Some annoyingly unreal things I saw

You already lost by calling another a moron.
There was no call to get asinine.

And sorry but I AM right on this.

the other poster is correct and I agree that modern nukes are more efficient.

What is wrong is the reasoning behind it. (Right for the wrong reasons)

Fallout is NOT just the fissile material in the core of the bomb. Less in the core means less fallout is yours and the other posters reasoning.

This is simply wrong. Radioactive material from the core package of the bomb is only a tiny tiny tiny fraction of a percentage of the fallout created by the bomb. The vast majority of it comes from debris and materials in the target area that is irradiated and swept up into the rising fireball into the mushroom cloud. To be deposited later as radioactive ash (Fallout).

How much debris is pulled up into the fireball is directly dependent on the nature and altitude of the burst.

Subsurface: Most is contained below ground

Surface: Most irradiated material but spead of fallout is more limited

Low Altitude: greatest fallout spread area but slightly less amount of it to be spread.

High Altitude: Very little fallout, only what comes from the casing of the bomb itself, no debris.

Learn WTF you are talking about before calling others morons. Skxawng!


From the Federation of American Scientist (FAS.org)

Blast and thermal effects occur to some extent in all types of explosions, whether conventional or nuclear. The release of ionizing radiation, however, is a phenomenon unique to nuclear explosions and is an additional casualty producing mechanism superimposed on blast and thermal effects. This radiation is basically of two kinds, electromagnetic and particulate, and is emitted not only at the time of detonation (initial radiation) but also for long periods of time afterward (residual radiation). Initial or prompt nuclear radiation is that ionizing radiation emitted within the first minute after detonation and results almost entirely from the nuclear processes occurring at detonation. Residual radiation is defined as that radiation which is emitted later than 1 minute after detonation and arises principally from the decay of radioisotopes produced during the explosion.

The residual radiation hazard from a nuclear explosion is in the form of radioactive fallout and neutron-induced activity.

These are intermediate weight isotopes which are formed when a heavy uranium or plutonium nucleus is split in a fission reaction. There are over 300 different fission products that may result from a fission reaction. Many of these are radioactive with widely differing half-lives. Some are very short, i.e., fractions of a second, while a few are long enough that the materials can be a hazard for months or years. Their principal mode of decay is by the emission of beta and gamma radiation. Approximately 60 grams of fission products are formed per kiloton of yield. The estimated activity of this quantity of fission products 1 minute after detonation is equal to that of 1.1 x 1021 Bq (30 million kilograms of radium) in equilibrium with its decay products.

Nuclear weapons are relatively inefficient in their use of fissionable material, and much of the uranium and plutonium is dispersed by the explosion without undergoing fission. Such unfissioned nuclear material decays by the emission of alpha particles and is of relatively minor importance.

After an air burst the fission products, unfissioned nuclear material, and weapon residues which have been vaporized by the heat of the fireball will condense into a fine suspension of very small particles 0.01 to 20 micrometers in diameter. These particles may be quickly drawn up into the stratosphere, particularly so if the explosive yield exceeds 10 Kt. They will then be dispersed by atmospheric winds and will gradually settle to the earth's surface after weeks, months, and even years as worldwide fallout. The radiobiological hazard of worldwide fallout is essentially a long-term one due to the potential accumulation of long-lived radioisotopes, such as strontium-90 and cesium-137, in the body as a result of ingestion of foods which had incorporated these radioactive materials. This hazard is much less serious than those which are associated with local fallout and, therefore, is not discussed at length in this publication. Local fallout is of much greater immediate operational concern.

In a land or water surface burst, large amounts of earth or water will be vaporized by the heat of the fireball and drawn up into the radioactive cloud. This material will become radioactive when it condenses with fission products and other radiocontaminants or has become neutron-activated. There will be large amounts of particles of less than 0.1 micrometer to several millimeters in diameter generated in a surface burst in addition to the very fine particles which contribute to worldwide fallout. The larger particles will not rise into the stratosphere and consequently will settle to earth within about 24 hours as local fallout. Severe local fallout contamination can extend far beyond the blast and thermal effects, particularly in the case of high yield surface detonations. Whenever individuals remain in a radiologically contaminated area, such contamination will lead to an immediate external radiation exposure as well as a possible later internal hazard due to inhalation and ingestion of radiocontaminants. In severe cases of fallout contamination, lethal doses of external radiation may be incurred if protective or evasive measures are not undertaken. In cases of water surface (and shallow underwater) bursts, the particles tend to be rather lighter and smaller and so produce less local fallout but will extend over a greater area. The particles contain mostly sea salts with some water; these can have a cloud seeding affect causing local rainout and areas of high local fallout. For subsurface bursts, there is an additional phenomenon present called "base surge." The base surge is a cloud that rolls outward from the bottom of the column produced by a subsurface explosion. For underwater bursts the visible surge is, in effect, a cloud of liquid (water) droplets with the property of flowing almost as if it were a homogeneous fluid. After the water evaporates, an invisible base surge of small radioactive particles may persist. For subsurface land bursts, the surge is made up of small solid particles, but it still behaves like a fluid. A soil earth medium favors base surge formation in an underground burst.

And here is further information for you that DIRECTLY proves that you are a moron for calling me a moron when in fact I was correct.

From FAS.org

Air Bursts. An air burst is an explosion in which a weapon is detonated in air at an altitude below 30 km but at sufficient height that the fireball does not contact the surface of the earth. After such a burst, blast may cause considerable damage and injury. The altitude of an air burst can be varied to obtain maximum blast effects, maximum thermal effects, desired radiation effects, or a balanced combination of these effects. Burns to exposed skin may be produced over many square kilometers and eye injuries over a still larger area. Initial nuclear radiation will be a significant hazard with smaller weapons, but the fallout hazard can be ignored as there is essentially no local fallout from an air burst.

Surface Burst. A surface burst is an explosion in which a weapon is detonated on or slightly above the surface of the earth so that the fireball actually touches the land or water surface. Under these conditions, the area affected by blast, thermal radiation, and initial nuclear radiation will be less extensive than for an air burst of similar yield, except in the region of ground zero where destruction is concentrated. In contrast with air bursts, local fallout can be a hazard over a much larger downwind area than that which is affected by blast and thermal radiation.

Subsurface Burst. A subsurface burst is an explosion in which the point of the detonation is beneath the surface of land or water. Cratering will generally result from an underground burst, just as for a surface burst. If the burst does not penetrate the surface, the only other hazard will be from ground or water shock. If the burst is shallow enough to penetrate the surface, blast, thermal, and initial nuclear radiation effects will be present, but will be less than for a surface burst of comparable yield. Local fallout will be very heavy if penetration occurs.

High Altitude Burst. A high altitude burst is one in which the weapon is exploded at such an altitude (above 30 km) that initial soft x-rays generated by the detonation dissipate energy as heat in a much larger volume of air molecules. There the fireball is much larger and expands much more rapidly. The ionizing radiation from the high altitude burst can travel for hundreds of miles before being absorbed. Significant ionization of the upper atmosphere (ionosphere) can occur. Severe disruption in communications can occur following high altitude bursts. They also lead to generation of an intense electromagnetic pulse (EMP) which can significantly degrade performance of or destroy sophisticated electronic equipment. There are no known biological effects of EMP; however, indirect effects may result from failure of critical medical equipment.

LOLz you got SMACKED *kapow*
pwnage

name calling! just like second grade! bring it on!

suzycreamcheese RIP Heath Ledger 1979-2008

Nope. Not joking.
She is a very strong supporter of Obama as well. No surprise.

I joined the Navy to see the world, only to discover the world is 2/3 water!

Yes she could, being that we didn't know about secondhand smoke in 1983, when the film was made.

At the supermarket checkout line: "They just hit one of our ships in the Persian Gulf."
Girl's fiance: "Who's 'they'?"
That has got to be the absolutely dumbest question I've ever heard. Who were we fighting, the Norwegians???!!! Geesh. Get a grip, Hollywood.

Actually, I don't think that scenario is that far-fetched, unfortunately. Lots of people don't pay any attention to what's happening in the news, be it local, national, or world-wide

I have a friend who never watched the news or read papers, she was totally oblivious to anything unless someone told her about it, so I also can believe it. She didn't know we'd had an election, never mind a new prime minister, honest to God. She's older now with children, so a bit more aware, but not much!!!

Also I would think people might bury their heads in the sand....no news is good news if you know what I mean.

<Um, the person who asked "who's they" about the attacked ship was Bruce. I might be mistaken about this, but I believe his character is male.>

Yes; I knew that it was a male. It was Denise's fiance.

Even more than two years later, I still think that it was a stupid question.

When Oakes said he was 30 miles away and walked back to Lawrence, he had to have been traveling eastbound otherwise if he was 30 miles EAST of KC he would be near Whiteman Air Force Base and a group of missile sites and there was no way he could have walked that far because he would have been vaporized! So he could have survived the 2 nuke strikes if he was WEST of KC due to the terrain and distance he was between KC and Lawrence.

"It was just starting to come out in the early 80's that smoking was seriously bad for your health"

I was not talking about tobacco or people's health. I meant it just sound stupid a woman saying "If we do that we will contaminate the air" while at the same time she is making smoke indoors, that it is obviously something that contaminates the air.