and enough supplies, you can survive.

Not where you are. Everything west of you will blow in your direction and your area will get hit pretty hard with fallout. The ground will be poisoned. Pretty much what you're getting now with acid rain from the coal plants in the rest of the country will happen with fallout, as that's where the winds blow towards.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm not so sure about this. Take a look at the city of Hiroshima today.

That was one bomb. Today's bombs are about 3000X more powerful than that.

Interesting read here:

The Atomic Bombs of WWII Were Catastrophic, But Today’s Nuclear Bombs Are Even More Terrifying

Both atomic and thermonuclear bombs are capable of mass destruction, but there are some big differences.

www.popularmechanics.com

 

[newbury]

<snip>

Funny story, my dad built a bomb shelter in his house, the one I grew up in. While it was not elaborate (concrete reinforced box in the ground with trap door, and pipes for water and air to be filtered), it was nice in a tornado. <snip>

Not so funny. My Father (a former Airman) and Grandfather (and I, age 12) built a duplex on 30 acres in Essex Center, Vt. in 1963. Basically downwind of the Plattsburgh SAC base, which was a high priority nuke target.
They included a "bomb shelter", about 20' long x 10' wide x 9' high. Double concrete block thick (w/ holes filled w/sand), ceiling about 8" of concrete, acted as base for front porch.

One of my more memorable jobs was filling the blocks with sand. Towards the top they ran a ramp made of 2x6's across the top, we'd wheel a big wheelbarrow filled w/sand, I'd scoop sand and pour it down the holes.
I can still see that wheelbarrow tipping over and crashing into the hole.
I still have the wheelbarrow.

Fortunately we only used the "bomb shelter" as:
(first) emergency ration storage, with a few bunks, with several drills a year hunkering down for a day
(second) cold cellar, until they built a much bigger one
(third) worm breeding farm,

 

[fatjay]

That was one bomb. Today's bombs are about 3000X more powerful than that.

Interesting read here:

The Atomic Bombs of WWII Were Catastrophic, But Today’s Nuclear Bombs Are Even More Terrifying

Both atomic and thermonuclear bombs are capable of mass destruction, but there are some big differences.

www.popularmechanics.com

Yes, they can be that powerful, but generally they are not. Russia's icbm nukes are under 100kt, ~5x mower powerful than fat man. Still catastrophic, but no where near tsar bomba at 50mt.

 

[shooterdon]

I live near the Grayling base. That little dot (on the map showing 2000 targets) in northern MI. No way I am preparing to survive a nuclear event. Just too many $$$ to invest with little chance of surviving for long anyway.

I have supplies to last 6-9 months for most other SHTF scenarios but not years like some people are planning to. At 72, when my time comes it comes.

 

[JasperFrank]

All the simulations have Corvallis Oregon as a target. I find this amusing. The Russians must be U of O Duck Fans.

No matter what level your Prepper Plan is, it is a joke.
You won't have time to set your plan in action less you can do that in 15 minutes. And even the civil defense systems we had in the 60's-70's, have been all dismantled as it became apparent that they would provide only a very temporary survival to a few, to suffer an eventual, lingering and painful death.

Putin has done some very stupid things. The latest stupid thing was to bring up the nuclear option as a threat. This is laughable, as no one in the Russian military would follow an insane order of first strike. They are people also, and not just robots. And there is familiarity between Ukraine and Russia. More than what the press is talking about, people have relatives on both sides.
This is not like a real, all out, war between two nations as the Crimean Bridge has not been targeted by either side.

 

[MossRoad]

Yes, they can be that powerful, but generally they are not. Russia's icbm nukes are under 100kt, ~5x mower powerful than fat man. Still catastrophic, but no where near tsar bomba at 50mt.

Russia's ICBMs typically carry 10 warheads with 550-750kt per warhead. Or, one 20mt warhead.

550kt compared to the 15kt bomb dropped on Hiroshima is 350X as powerful.
750kt is 500 times more powerful.
20mt is something like 1300+ times more powerful.

Either way, hundred of those set off = crap for you, me, and everyone else on the planet.

 

[cqaigy2]

I think some of the conversation in this thread are conflating damage by the blast vs how bad fallout/radiation damage. I can't be sure, but i thought fallout from fusion weapons was less than fission weapons, like was used on Japan. I hope not to find out which is worse either in bang or fallout.